JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure stars Jotaro Kujo or “JoJo”, a young man who comes from a line of heroes.  The Joestar family has been fighting the evil vampire Dio Brando for some time, and Jotaro has to fight the reborn villain. “Stands”, spirits or beings that give strange powers have been awakened in himself and his mother as a result, but his mother’s is killing her. Along with companions he’s picked up along the way (including one weird looking dog), Jotaro must try and end the threat of Dio for good. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is aptly named; the dense artwork is full of peculiar images, and the journey is frequently surreal and filled with unexpected challenges.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure vol. 13: D’Arby the Player begins with JoJo’s ragtag band split by the actions of Terrence T. D’arby, the brother of one of their old enemies.  Now that he has JoJo and his friendswhere he wants him, they must endure a strange trial before being able to explore Dio’s manor further..

Highlights

The volume begins with our heroes standing on a small (roughly thirty feet around) Caribbean-looking island. Crabs, a palm tree, waves, and a doorframe standing all alone. D’arby is there, as well as a table with four chairs around it and a pair of televisions atop it, and a small table with drinks on it. When the recap says they’d been heading into Dio’s mansion last volume, it makes it almost unnecessary to mention that this series has some really inspired, strange imagery.  Some of the most notable ones are D’arby’s collection of dolls with souls; all stolen by his Stand. Some of these dolls are real grotesqueries; and the art always gives more instead of less, more detail, more lines. It’s a marked contrast from the more recent style of action comics such as One Piece.

D’arby had predicted Jotaro’s method of attack last volume, shaking his confidence slightly. This allowed D’arby to actually insert the hand from his Stand inside Jotaro’s “soul” (proven by detailed image of some grasping shape within his arm). He could destroy Jotaro, but then he’d be open to the attacks of his companions;  instead he offers them a challenge. They have to defeat him in a series of video games! At least it explained why there were televisions on the island… Their only chance to defeat him and move on was to take the challenge. However, as the games goe on D’arby warns them that even his brother was afraid to challenge him… but why?

The video game action is fast and furious, with large detailed close ups of Racecars and other parts of the game itself.  It reminded me quite a bit of the unusual encounters in Hunter X Hunter, except that even more than that series, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure plays them straight.

 
Overall

I like to consider myself a fan of shonen action manga, and therefore it’s with great pleasure I had the chance to read one of the genre’s enduring classics, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s the second longest running manga in the Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump and has nearly 100 volumes. It’s fantastic that we’re being given a chance to read the series, and I hope Viz has plans to release later arcs, as well as perhaps the ones that were unfortunately skipped in this English version.

This was the first volume I’d read, but I was quickly sucked up into its world; The character designs are strange and quirky, from D’arby’s earrings with “TD” on them to Joseph Joestar’s Indiana Jones-like hat. It’s eclectic and eye-catching.  It’s worth noting that the sound effects are left in the original Japanese with only small captions beneath in English. Even though many of them just say things like “g-g-g-g” it enhances the otherworldly, peculiar feeling for readers unfamiliar with the language (like myself) and I’m quite pleased with the result.

While I’ve only read one “battle”, it was filled with mind-games and strategy; all of it delivered in a serious, intense way despite the inherent absurdity of playing a video game for your life.  In fact, the series so far is missing the sd and the comedic element present in many post-Dragonball manga; for better or worse.  I am fond of Joseph’s concern over Jotaro; he plays the father figure well; and of course, the weird dog hasn’t even shown up this volume.

The series manages to carry its absurd premise without itself falling into absurdity; dramatic and interesting, I’m quite excited to be given a ride on the train Japan has gotten to experience for some time now. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a strange, classic journey as worthy of our respect now as when it was first written.

ComicsOnline gives JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure vol. 13: D’Arby the Player, 5 out of 5 weeping, moaning spirit infused dolls.