MISC. MANGA, *The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel

Another manga-styled graphic novel tied to an American steampunk franchise, this is a prequel to Cassandra Clare’s series, The Moral Instruments. Infernal Devices is takes place over a century before this which has been adapted into this graphic novel series.

Set in London 1878 where magic users and supernatural beings referred to as Downworlder live in tandem with mundane people. Tessa Grey arrives in town looking for her brother, but gets abducted by the evil Dark Sisters who want to use her in their experiments of creating mechanical dolls made from human parts. Tessa is later rescued by the Shadowhunters, a team of specialists who are each gifted with powers that hunt down inhuman threats to the mundane world. Tessa realizes her own strange ability to assume other people’s forms, and is willing to help them in exchange for looking for her missing brother while evading the evil Magister, leader of the Downworlders.

The art is pretty good by Gossip Girl artist Hyekyung Baek, but the flow of the story doesn’t seem as even as it should be, at least not in the manga novelization of the original books. More supernatural than steampunk, but still acceptable.