Bravoman

Gr 3–7—Originating as a Japanese arcade game in 1988 and spinning off console titles in the early '90s, Bravoman is an obscure video game about a superherolike character with extendable appendages. While the premise sounds strange, the source material lends itself well to the character revival webcomic, of which the first 131 comics are collected in this volume. Familiarity with the video game franchise is not a prerequisite and, in fact, in some ways the less readers know about the source material knows the better. The book's foreword serves as an introduction to the world of Bravoman and provides suitable background to the characters and situations contained in the webcomic. Comic creator Moylan lovingly pokes fun at the game's bizarre content throughout the series and creates a context for the game's characters that is hilarious and action-packed. Highlights include a mortal enemy who doubles as a love interest, a self-centered TV spin-off celebrity with inopportune timing, an unobjectionable nemesis who is an unabashed fanboy of Bravoman, and a handful of guest artist cameos that interpret the comic in a variety of different styles. Each entry appearing in the collection includes a number, title, and date of original publication. Most also include commentary from Moylan and artist Gordine along with Gordine's rough layout sketch. The majority of the strips in this collection are four-panel with dialogue between two characters, and though each stands on its own, this serialized webcomic is meant to be read in order. This collection should be considered for general purpose and will have broad appeal among readers.—Matthew C. Winner, Ducketts Lane Elementary School, Elkridge, MD