Pop Culture Gadabout
Saturday, April 12, 2008
      ( 4/12/2008 07:12:00 AM ) Bill S.  


"ALWAYS RAMBUNCTIOUS!" It speaks to the series' immense popularity that Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto is currently the one manga series available in the children's book section of my local Wal-Mart Superstore. Though the chain megalo-mart has experimented with manga paperbacks in the past (as with a much publicized deal a few years back with Tokyopop), the nine-tailed fox boy is the only one you see these days on most Wal-Mart book racks. The teen-rated books move, too. Watching the shelves at Wally World over the past three months, Viz's recent "Naruto Blitz" has seen some decent buyer action.

Picked up the first volume in the series' new arc recently, Volume 28, "Homecoming," which is set two years after the first series concluded. Our hero Uzumaki Naruto is returning to the village of Konahagakure after extensive training under Lord Jiraiya. Though grown significantly taller, he still retains his foxlike face and boisterous manner, not to mention his love or ramen noodles. Jiraiya has brought our boy back to work with his old Master Kakashi, since the former is going undercover to check up on the latest threat to the Village, a mysterious group called the Akatsuki.

Much of the new volume is devoted to playing catch-up with series' regulars. We learn, for instance, that the once weak-link girlie teammate Sakura has become a formidable ninja healer under the tutelage of the newest Hokage, the impressively breasted Lady Tsunade. Former Naruto rival, Gaara of the Desert, has become a village protector and is the first to fend off an attack by the Akatsuki. Of all the young characters, he is the one to which Naruto feels the closest kinship. Where our hero has a nine-tailed fox demon residing within him, Gaara's body is home to a one-tailed monstrosity. "We're carrying monsters inside our bodies," Naruto notes. "And that's what they want! Our monsters!"

Significantly absent from the new volume, though, is Naruto & Sakura's former teammate Sasuke, who remains in the clutches of the wicked ninja Orochimaru. Sasuke doesn't make an appearance in "Homecoming" - though we get a hand-wringing moment where Naruto & Sakura worry about him - but he still remains a major story presence.

Elsewhere, Kishimoto provides the usual bewildering blend of backroom alliances and double dealings: not as much fun as the bizarre chakra battles that provide the series' big action moments, but I suppose they're necessary. This book out, Gaara battles a nefarious ninja named Deidara who sends out clay creatures as weapons. "True art is revolutionary, incendiary," the gloating villain proclaims just before letting loose an explosive clay bird. The resulting fight scenes are both dynamic and engagingly outlandish: entertaining action comics, in other words, that at times resemble a warped marriage between Steve Ditko and Moebius.

But the heart of the series remains our title protagonist. Though less childishly egocentric than the boy we first saw in the series - his concern for others is more upfront and consistent - he still retains enough of his core impulsivity and competitiveness to keep him an appealingly fallible figure to his readers. As a hero, he is enough of a goof to hold onto his sizable fan base.

Still, as a sign of just how much our young man - and this series - has grown, Mishimoto provides us with a revealing moment in the book's first chapter. Entering the village, Naruto comes upon some a younger would-be ninja who demonstrates his mastery of what used to our hero's sole trick: the creation of a buxom "ninja centerfold" doppelganger. "I'm not a kid anymore," Naruto responds to this display. "You gotta work on other jutsu, too!" Early in the series, Mishimoto would've followed this creation with a comic panel depicting some nearby horny witness ejaculating blood from his nose, but he avoids that gag this time. Mishimoto and his assistants are too busy working on their own storytelling jutsu to fall back on the same ol' jokes.
# |



Pop cultural criticism - plus the occasional egocentric socio/political commentary by Bill Sherman (popculturegadabout AT yahoo.com).



On Sale Now!
Measure by Measure:



A Romantic Romp with the Fat and Fabulous
By Rebecca Fox & William Sherman

(Available through Amazon)

Measure by Measure Web Page







Ask for These Fine Cultural Blogs & Journals by Name!

aaronneathery.com News
Aaron Neathery

American Sideshow Blow-Off
Marc Hartzman

Arf Lovers
Craig Yoe

Attentiondeficitdisorderly
Sean T. Collins

Barbers Blog
Wilson Barbers

The Bastard Machine
Tim Goodman

The Beat
Heidi MacDonald

BeaucoupKevin
Kevin Church

Big Fat Blog
Paul McAleer

Big Mouth Types Again
Evan Dorkin

Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog
Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag

Blog This, Pal!
Gordon Dymowski

Bookgasm
Rod Lott

Cartoon Brew
Amid Amidi & Jerry Beck

Cartoon Web Log!
Daryl Cagle

Clea's Cave
Juana Moore-Overmyer

Collected Editions

The Comics Curmudgeon
Josh Fruhlinger

The Comics Reporter
Tom Spurgeon

Comics.212
Christopher Butcher

Comics Waiting Room
Marc Mason

Comics Worth Reading
Johanna Draper Carlson

a dragon dancing with the Buddha
Ben Varkentine

Egon

Electromatic Radio
Matt Appleyard Aaron Neathery

Estoreal
RAB

Eye of the Goof
Mr. Bali Hai

Fred Sez
Fred Hembeck

Greenbriar Picture Shows
John McElwee

The Groovy Age of Horror
Curt Purcell

The Hooded Utilitarian
Noah Berlatsky

Hooray for Captain Spaulding
Daniel Frank

The Horn Section
Hal

The House Next Door
Matt Zoller Seitz

Howling Curmudgeons
Greg Morrow & Friends

The Hurting
Tim O'Neil

I Am A Child of Television
Brent McKee

I Am NOT the Beastmaster
Marc Singer

In Sequence
Teresa Ortega

Innocent Bystander
Gary Sassaman

Irresponsible Pictures
Pata

Jog - The Blog
Joe McCulloch

The Johnny Bacardi Show
David Allen Jones

Journalista
Dirk Deppey

King's Chronicles
Paul Dini

Let's You And Him Fight
One of the Jones Boys

Mah Two Cents
Tony Collett

Metrokitty
Kitty

Michael's Movie Palace
Michael

Nat's TV
Nat Gertler

Ned Sonntag

Neilalien

News from ME
Mark Evanier

No Rock&Roll Fun
Simon B

Omega Channel
Matt Bradshaw

Pen-Elayne on the Web
Elayne Riggs

PeterDavid.net
Peter David

(postmodernbarney.com)
Dorian White

Progressive Ruin
Mike Sterling

Punk Rock Graffiti
Cindy Johnson & Autumn Meredith

Revoltin' Developments
Ken Cuperus

Rhinoplastique
Marc Bernardin

Scrubbles
Matt Hinrichs

Self-Styled Siren
Campaspe

Spatula Forum
Nik Dirga

Tales from the Longbox
Chris Mosby

TangognaT

The Third Banana
Aaron Neathery & Friends

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

Toner Mishap
B2 et al

Trusty Plinko Stick
Bill Doughty

TV Barn
Aaron Barnhart et al

Unqualified Offerings
Jim Henley

Various And Sundry
Augie De Blieck

Video WatchBlog
Tim Lucas

When Fangirls Attack
Kalinara & Ragnell

X-Ray Spex
Will Pfeifer

Yet Another Comics Blog
Dave Carter



A Brief Political Disclaimer:

If this blog does not discuss a specific political issue or event, it is not because this writer finds said event politically inconvenient to acknowledge - it's simply because he's scatterbrained and irresponsible.




My Token List of Poli-Blogs:

Alicublog
Roy Edroso

Eschaton
Atrios

Firedoglake
Jane Hamsher

James Wolcott

Lance Mannion

The Moderate Voice
Joe Gandelman

Modulator
Steve

Pandagon
Amanda Marcotte & Friends

The Sideshow
Avedon Carol

Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo
Skippy

Talking Points Memo
Joshua Micah Marshall

This Modern World
Tom Tomorrow

Welcome to Shakesville
Melissa McEwan & Friends



Blogcritics: news and reviews
Site Feed



Powered by Blogger



Twittering:
    follow me on Twitter