Beneath the steel and neon glow of Pacific City a low-rent bounty hunter just got a job offer, a small fortune offered for a simple bodyguard position. But no job called simple ever is. Especially in a world of robotic partners, powerful mega corporations, pop idols, and cyber ninja assassins.
Pretty awesome book. It reads like somebody really likes cyberpunk comics such as Appleseed (first published in 1985) and Ghost in the Shell (first published in 1989), and was really disappointed that cyberpunk is out of fashion and that sort of comic is no longer made, so they went and made their own. It's well executed, and I'd like to see more of this sort of thing, where comic creators are making genre books that aren't influenced by the usual suspects.
Very enjoyable “manga style but not quite” graphic novel with some very original, out of the box touches. It is NOT a regular manga. Even if you don’t like Mangas, and I typically don’t, it’s worth the read.
A bit too derivative of anime/manga tropes, and Soriano has some style and flair but still isn't yet ready for the big leagues. Layouts can be too busy, unbalanced, but with more experience under his belt he could really develop into a very efficient action artist.
Retropunk is an awesome ride, that really leaves you wanting more by the end. It follows a duo of mercenaries – a half-cat ‘splicer’ girl and a robot – that are hired to protect an innocent pop idol that runs from her previous employers. The relationship between the mercs seem like a direct nod to Appleseed. You feel a great manga influence in the story, specially in the humor and art style.
The action scenes are fast and engaging, and even with it’s pulp DNA the story brings a surprisingly mature look at relationships and, well, immaturity. The exchanges between the characters are one of the high points, they are really relatable and endearing, and sound complex and real even if in that over the top manga fashion.
The only caveat for me really was the cyberpunk setting, that I felt was a bit generic for my tastes and could be explored more creatively, like the book does in character design and dialog. And don’t be put off by the furry protagonist even if you, like me, is not fan of Japanese all-out-otaku-weirdness. Retropunk is a fun and fast story that makes you wish it was a long running manga series by the end.