MISC. MANGA, *Edge Of Empire

Rod Espinoza did a more fleshed out version of his stories from the Victorian Secret specials about a trio known as the Three Sisters who act as sort of an all-female rescue squad set in a steampunk/fairy tale world.

The sisters are two baronesses and a lady who use their special skills and super powers to protect women in a harsh male-dominated environment. Their first tale has them retrieving a different trio of female explorers from inside a treacherous desert dungeon. Next, they team up with a forest nymph to rescue a princess from some lecherous Greeks in ah their grandiose gladiator fight. Lastly, some castaways are shipwrecked on an uncharted island, and only the puppetry skills of the lovely Lady Marionn can save them from mutinies, zombies, and Cthulu!

This 2-issue mini-series has some very complex imagery to it, especially with the Three Sisters’ awesome magical arsenal.

ANIME ARABIAN ADVENTURES, *Page 14

Story by Jer Alford. Art by Natalie Prayor.

Attack On Godzilla Jr.

Who Would Win: Cold Slither Vs. Misfits

MISC. MANGA, Tasty Bullet

Ever wonder what would it be like if Gatorade tried to take over the world? That's what Tasty Bullet attempts to show in this one-shot graphic novel. As part of Image Comics' Shadowline line of books, this came out right at the end of the big "Amerimanga" boom that companies like Tokyo Pop were cashing in on. This was a manga-styled story written by Johnathon Vankin who had previously worked on Vertigo's Vertigo Pop line, and co-written and drawn by Arnold Pander whose work also included Image's manga-themed Accelerate mini-series.

The Bullet Corp. company has a sexpot named Tamar acting as the "Tasty Girl" spokes model for their new energy drink, Tasty Bullet. However, this new product has a serious mystery behind it that has Tamar questioning her loyalty. All the stunts she has to perform are taking their toll, and she seems to becoming more addicted to Tasty Bullet, plus she seems to have no real memories prior to being hired by Bullet Corp. She threatens to quit, but the company needs her to help pimp their drink, so they make her acting CEO. This allows Tamar to look into the company, and finds Zak, the patient zero of Tasty Bullet. He also has gaps in his memory, and together they try to find out more about the company. An underground organization kidnaps Tamar to show her the truth behind the drink, and manage to get her off the drink cold turkey. She then sets her sights on the mysterious Mr. Six who controls everything.

This was a fair manga-styled comics, although it does get a little more over-stylized than it needs to like having lots of traditional big eyes and speed lines. It's worth a read for sure, at least to add to your own personal digital library.

Raise the roof!

OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Burn Up W

Some people have seen this as being a follow up of some kind to the original Burn Up! one-shot OVA. Both are future cop comedies featuring busty female officers and done through AIC, but in most respects Burn Up W is a remake of the first one. The original highlighted a kickass buxom blonde named Maki, and W also has a character named Maki but slightly older with short blue hair and glasses, although it's never revealed if this is the exact same person in the same storyline. Like the TV series, Burn Up Excess is an extended remake of W, and the Burn Up Scramble TV series is almost a remake of that too. So the franchise seems to be one remake after the other, but Burn Up W was the one that cemented it within the otaku zeitgeist.

Set in the not too distant future, a select special covert team within the Tokyo police has been assembled to handle special cases dubbed Team Warrior, although each member has their own unique quirks. Their leader Maki is extensive with their budget, their main fighter Rio is a battling blonde with a talent for spending way too much of her pension, Maya is their gun expert who is obsessed with firearms, Lillica is the playful hacker, Nanvel is their tech genius, and Yuji is the token male of the group whose main contribution is helicopter pilot and according to the opening credits(which only were completed more with every episode)is also a decent driver. They repeatedly butt heads with a mysterious underground group trying to introduce a new "virtual drug" to the market. Granted this OVA came out when the idea of VR involved huge helmets with large visors and going into some kind of Lawnmower Man sim, but this is maguffin of the story. The criminals first take a hotel full of dignitaries hostage to show them their product while some rank thrillseekers pretend to be the actual terrorists. The bad guys then lose track of their virtual idol Maria who is supposed to front the VR drug, and the AI downloads herself into an android body, which Team Warrior's response is to send an oversized Evangelion mecha to deal with it(talk about overkill!). The police eventually get a hold of one of the virtual drug headsets, so the bad guys invade police headquarters to get it back, so Team Warrior has to put them down.

Despite all the gags and fan service, the last two episodes have a pretty somber note to them with Rio's friend getting killed which causes her to go all Punisher on the bad guys. The OVA doesn't have an official ending to it, which is why it was remade as the TV series, Burn Up Excess, but the OVA on its own has a serious mad streak of fun and no holds barred action that the other TV remakes really seemed to capture. Burn Up W has been released twice through ADV Films on DVD, once on its own and again as part of their Essential Anime line, although it originally was unforgivably put on VHS as one episode per tape!