MISC. MANGA, *Clubbing

As part of DC Comics' Minx line of manga-styled comics, Clubbing was written by Andi Watson who specialized in anime-themed titles like Geisha and Skeleton Key, and drawn by Josh Howard of Dead @ 17 fame. The Minx line was largely focused at teenage girls with a love for manga, although aside from Josh Howard's art style, the story plays out similarly to the movie Hot Fuzz which was released about the same time that this graphic novel was released.

Charlotte(or "Lottie" to her friends)is a snobby goth girl from London who gets punished by her parents for trying to get into a club with a fake I.D., and sent to the countryside to spend the summer working at her grandparents' golf course. At first Lottie doesn't mind most of it, especially the young groundskeeper Howard, but the sudden murder of her grandfather's secretary leads Lottie to want to investigate it further than the police do. Without giving away the ending, the story involves Lottie's snarky inner monologue working through the mystery which involves a secret society, and the summoning of an ancient demon.

Clubbing is a pretty good attempt at an original manga, at least for a mainstream publisher like DC Comics, without it getting to mired down in too many clichés. Andi Watson has some incredible dialogue, and Josh Howards cheesecake art is surprisingly toned down for this project, but still appealing. My only real complaint is that about 10% of the book is taken up with previews from other Minx titles.