Review: ‘Gunsmith Cats Omnibus’ Book 1 Is Kind Of Creepy
by Benjamin Hall
Summary
The legendary manga ‘Gunsmith Cats’ sees re-release in omnibus format with the original right-to-left reading order. Containing the first three volumes of the Dark Horse Manga collections of ‘Gunsmith Cats’ (1996-1998). Join lethal bounty hunter Rally Vincent and explosive expert “Minnie” May Hopkins on their first several adventures. Can you handle the recoil of this amount of gunplay?
Overall
4.9/10This is the first in a multi-volume series of omnibuses and it collects a lot of Gunsmith Cats. However, this collection of a legendary manga property is definitely not flawless. For example there are some bits of dialogue that seem to be incorrect in placement. This flaw crops up early on and continues to pop up at various times. It also creates a jarring reading experience since the visuals are telling one story and the dialogue does not match the sequencing. Whether these problems are because of issues with the translation to English is unclear. What is clear is how creepy the characterization of “Minnie” May Hopkins is because of her starting as underage and the accompanying over-sexualization. One can argue that differing standards during the time of the original creation of Gunsmith Cats should be thought about, but it is creepy no matter what (Monthly Afternoon [February, 1991]).
Going beyond the problems this series is obviously a work of fantasy. One can tell this by the amount of pure luck the main characters Rally Vincent and Minnie usually survive by. Another reason this is fantasy is the amount of carnage that occurs. For instance car chases occur much like in any movies or shows wherein traffic is at virtually non-existent levels (John Wick: Chapter 2 [2017]). Also there is a large amount of gunfire and explosions that occur without emergency responders appearing. Not to mention a lot of characters have seemingly unrealistic physical reactions to stabbings and shootings. Luckily, it is not fully to cartoonish levels.
On the plus side, there is a lot of beautiful art. A highlight of the art is the texture and line work. Though the shading and design are good they do see some change around halfway this collection. Another plus is that one can learn a little about old cars and a lot about guns from these stories. Of course this is all assuming one can get past the bits of creepiness one finds in several of these stories.
The creative team includes: Writer/artist Kenichi Sonoda, letterer/retoucher Studio Cutie, along with translators Dana Lewis and Toren Smith.
Gunsmith Cats Omnibus Book 1 is in book stores now and in comic shops today thanks to publisher Dark Horse Manga.
