Well ol' Father Geek is back once more posting up Scott Green's AICN Anime Report; news on toys, games, DVDs, Videos, Motion Pictures, comics, anything having to do with the world of Anime and/or Manga. And this week's regular Wednesday Column is a looooooooooong one, so with no further adieu here's what Scott's got for us this week...

Free Vampire Hunter D Screening in NYC

The Village Voice, invites you and your friends to a free public advance screening of their new theatrical movie, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, on Wednesday September 19th before it's regularly scheduled opening. The advanced screening will be held at 7:30 pm at:

AMC Empire 25

234 W. 42nd Street

New York, NY 10036

Remember, everyone is invited to attend and no tickets are required.

Anime/Manga Released This Week

Anime:

• Blue Seed DVD volume 3 Nightfall
• Blue Seed DVD volume 4 Prelude to Sacrifice
• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing - Operation 10
• Gatekeepers volume 1 dub VHS
• Robotech - The Macross Saga - Legacy Collection 3 ~ Robotech-Macross Saga
• Robotech - War & Peace (Vol. 5)
• Robotech - Final Conflict (Vol. 6)

Manga:

• Cardcaptor Sakura #20
• Dark Angel volume 3
• Dragon Ball Z Part 4 #10
• El Hazard PArt 3 # 3 (of 6)
• Gigantor #12 (of 12)
• Lodoss War: Chronicles of Heroic Knight #12
• Neon Genesis Envagelion Book 5
• No Need For Tenchi Volume 10: Mother Planet
• Oh My Goddess Part X #5 Hand in Hand (Part 2 of 2)

Also of Interest Roughnecks - The Starship Troopers Chronicles - The Tesca Campaign (vhs and DVD)

Cowboy Bebop Off Adult Swim?

According to the Cartoon Network web page, Cowboy Bebop will not be shown for at least the next two weeks (as far the the website lists). Seehereand here. Toonheads and the Bob Clampett Show will be shown in its place. One Cartoon Network representative has told Anime News Network that Cowboy Bebop has not been cancelled. Others have been told that it has been pulled indefinitely.

Gundam More Edited than Previously Believed

The Anime No Editing Zone has discovered that besides having altered opening and ending animation sequences and digitally "modernized" animation footage, one entire episode of the original 43 episode Mobile Suit Gundam TV series has been removed from the American home video and Cartoon Network broadcast version. According to Bandai's Charles McCarter on the Anime on DVD Forum, series creator and director Yoshiyuki Tomino personally requested that the episode be removed because it "wasn't up to par with the rest of them."

Sen Out grosses Mononoke

Last week Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakushi became the highest grossing anime fan. As of September 13th, Hayao Miyazaki's latest film had grossed 19.354 billion yen in 56 days of theatrical release. Mononoke Hime had previously held the record at 19.323 billion yen. James Cameron's Titanic is now the only film ever released theatrically in Japan to have earned more than Sen to Chihiro. Sen to Chihiro now has to aim to beat Titanic's 25.9 billion yen gross.

CPM Licenses Himiko Den

Central Park Media has announced that they have licensed the fantasy RPG based Himiko Den.

Himiko Den is a 12 episode fantasy action series that is considered one of the rare instances where an anime series based on a video game works. The series is about a girl who with a mysterious past, who turns about to be the child of the guardians of a sacred flame. During a ritual to the flame an evil force attacks and scatters the flame's six spirits. When the evil force attempts to burn the girl the flame sends her to the present time.

The series has been praised for its tight story, but criticized from squeezing too many characters into two few episodes.

Protoculture Addicts 67 Released

Issue 67 of the Protoculture Addicts anime magazine has been released. The cover features are spotlights on Blood: The Last Vampire and Gatchaman. The Blood article includes a short review of the feature, a look at its production, and its cast and crew that gives some insight into the movie's plot and ending. The Gatchaman article is a lengthy look at Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, the classic series that featured future luminaries such as Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy), Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road), Kunio Okawara (Gundam) and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), well as its plot, characters and mecha. A helpful chart gives the names of characters for the series' various incarnations (Gatchaman, Battle of the Planet, G-Force, and Eagle Riders). Those who haven't had the opportunity to see any Gundam will want to read the introduction to Gundam article, offers a look at the appeal of the series, and explains the concepts and plots of the series.

The issue also offers looks at recent Japanese series Ai No Awa Awa Awaa (Modern Love's Silliness), Argento Soma, Gakko no Kaidan, Genso Maden Saiyuki, Gundress, Tri Zenon, and Vandread.

Ai No Awa Awa Awaa is an anime aid towards single women is college or the work place from Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The title is comprised of three stories, Ebichu Minds the House, about an eager to please hamster and her bacherlorette owner, Here Comes Koume, an Osaka comedy about an office worker, and Little Women in Love, about a family in a more conservative town whose mother is concerned about her unmarried daughters.

Argento Soma is a 25 science fiction tragedy series from Studio Sunrise (Gundam). Protoculture Addicts points out that unlike many revenge mecha series, rather the focusing on a growing teenager, this series revolves around an older young man. The series is directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama (The Big O, Giant Robo).

Gakko No Kaidan [The School Ghost Story] is a 19 episode series of ghost stories with a Buddhist twist. Genso Maden Saiyuki is a 50 episode Journey to the West story with a cast of bishonen (beautiful male) characters.

Gundress was an action, Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) vehicle. Tri Zenon: The Invisible King is a retro/70's robot series with voice work by the ever popular Megumi Hayashibara. Vandread is another science fiction series from Studio Gonzo. In this case the unassuming boy who gains the powerful mecha is from a planet of men at war with a planet of women.

Kids' WB Moves

The new season will no be September 29 instead of 15. "The schedules for Saturday, September 15th and September 22nd will now feature double episodes of Rescue Heroes, Jackie Chan Adventures, Pokémon, and Cardcaptors."

Ghibli Museum Opens Early

According to Japan Today the Ghibli Museum in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, Japan has opened to the press prior to its offical October 1st opening. Studio Ghibli is best known for its animated movies by Hayao Miyzaki (Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Nausicaa ect).

Macross Release Update

AnimEigo has sent a message to those who preordered the Macross Box set saying that while they had hoped to release the series in October, mid to early December is the current estimated time frame.

Several factors conspired to create the additional delay. The major one was that the restoration of the original footage has taken considerably longer than they expected. This restoration is a multistep process of color correction, image enhancement and defect removal; the final results are spectacular. The delay was compounded when, about 1/4 of the way through the restoration, a new restoration sequence (the order in which the various possible restoration procedures are applied) was discovered that further improved the final quality. We were then faced with a decision: use the new procedure only on the last 3/4 of the series, which created a noticeable difference. The process had to be started from scratch to fix the problem.

The current status of preproduction is as follows:

The packaging, box, and liner notes are all at the printers.

The translation, subtitles, dvd menus and other ancillary materials have all been completed.

Most of the episodes have been restored. The rest will be completed by the end of September, well before they are needed for authoring.

The first DVDs are about to be authored. Since all the components have been created (in particular, the tricky part of DVD authoring, the menus), it's mostly an assemble-test-and-tweak job.

When finished they should be able to ship 1000-2000 sets a day.

Included in the Macross box set will be a special "3D" animated lenticular coverplate.

ADV November Releases

ADV has set a number of release dates for various series. Gasaraki: "In The Spider's Web" will be released on November 27th on DVD and VHS. "As Yushiro struggles desperately to rescue Miharu, the noose around the neck of the free world begins to tighten. As the US and Japan find themselves driven to the brink of war, the very fabric of civilization begins to unravel. Caught in the crossfire, the TA Team must make the difficult decision of whom and what to fight for in a war that no one can possibly win. Apocalypse approaches in Gasaraki: "In the Spider's Web"" The volume will contain 3 episodes.

Arc the Lad: Day of Reckoning, with 5 episodes of the anime series based on the Playstation RPG, will be released on VHS and DVD on November 27th.

The first volume of Those Who Hunt Elves, entitled "Read, Set, Strip" will be releasedon November 13th. The collection will contain 6 episodes of the series.

"No one knows exactly how JUNPEI (a strongman) AIRI (a Hollywood actress) and RITSUKO (a teenager) - along with their T-74 Tank - found themselves marooned in a strange world populated by a wide variety of elves. But when a magic spell cast by the elf' elder CELCIA, designed to send the strangers back to their own world, splits into five distinct fragments (that now appear as tattoos on the bodies of five young female elves), the stage is set for an epic quest by the trio known as "Those Who Hunt Elves". Their mission - to track down and examine every female elf they can lay their hands on until they find the missing pieces of their ticket back home. "

Orphen: Ruins & Relics, with 3 episodes of the fantasy action series will be released on November 6th(in this case the Playstation RPG game after the anime series).

The fourth volume of Nadia: Secret of Blue Water,"Battleground" will be released on November 11th. "In this volume, Captain Nemo orders the crew of his amazing submarine, The Nautilus, to gather food and water on a nearby island. Marie and King - a lion cub - take the opportunity to have a little fun in the sun, but they soon find themselves being chased by minions of the evil Gargoyle! A narrow escape from one dangerous situation leads the valiant crew of The Nautilus into a deadly battle with a gigantic Garfish - an enormous sea creature. To make matters worse, the American Fleet - who still believe that Nemo's submarine is a mysterious sea monster responsible for the sinking of numerous trans-oceanic vessels - continuously pursues The Nautilus."

The street date for ADV Films' home video release of "Battleground" - the exciting fourth installment of the beloved anime series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - has been set for November 6th, 2001. Loosely based on Jules Verne's classic tale, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - ADV Films plans a concurrent day & date release for both VHS and DVD formats of this captivating title.

The next set of Robotech will be "Robotech Masters - A New Threat" and "Robotech Masters - Revelations". The volumes will be collected in Robotech Masters: Robotech Legacy - Collection 4 with a special disc of original opening/closing sequences from the original Japanese series; a gallery of the original Robotech Masters comic book covers; production sketches; and more exclusive international clips available exclusively in this 3-disc collector's edition. These will be released on 10/30.

The fifth Robotech boxset has been assigned a street date of 12/11/01. This set concludes the Robotech Masters/Southern Cross saga of Robotech.

Ghost in the Shell 2 Manga and Princess Mononoke Plushes

Pre-orders for the December release of Princess Mononke plushes of the Kodama forrest spirit and Yakkuru elk like creator are being take with the November release. The Kodama is 11" takk with a bell in is head. It retail for $32.99. The Yakkuru is 7" long with reigns, and will retail for $26.99. Diamond Distributors, best known for comics, imports raw (Japanese only) manga, and other interesting anime product. In September they are taking pre-orders for their November releases (and a few products that will be released after November).

The serialized Man: Machine Interface: Ghost in the Shell 2 will be collect in a 214 page volume, with the entire series since 1997 and the final installment "Dual Device" for $28.99. The first volume of the Cowboy Bebop manga will retail for $10.99. Other imported manga of note includes The first volume of the Cowboy Bebop manga will retail for $10.99. The first volume of Go Nagai's (Devilman, Getter Robo, Cutey Honey) pro wrestling based Battle Hawk will be released.

Diamond Distributors has come out with a list of their anime merchandise being released this November. The items can be preordered through you local comic shop.

Imported Books include: Groundwork of FLCL includes Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's art work for Gainax's FLCL. Mad About Mad House is a 180 page look at Mad Housem the anime studio behind Genma Taisen, Vampire Hunter D, Metro Police, Card Captor Sakura, Lodoss Island War, Trigun, and more.

A Neon Genesis Evangelion zippo lighter with the seven eyed Lilith symbol will retail for $70.00

AIC Shorts to Appear Online

The English version of AIC's http://www.a-i-c.co.jp/e/index.html web site is reporting shorts of "Magical Witchland" will be apearing online on Lycos Japan this fall. The series is directed by Tenchi Muyo's Hayashi Hiroki, with character design by Azuma Kiyohiko and script by Ohnoki Hiroshi. http://www.lycos.co.jp/

The "Magical Witchland" manga by Katura Yukimaru will be serialized "Dengeki Daioh" starting in October.

BAAF To Continue As Planned

The Big Apple Anime Fest relayed the following message: We at Big Apple Anime Fest are deeply saddened and troubled by the recent attack on our city. The lives of every American have been affected by this tragedy.

We are planning to continue our festivities as planned, with the hope of offering a diversion to our fellow New Yorkers. Since air travel has been so affected by this tragedy, we are aware that this may make it difficult for those planning to attend from out of town.

Things are still changing rapidly, so I'm sure there will be some changes in store.

New Yorkers are tough, and as we are witnessing daily, they are also some of the nicest people in the world. The continued reports of generosity and outreach in our community and elsewhere remind us of what a great place this truly is.

With the help of the rest of the world, we will persevere. And we believe in continuing to live our lives no matter what.

Please stay tuned to the web site for any news and changes to the festival. Hopefully, there shouldn't be too many.

Exaxxion Preview

Newsarama has posted a preview of Dark Horse's upcoming release of Kenichi Sonoda's Exaxxion manga (manga)at here. The article mostly discusses the story and Sonoda's style, with a few cover images. Sonoda is best known in the US as the creator of Gunsmith Cat's, about two young woman bounty hunters in Chicago.

Black Magic M-66 on DVD

Manga Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Black Magic M-66 on DVD October 30th. The 60 minute movie was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Blood: The Last Vampire) and Masamune Shirow (creator of the Ghost in the Shell manga) who was also responsible for the original story, screenplay and and storyboard.

"Black Magic M-66 is the exciting futuristic adventure of Sybel, a freelance video journalist who becomes involved in a dangerous military fiasco when two top-secret military android assassins, known as M-66 units, are lost. One of the deadly M-66 units escapes with a mission to eliminate Ferris, the granddaughter of its creator. Time is running out as Sybel faces the deadly M-66 android in an epic battle to save Ferris. "

More on Final Fantasy TV Series

According to The GIA The series' story begins when a black pillar appears in the water near Japan and began calling Summoned Beasts from another world. A geologist, Dr. Hayakawa, and his wife Marie venture travel through the gate to the other world and eventually return to Earth, where they write a book chronicling their experiences. The couple returns to the other world for a second adventure, but this time they vanish and fail to return.

The Hayakawas' children, Ai and Yuu, decide to look for their missing parents. Following clues left in the original travelogue, the two venture to an abandoned subway station, where a nighttime train supposedly runs to the other world. The train arrives at 12:13 and 13 seconds. Ai and Yuu board it, where they encounter the show's heroine, Lisa.

The primary staff members working on the project were also revealed:

• Base Concept: Akitoshi Kawazu (SaGa series)
• General Director: Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No. 6)
• Conductor: Yoshitomo Yonetani (GaoGaiGar, Betterman, Brigadoon, etc.)
• Series Planning: Atsuhiro Tomioka (Pokemon, Vandread)
• Digital Director: Tomohiro Hirata
• Assistant Director: Ken'ichi Takeshita (Devilman)
• Character Design: Carmel-7
• Mechanical Design: Makoto Kobayashi (Gundam)
• Animation Production: GONZO/DIGIMATION (studios)

An ad with several characters can be seen at here.

Lupin III Shooting Game

According to Magic BoxSega WOW Entertainment announced that they will be showing a new arcade gun shooting game at the 39th JAMMA Show called Lupin the 3rd - The Shooting. The flow of the game is similar to the past Sega light gun shooter, but this time there will be a total of 15 stages, and there will be an introduction animation before each stage begins. For more images here

Spotlight Inu-Yasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale (based on collections)

Inu-Yasha is the latest extended manga story from the legend Rumiko Takashi, the creator of Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura (Lum) and Maison Ikkoku amongst other works.

Being a Takahashi story one would expect odd characters brought together under unusually circumstance form Inu-Yasha, and it delivers in abundance. The titular character, Inu-Yasha is a furry-eared, half demon-dog,half human. An eternally schoolboy-Peter Pan-esque character. Like Takahashi's Ranma, Inu-Yash overcompensates for self doubt (he's only half demon), with a hot headed belligerent attitude. Luckily, he can usually back up his words with actions. The story opens with a very bad day for Inu-Yasha where he could not back up his words. In Japans ancient's feudal past, while in pursuit of the Jewel of Four Souls, which would allow him to become a full demon, Inu Yasha is imprisoned against a tree by an arrow shot by a young priestess, named Kikyo. She dies in the process.

In the present day a school girl named Kagome, who is the spitting image of Kikyo is happily ignoring her elderly, "let me tell you the legend of ." grandfather's stories of The of Four Souls (now a charm on a key chain), and threatening to feed a mummified Kappa (turtle demon) hand to her cat.

After blissfully ignoring her grandfather's tales all her life, the unthinkable happened when Kagome chased her cat into the "Bone-Eater's Well". Yep. you guessed it. a centipede demon-woman grabbed our hero and brings here face to face with Inu-Yasha, who has been pinned to the tree for 50 years. Despite the angry reactions from the nearby townspeople and Inu-Yasha, who believes Kagome is Kikyo, Kagome frees Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha and the centipede demon then proceed to battle over the Jewel of Four Souls. When the dust clears Kagome has the gem. After an encounter with another demon the Jewel is accidentally splintered into shards and scattered. An infuriated Inu-Yasha begins to realize that he may have to deal with Kagome for in order to obtain the gem.

Inu-Yasha and Kagome are eventually joined by a shape shifting, child fox, demon , a priest cursed with a vortex in his hand that can suck in demons, but will eventually consume him, and demon slayer searching for her brother (not in the first seven volumes). The series' repeating antagonists are Inu-Yasha's half brother Sessho-Maru and another demon instigating conflict behind the scenes.

The series is divided between episodic stories that are tied together by the search for the shards, and stories that advance a more central plot.

The episodic stories vary in terms of genre. For example, the two stories that fill the bulk of the third volume. The first story is part fairly tale, part feudal action. It features Inu-Yasha and Kagome's meeting with the famous Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga was an ambitious warlord who unified Japan. Anime tends to depict him as a villain and in a demonic light. Here, Nobunaga is younger, more naïve, and more idealistic than history tends to think of him, not to mention the addition an intelligent, mystical monkey that often resides on his shoulder. The odd trio takes it upon themselves too free the lord who is the husband of Nobunaga's love from the influence of a frog demon with a shard of the "Jewel of Four Souls". As a fairy tale it works as the telling the story of a young man, with the help of his companions attempts to rescue his love from a monster, which proves too powerful for them to handle, until they find its weakness, sprinkle with manga style action, fuzz! y animals and bra jokes.

The second story deals with modern times in a story that's part relationship comedy, part horror. When Kagome spends time in Inu-Yasha's time, time passes at the same speed in the current era, a fact that has caused Kagome's grades to drop like a lead parachute. This story also introduces another naïve lad, this time one who is in love with Kagome. The story starts with Kagome angrily kicking Inu-Yasha into the well that links their times. A possessed woman wearing a scarred mask interrupts a gang of street youths assaulting an elderly man. As they stomp on the man the mask splits in half revealing teeth that fly out in a fleshy mass and decapitate one of the youths. After a shot of the horrified street youths, the comic pans to a shot of the night and the cracking and rending sounds of the youths being consumed, then a cartoonish Inu-Yash pouting in a tree. The scarred mask turn out to be a flesh mask that is a relic of Inu-Yasha's time that has survived with a shard of the "Jewel of Four Souls". The story does not mix the genres inappropriately. Kagome's slight! off Inu-Yasha come into play in the conflict with the demon, but only in a moment where Inu-Yasha believe he has bested it.

Other than the characters' introduction the series' central plot begins to advance itself after a battle with an interesting demon named Yura of the Hair, a ninja like being who entraps and manipulates people with lengths of hair. In the aftermath of the battle with Yura Inu-Yasha's follower locates him. The follower is an extremely diminutive fellow, who looks like a miniature old man with a beak by the name of Myoga the Flea. Myoga appears to have specialized in feeding off Inu-Yasha's father, a demon-dog of great power. Myoga informs Inu-Yasha that he believes someone is attempting to rob his father's tomb. That someone is Inu-Yasha's brother, Sessho Maru, and his follower and impish clerical figure name Jaken who carries a hideous relic know as the Staff of Two Heads. Sessho Maru is seeking the Tetsu-Saiga, "the Steel Carving Fang", a magic sword made out Inu-Yasha's and Sessho Maru's mutual father. Learning that Inu-Yasha has been freed from his geis Sessho Maru decide! to obtain the location their father's tomb from his brother.

The main story does not have the unique genre experimentation that the side stories have, its mostly the kind of fantasy/action/dramas that are fairly common in anime and manga. What it does have is some unique and interesting relationships between the characters. Inu-Yasha and Kagome's relationship is usually the cookie cutter story of two people in love with each other who are the last to know, or admit it. Inu-Yasha and Kagome continue to antagonize each other. He calls her useless and pushes her out of the way, she over reacts to unintended insults and sometimes intentionally provokes him. Takahashi has played this game before in Ranma, her soap opera drama Maison Ikkoku and more. What makes this relationship different is that it has been muddied by Inu-Yasha's previous relationship with Kikyo, the priestess who imprisoned him who shares Kagome's appearance. As the series progress a tragic love story begins to unfold that makes Inu-Yasha's behavior towards Kagome! worth watching. He seems often seems to be protecting her, and his own emotions, but there are more subtle thoughts that aren't vocalized.

The relationship between Inu-Yasha and Sessho-Maru also has an appeal to it. Sessho-Maru is Inu-Yasha's foil. He's a full demon. He's cold and efficient. Were as Inu-Yasha rushes into battle yell and a snarl, Sessho-Maru wades in with a blank expression. His actions are usually quick and planned. In the most intense moments, if he shows any expression, small it's a knowing smile. Takahashi seems to be hinting that the relationship is not as simple as hero against villain. With the exception of the cute, young Shippo, all of the series' demons are given scenes where they attack and slaughter humans. In the case of Sessho-Maru, in both cases he is slaughtering roving armies rather than villagers. In the first case an army captain rips off the head of a boar, showing the strength and brutality he will employs against his enemies. Sessho-Maru shows up, and rips off the captain's head. He doesn't appear to be randomly killing and terrorizing. He seems to be locked in a vicious sibling rivalry. In confrontations with Inu-Yasha and his companions, Sessho-Maru focuses exclusively on Inu-Yasha. When other appears he tries to take them out of the conflict to continue after his brother.

The series' storytelling plays well to Takashi's graphic strengths. She has shown her skill at telling actions comedies, dramas, fairy tales, horror. Inu-Yasha gave her the opportunity to combine them all. Even those who having only a passing familiarity with anime or manga can probably recognized Takahashi's character design form series such as Ranma 1/2. Inu-Yasha's artwork is borrowed element's from Takahashi's previous works. The characters of Inu-Yasha, Kagome, and the rest of the main cast appear to have similar designs abstract designs with expressive characters, with simple curved lines and anime saucer-eyes of Raman 1/2. One cannot help, but think of Inu-Yasha as a Ranma character with fuzzy ears. These designs are good for action and drama and comedy.

The demons, as well the inhabitants of Inu-Yasha's era, such as wandering bandits, or villagers, including Kikyo's now aged, one-eyed sisters posses character design similar to that of Takahashi's horror series, Mermaid Forest. They appear sinister or world-weary, with more details and angular lines. Takahashi's ability to merge the two styles improves over the course of the series. In the first encounter with the centipede demon the images only look like characters from one series were pasted into a scene from another. Later conflict are less jarring. In confrontational moments heroes are drawn with more lines and the menacing appearance of demons is accomplished more with shading than lines.

When the style jells it works very well. For example a sense where Inu-Yasha, Kagome, and Shippo walk into a room filled with spiders the size of small dogs, with human heads. In a comic form less abstract than most drawings of the characters we see Inu-Yasha scowling, Kagome, cautious and frightened hold his arms, and Shippo terrified clutching her leg, all surround by less abstract, and more disconcerting spiders.

Inu-Yasha is a testimony to Takahashi's skill as an entertainer. It's a fun that does not require too much mental input. It is always shifting and trying new things. There are a few misses, but most of the stories are enjoyable. funny when they should be, exciting when they should be, freaky when they should be She escapes the traps of making the story too episodic to care about the characters over the length of the series, and making the repeat the same patterns too often (which she fell into in other series). One can quickly tell whether they will like the series. Pick up one of its monthly releases. If you find the characters engaging and the situations interesting, all of the back issues are being collected in trade paperback volumes.

That's it for me... Scott