Mania Grade: C-
Manga Series: The Reformed
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Story By: Christopher Hart
Art By: Anzu
Publisher: Del Rey
Price: $10.95
Manga Series: The Reformed
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Story By: Christopher Hart
Art By: Anzu
Publisher: Del Rey
Price: $10.95
Manga Review: THE REFORMED
By: Nadia OxfordDate: Sunday, May 25, 2008
Pity the poor vampire race. Authors often reference the dark curse that keeps the creatures chained to the tortures of immortality and their liquid, saline diet, but nobody recognises their desperation to break away from the cliches that bind them. If the reader were to take a drink for every well-beaten character trait and trampled line of dialogue that appears in The Reformed, he'll stumble drunkenly over the windowsill by the time the female hooker lead plays pool and talks troubled love with her sassy street-smart friend.
The OEL manga's story centres around a handsome and wealthy vampire named Giancarlo whose insatiable appetites have left him empty for hundreds of years. His hollow heart is soon filled when he meets (and almost preys upon) a street walker with a Heart of Gold™ named Jenny. The two spend time together and fall in love, but Giancarlo is worried that his love for Jenny might not mesh well with his badass leather-cloaked vampire self. To make things worse, a maverick detective named Frost is out to prove that Giancarlo is responsible for a string of hooker-killings. He appeals for help from Jenny, who refuses to believe her new friend is one of the undead (his creepy castle, brooding moods, disinterest in regular food and nightly habits notwithstanding).
The Reformed contains an afterword by writer Christopher Hart in which he references the flash of inspiration that drove him to write about a vampire faced with the choice between immortality and love. Looking into a writer's mind is often fun, and Hart is not without his applause-worthy credentials (including MAD Magazine—hey, it's quality literature as far as I'm concerned!), but he addresses the creation process as if his story idea is the only one of its kind. It's a boggling read, and even a little sad; it's like watching an eager kid breathlessly give bad idea after bad idea to a serious group project. If all the love-conflicted vampires in the literary world were to gather, there would be a black-clad line of self-hate extending from California to Maine.
To make things worse, The Reformed ends with what's intended to be a big bombshell, but it's such an overused plot point that the excitement dies with a weak poof. In addition, there's no indication that The Reformed will continue past its one volume. If it doesn't, how will we ever know whether or not Giancarlo found true love?
At least we can probably hazard a guess.
