GON (#1), DC Comics / Paradox Press, 1996
Gon is mean little dinosaur that somehow sprung from the mind of Masashi Tanaka. It's manga, but not your tired old "schoolgirl uniform/giant robot/upskirt shots" kind of manga. The premise is simple enough: Gon lives in today's nature and he beats the crap out of big predators like bears, wolves and cougars. He's a real jerk about it too.
Each volume features three short, silent stories that manage to have the realism of natural history illustrations and the crazy action of a Road Runner cartoon. In "Gon Eats and Sleeps", he beats the living crap out of a bear 20 times his size, then uses him as a bed. In "Gon Goes Flying", he's adopted by eagles who sorta teach him how to fly... oh, and he beats the crap out of a lynx.
The best of the lot though is "Gon Glares". In this one, Gon protects all the animals of the Australian outback from a mother dingo. Here's a scene where he's taught the koala bears how to fight back. (Sorry about the shitty scan, but I'm not about to crack the book's spine for this miserable blog.)
Later, Gon finds himself in a kangaroo's pouch, where he delivers an ISB-approved blow.
Anyway, by the end of the story, all the animals are against this dingo, and she and her two pups are really hungry. So Gon throws the pups a bone (a fish, actually), but they refuse it and all three predators leave, their tails held high. I thought this was great. Gon is big on intimidation and crushing all resistance, but here, he's clearly not totally in the right (not that I want to see koalas get eaten or anything) and the antagonists are allowed some nobility and pride. You're with Gon, but you still want the dingos to win. It's like a Tweety cartoon where you just want that DAMN BIRD TO DIE DIE DIE!!!!! But Sylvester just can't catch a break!!!
...
Don't know why I went all ranty on Tweety for a second there... Anyway... Get Gon, you'll like it.
Gon is mean little dinosaur that somehow sprung from the mind of Masashi Tanaka. It's manga, but not your tired old "schoolgirl uniform/giant robot/upskirt shots" kind of manga. The premise is simple enough: Gon lives in today's nature and he beats the crap out of big predators like bears, wolves and cougars. He's a real jerk about it too.Each volume features three short, silent stories that manage to have the realism of natural history illustrations and the crazy action of a Road Runner cartoon. In "Gon Eats and Sleeps", he beats the living crap out of a bear 20 times his size, then uses him as a bed. In "Gon Goes Flying", he's adopted by eagles who sorta teach him how to fly... oh, and he beats the crap out of a lynx.
The best of the lot though is "Gon Glares". In this one, Gon protects all the animals of the Australian outback from a mother dingo. Here's a scene where he's taught the koala bears how to fight back. (Sorry about the shitty scan, but I'm not about to crack the book's spine for this miserable blog.)
Later, Gon finds himself in a kangaroo's pouch, where he delivers an ISB-approved blow.
Anyway, by the end of the story, all the animals are against this dingo, and she and her two pups are really hungry. So Gon throws the pups a bone (a fish, actually), but they refuse it and all three predators leave, their tails held high. I thought this was great. Gon is big on intimidation and crushing all resistance, but here, he's clearly not totally in the right (not that I want to see koalas get eaten or anything) and the antagonists are allowed some nobility and pride. You're with Gon, but you still want the dingos to win. It's like a Tweety cartoon where you just want that DAMN BIRD TO DIE DIE DIE!!!!! But Sylvester just can't catch a break!!!...
Don't know why I went all ranty on Tweety for a second there... Anyway... Get Gon, you'll like it.
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