Staff Picks (December): JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PHANTOM BLOOD VOLUME 1 HC

Publisher: Viz Media LLC

This new Viz announcement excites manga enthusiasts because the only English-language JoJo (Joseph Joestar) previously available was the acclaimed third story arc: Stardust Crusaders.  Viz’s amazing editorial team has unveiled that they’re starting from the beginning!  I cannot use enough exclamation marks! These beautiful hard cover, oversized editions will contain the origin story for the two characters that started it all: Jonathon Joestar (JoJo #1!) and his adopted brother/immortal-rival Dio Brando.

In 1986, manga creator Hirohiko Araki launched one of the longest-running and top-selling manga to ever come out of Japan: a supernatural action battle epic called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.  The overall narrative follows the Joestar family and each of the series’ eight, multi-volume, self-contained story arcs focuses on a new member from a new generation of the Joestar clan. Imagine a manga that rolls out in much the same way that the Doctor Who franchise works. You can start following the series with the advent of any new Doctor (or Joestar child in this case), but the rules of the universe, the villains, and the need for companions and questing will remain the same from (re)generation to (re)generation.

Collectors of the manga, fans of the anime, the video games, the spin offs, the novels, the art books, and even the cosplay will be pounding down the door to get copies of the first-ever Joestar story arc and savvy new readers would do well to snag a copy double-quick. 

~ Sarah Martinez