Witchblade Takeru Manga Vol. 8
Written by Yasuko Kobayashi
Art by Kazasa Sumita
Colors by Blond
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $3.99; On-sale: Sept 19, 2007

Manga is an entirely different art form than the western comics I’m used to reading, requiring alternative modes of visual interpretation. Luckily, Witchblade Takeru Manga Vol. 8 gives readers — new to the series and manga itself — plenty of time to acclimate.

One of the most striking aspects of the book (written by Yasuko Kobayashi with artwork by Kazasa Sumita), in relative connection to what I typically see as manga style, is the dynamic vibrancy the book maintains throughout the issue — from character rendering to the full-color displays utilized from page to page.

Published through Top Cow Inc. and Bandai Entertainment, Witchblade Takeru reimagines the Witchblade character (one of Top Cow’s prized characters), placing her in a near-future Japan. The latest bearer of the Witchblade, a powerful, mystic weapon, is Takeru, a Japanese schoolgirl traipsing about in mini-tartan-skirt and sailor-esque blouse. Vol. 8 does a tremendous job of centering around the main characters, including Takeru, and dropping the protagonists into a new narrative, deftly shading in the fuzzy background as the plot moves along, around our unsuspecting heroes.

When Panther Duen is apprehended and brought to justice, an international team of special agents are brought to Hong Kong to testify against him. During his transport to trial, Panther’s police caravan is attacked, and in a military-style ambush, Panther is taken away. While at first it is thought that it was his triad who saved him, it becomes clear after inspecting the attack style and the aftermath in the criminal underground that Panther has been abducted instead. The agents that were only brought in to testify have now teamed up and storm the streets to figure out who is behind the brutal attacks. Commander Hon (Simon Yam) offers all the police back up he can, while Kong Long (Sammo Hung), who has been demoted to transportation supervisor, offers the team advice on what they are going up against. And what they are going up against is a team of ruthless mercenaries who will stop at nothing to collect the money that is owed them.

For pure balls-to-the-wall action that is going to satisfy your need for hails of bullets, there is still no other source more reputable than Hong Kong to turn to. Even in this day, where current films must live in the shadows of their predecessors, Hong Kong can still deliver the goods. Director and writer Daniel Lee, who was the force behind mid-nineties martial arts fare such as One-Armed Swordsman ’94 and Black Mask starring Jet Li, now focuses his lens and pen on the cops-n-criminals bullet fest genre.

Well, I am known for my meat. — Jasper Woodcock in Mr. Woodcock

6th grade. Third period gym. Coach Stange.

Everybody knew all you had to do was show up and dress for class and you’d get an easy A; so that I did. Yet at the end of the first semester I had to explain to my folks why I got a C- in gym class. I argued over and over that Coach Stange flat out hated my guts. Mom even went so far as to call the school to find out. Why the low grade for a whole semester? According to him, it was because I forgot my gym clothes one time and I needed to be taught some discipline. It took her until the next year of seeing A’s in gym for her to finally believe me that he did actually hate me. I didn’t let my distaste for him ruin or guide my life, but God, I hated that guy. Mr. Woodcock tells a similar, albeit slightly more colorful version of that same story.

Growing up in small town Nebraska, John Farley (Seann William Scott) was one of the many child victims tormented by their gym teacher, Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). He has since grown up to be a successful writer, penning a seemingly worthless self-help bestseller, Letting Go: Getting Past Your Past. Farley returns home to claim a local prize only to find that the source of all of his childhood frustrations and adult motivations, Mr. Woodcock, is now dating his mother.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has provided Geeks of Doom with a Knocked Up prize pack to give away to 1 lucky reader!

The prize pack includes the UNRATED single-disc edition of the DVD — directed by Judd Apatow and starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl — as well as a special dart board, a door hanger, and a bumper sticker to celebrate National Knocked Up Night.

Knocked Up DVD will be released on September 18, 2007.

TO ENTER: Answer the follow question correctly:

What was the name of the TV show created by Judd Apatow that starred Seth Rogen?

EMAIL: Email your answer with the subject line KNOCKED UP CONTEST to us at

RULES: One entry per person. All entries must be in by Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007 at 11:58 PM EST. This contest is only open to residents of the United States. No international entries will be accepted. Void where prohibited.

WINNER: Winner will be chosen randomly from entries that contain the correct answer. Winner will be notified by email.*

GOOD LUCK!!!

Ah, it’s that time of year again. Every year, there is that one season where things start to look up. This time of year is all about the awards. Voters for the Academy, Golden Globes, and MTV will be looking at all of these films that are released this year, and they will keep the films released around this time in mind.

Will this year be better than last year? Last year, we had Scorsese, Nolan, Cuaron, del Toro, Frears, Condon, Eastwood, Inarritu, Almodovar, Gibson, Zwick, Soderbergh, Field, and De Palma. This year, our line-up includes Taymor, Cronenberg, Lee, PTA, the Coen brothers, Baumbach, Scott, Farrelly brothers, Haggis, Mangold, Jordan, Penn, Anderson, and Forster. You decide which year is better.

In Part I of my two-part series, “The Rest of 2007 Movies – The Good, The Bad, and the Very F**king Ugly,” I showed you the movies that I am looking forward to. This time, however, are the ones that I don’t want to see, or the ones that look horrible. You will see me be a nasty bastard again, however, this won’t contain as many fucks as “Nil by Mouth” did or as many ass eaters as “Georgia Rule” had. Are you strapped in?