Jing: King of Bandits, Volume 1

王ドロボウJING [Ōdorobō JING] #1

by Yuichi Kumakura, Kong Chang, Carol Fox

Jing, the heir of a legendary family of bandits, journeys through a fantasy world accompanied by his companion, a bird named Kir.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comics Manga, Adventure, Action

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

熊倉裕一 (Kumakura Yuichi).

Reviews

[Mike E]

This is a very episodic and fanciful series, it reminds me most of The Phantom Tollbooth without all of the double-entendres. It will either turn you off or you'll love it, its not very serious unless you get to the final volume or the sequel series. It has its flaws but its a wacky, fun, adventurous comedy. Very light on action, but impactful when it happens.

Also very reminiscent of that late 90s manga feel that's just missing nowadays, doesn't feel as corporatized but maybe that's just my nostalgia speaking.

[TristanE]

I stumbled upon the this manga while thrifting, I was a little disappointed in the art style. I love the anime that has been made, the colors pop, but the story itself feels like a dream. This manga felt lacking in my opinion. I do love the story and think it’s very fun but the art fell more flat than I was expecting.

Immediate and unedited review, 4*

[Janey Dangerous]

I loved this whole series as a kid

[Jessica]

This is okay. My biggest problem is there's no real overarching thing going on -- we know nothing of Jing's motivations or backstory, so we have no real investment in his story and whether he fails or succeeds at stealing. Some of the art is hard to follow, and it seems there are only two leads.

However, the chapters themselves are decent stories, and some of the worldbuilding does look exciting. There's definitely real creativity involved. I don't dislike Jing -- I just don't really know him, so I'm not attached to him.

Overall, it's not a bad story, and if I saw another volume at a book sale or at a library, I might pick it up. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but I wouldn't mind taking another glance.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads)]

Series: Jing, King of Bandits #1
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good

Well this was fun! These are basically stories about Jing and his companion bird Kir saving people and stealing money. I really enjoyed them even though there isn’t an overarching story. I especially loved the random real life references, like the poem The Raven and The Goblin King from the Labyrinth. My only complaint really is that the text is very tiny at times and makes it hard to read with the font used. This just had such a 90s manga feel that it was very nostalgic and fun to read. I will totally read more.

[Stephen Soule]

This is a pure nostalgia read. I first read this in junior high because a friend got it for me as a birthday gift. It’s a pretty standard “adventure of the week” deal with Jing and his sidekick Kir as the only recurring characters. The stories are lightweight “beat the bad guys, steal the treasure, get the girl” riffs but it’s got a lot going for it. The settings are interesting, it’s got a lighthearted, freewheeling style to it, and the artwork is chaotic and interesting and busy with fun details (the villain of the second story who shows up wearing a steampunk pig-knight suit is a highlight). It’s nothing special if you’re older than say 14 or 15 but I enjoyed revisiting it.

[Anne]

I've read this book before, and it's not as good as I remember. While the idea and the stories are interesting, the book has three problems: how women are depicted, the somewhat messy art style, and too much text on some pages. Still, I think I will read the subsequent volumes since I want to know how the story develops.

[Reda REi]

Good

[Rae]

(Volumes 1-6)

[Querida]

The artwork is a little chaotic making it difficult to follow at times, however I love the story

[Gavin]

Pretty funny, but pointless and repetitive.

[Ericka]

Really detailed art. Hard to follow in such small pages, would really like to see a giant version. The stories are pretty entertaining, though pretty standard for shounen manga.

[Oyindamola Borisade]

Awesome book and very interesting

[Yuu Sasih]

This rating and review are for all completed volumes.

Dari semua komik di rak buku, sampai sekarang King of Bandit Jing masih menjadi koleksi favorit saya. Saya kumpulkan sejak 2003 hingga 2005 dengan total 7 volume, Yuichi Kumakura selalu sukses membuat saya kagum dengan artwork surealnya yang luar biasa. Setiap kisah petualangan Jing juga selalu mempunyai pesan yang mendalam tentang hidup, kasih sayang, dan pengorbanan. Obrolan ngaco Jing dan Kir, burung peliharaan sekaligus senjatanya, juga selalu membuat suasana cerita terasa ringan.

Saya paling suka petualangan Jing di penjara Seventh Heaven di volume kelima, dimana Jing ingin mencuri mimpi sang Ilisionis. Artwork penjara-jalan-sesat sangat, sangat indah dan hebat, dan keseluruhan cerita di Arc itu juga sangat menyentuh--dan membingungkan, karena ada terlalu banyak realitas dan paradoks.

Full blast 5 stars.

[Ren Dexter]

A mostly plotless story following the many lucrative and quirky adventures of Jing the King of bandits and his wise craking feathers friend the bird Kir. This particular volume inculdes a hunt for the "double mermaid" a set of mermaids made of crystal, a brief side journey into a haunted gamboling ship, and a showdown with a overlord obsessed with punctuality and not wasting time.

This was a book I had read before when I was a kid, now I remember why I didn't finish the series. The art work is shoddy, the story line is subpar, and the characters lack depth. While some might disagree with my assesment, I still wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

[Stephanie Jachymek]

Somewhere at a 1.5/2 out of 5.
The characters in this series mostly sucked and the actual character art I couldn't stand.
The rest of the art was actually very, very good though. Lots of incredible details throughout the entire series.
Unfortunately, there is such a little amount of actual plot in this, it wasn't very engaging.
On top of that, some of the stories were downright awful to try and make sense of. The scenes seemed to just jump from one to the next with no coherence and you're left wondering what the hell is going on.
On the other hand, a lot of the ideas in this series were really interesting and I'd have loved to read about them if they were written well.

[Selena Pigoni]

This is one of those series that you read and wonder just how drunk the artist was while writing it.

Especially since all but a few characters are named for alcoholic beverages.

The story follows a boy named Jing, who can steal everything and anything, and his bird friend Kir, who can shoot lasers out of his mouth.

This series is full of laughs and some well-hidden morals, as well as a lot of head scratching.

[Anime]

A very cheesy manga I don't think you suggest anybody should read it don't waste you're time.

This kid who named Jing is king of bandit not bandits King of bandit.
He really self he goes around looking treasure and that's kid.

The art 1/5
Jing has nothing interesting about him, He is just plan. The backgrounds don't even what he is doing.

Story 0/5
What story?
He is just basically goes around doing nothing.

[Dakota Grover]

Following the main characters Jing and Kir, is talking bird friend. I don't really feel or have to say much about this Manga. The artwork wasn't bad but I hated the characters and how obnoxious they were.

[Nellie225]

Jing is a comic book and it is funny and good. It is a really wonderful book to read. It's hard to stop reading once you get started.

[Rosa]

The action sequences are a little bit hard to follow in the panels, but the story is great and funny. I liked the artwork as well.

[Laura]

One of the few mangas I read. I remember it being funny and pirate-y!

[Rae Parker]

I didn't like this book very much, it was hard to understand and I didn't really get it when i was reading.

[Mackenzie]

The plot wasn't /terrible/... Though it could be more engaging, and I felt the artwork was hard to follow from time to time.

[Kirsten Simkiss]

I loved the art of this manga as a kid. I still enjoy how oddly proportioned the.m characters are, although I now question more about the story than I once did. For instance, what's the crime rate in a city made up entirely of thieves? How do you make a living there? Is it just expected that you're all going to steal from each other on a daily basis or is there some sort of code?

Regardless, it's a fun collection of short jaunts into the travels of Jing and Kir. I look forward to reading future manga in the series.