Dominion

by Masamune Shirow

Dark Horse hits the ground running with a newly expanded and redesigned edition of master storyteller Masamune Shirow`s Dominion. A wild sci-fi police comedy set in a future where the norms are vast, bio-constructed cities, air so foul that citizens must wear masks outside, and a police department that includes a squad of crack tank police! Join Leona, her pet tank Bonaparte, and her lovesick partner Al as they confront the villainous Buaku and his felinoid accessories-to-crime. Leona`s to rescue Crolis, a mysterious green-skinned girl with the power to cleanse the air around her, and the potential to renew the poisoned earth. Added to this edition are Phantom of the Audience, a 1994 Dominion one-shot never before collected in the U.S., and an all-new cover!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Comics Manga, Japan

225 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 1993

About the author

Masamune Shirow is an internationally renowned manga

Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow (Japanese: 士郎正宗), is a Japanese manga artist renowned for his influential contributions to the cyberpunk genre. Born in Kobe in 1961, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts, where he developed an interest in manga. His early work Black Magic led to the critically acclaimed Appleseed, which won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. Shirow achieved global recognition with Ghost in the Shell, a groundbreaking manga that inspired multiple anime films and series, a live-action Hollywood adaptation, and numerous video games. His stories are known for blending action with philosophical inquiries into AI, post-human existence, and the ethics of technology. He has collaborated with Production I.G on projects like Ghost Hound and Real Drive. Shirow’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narratives have left a lasting impact on manga, anime, and science fiction worldwide, influencing creators including the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the dystopian future, Earth's atmosphere is loaded with toxic bacteria. Newport is so crime-ridden that it's police drive tanks. Leona Ozaki and the other Tank Police have their hands full with a crime lord named Buaku. But what does the naked green chick with butterfly wings have to do with anything?

Yeah, manga is a little weird sometimes. Dominion is the last of the books of the Masamune Shirow lot I bought on eBay and the one I enjoyed the most. Dominion is a police procedural set in a dystopian future on a heavily polluted earth. I know, I know, the comedic potential isn't staggering but Masamune Shirow made hay with it.

Dominion revolves around Leona, her lovelorn partner Al, and her cute little tank, Bonaparte. The crime lord Buaku and his minions, chiefly the Puma Sisters, outwit the Tank Police of Newport at every turn, probably because the Newport PD is pretty worthless. It's a lot of fun, watching Leona moon over her tank while Al moons over her. And then there's the mostly naked green woman, aptly named Greenpeace. Greenpeace is a living air purifier and possibly Earth's salvation. She also walks around naked all the all time and barely talks.

After navigating my way through the plots of Shirow's other books, Dominion was pretty refreshing, a straightforward, not so serious police comedy. The art is looser, more cartoon-y than Shirow's other works. It's not as detailed and a lot clearer as a result.

No bad things to say about Dominion. It was a fun read and I'll be nabbing Dominion: Conflict shortly. Four out of five stars.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first recommendations from one of the first friends here on Goodreads and I finally gotten around to reading it. Better late than never :).

[Diz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This manga is a cyberpunk comedy about police who drive tanks in a world that has been destroyed by an environmental disaster. The storytelling is uneven as jokes take precedent over story structure. Unfortunately, the jokes haven't aged well since they are mostly about police threatening violence on criminals and civil rights protesters. Also, I found that the action panels were a bit hard to follow when compared with Shirow's later works.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Po meni jedan od najboljih stripova ikada. Ima humora, ozbiljnog i sve to nabijeno sf-om i tenkovima. Trbalo bi svaka milicija da ima tenkove :)

Preporuka za svakoga.

I cisto ako ne znate strip je od lika koji je osmislio Ghost in the Shell tako da znate da mora biti dobro. Licno ovo mi je i bolje od duha posto ima manje filozofiranja a vise akcije i humora. Al to je vec stvar ukusa.

[Jared Millet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appleseed meets Keystone Cops by way of Mad Magazine. Seriously, at times Dominion reads less like a Masamune Shirow book and more like a Sergio Aragones parody of Ghost in the Shell. I've always appreciated that Shirow's manga had more light-hearted humor than the movie versions of his work, but when he puts the humor to the forefront it kind of falls apart. Still, you get everything you want from a Shirow story: underdog crimefighters, near-future dystopia, and sexy chicks with heavy artillery.

This volume collects the original Dominion series and the "Phantom of the Audience" one-shot.

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aunque a simple vista me daba pereza por la temática, debí imaginar que este autor no da puntada sin hilo. El dibujo es caótico, lleno de personajes y diálogos y cuando se trata de máquinas ya es una exageración. Pero según vas leyendo, ni los malos son tan malos ni se huye de la crítica a la sociedad actual (actual en la época que se dibujó) y aborda temas como el militarismo, la guerra, la ecología mal entendida, la corrupción política y otro puñado de dilemas éticos y morales. Como toda buena obra, se le puede sacar mucho jugo, todo dependerá de la voluntad del que lee.

[Kevin Kissane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely essential classic manga. You might not need to read this to enjoy both the anime series, but moments are nicely referenced in New Dominion Tank Police.

Wonderful art, wacky characters and lots and lots of tanks.

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little manga. Better than the original Dominion Tank Police anime, but worse than the sequel, New Dominion Tank Police. Should you read it? Yes, if you're already a fan of the anime or the author, who is also known for Ghost in the Shell. No, if you're looking for your next favorite manga.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Food for Thought

Great art work. Storyline’s are so-so. Yet the actions, the slapstick, and dialogue are silly, it made bad guys smarter, and the cops too stupid and inept. Not very impressive.

[Darren-lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun... And bonkers...

[Belarius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masamune Shirow was once of the heavyweights of the American market of import comics, a status he earned almost exclusively with his remarkable opus Ghost In The Shell. What most people forget is that Shirow authored a variety of other pieces varying wildly both in quality and in seriousness. Dominion: Tank Police is almost certainly the least serious thing Shirow's ever published, and also one of the least interesting. It certainly isn't bad, but it's only shot at being remembered is for its campiness.

Dominion: Tank Police tells the story of a hyper-violent police unit who drive tanks, causing massive amounts of property damage as they battle a ragtag gang of criminals. The logic, physics, and overall tone is one of slapstick (a sort of Looney Toons with guns and tits) that actually reminds me more of the 80s cartoon C.O.P.S. than anything else.

In his defense, Shirow doesn't take himself seriously at all, and this is some of his earliest and roughest work. The stakes aren't very high, so when Shirow aims low he still hits most of the time. Expect bawdy humor, visual gags, and gleeful rampage - someone looking for these probably won't be disappointed. Also, as silly (and stupid) as Tank Police can get, Shirow's forward-thinking vision is at work even in this early volume, hinting at his more direction musings about artificial life as explored in Appleseed and Ghost In The Shell. But these considerations are generally drowned out by the sound of cannon shells.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a comic that I really liked when I was a teenager. I barely remembered anything about it. But this version I think is much better than the one I read when I was younger. It's set up as a direct translation of the Japanese, (to the point where the panel layout is "backwards" and while I've read quite a few Chinese comics in this layout doing so in English felt odd). I have to say it was much better than I remembered and much better than black magic. It was divided into four storylines. It was a strange brand of gritty distopian future with random humour mixed in. (The only thing that bothered me was the homophobic joke). It was kinda light on characterisation, more fighting and explosions. But Leona was much more interesting than I remembered, Uni Puma and Ana Puma a bit more disturbing. It was fun though I don't know if I'll bother ever reading it again so I'm glad I borrowed it from the library rather than buying a copy.

[Lily-Rose Beardshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I should really be giving this...about three-and-half stars?) but I couldn't help but be charmed by this. It reminded me of the sort of action/comedy anime and manga I first discovered and loved as a teen, (like, say, Tenchi Muyo! or DBZ). Same era, I guess (80s?) -- and made me nostalgic for the time when I was really enamoured with anime/manga.

Self-confidently silly with a deliberately OTT premise, I loved both the wacky cast of the police department and the antagonists in this. Hate to admit it, but simplistic as this comic is, Shirow Masamune seems to have penned yet another ending that I'll have to re-read in order to figure out exactly what was going on (The same was true for me of his Ghost In the Shell films and comics, especially as I was probably a bit to young for them the first time I encountered them. Time for a re-read/re-watch?)

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was entertaining, but not very deep. The premise of a future society with toxic air and bioconstructed cities is a good one. However, the stories in the volume are somewhat inconsistent in terms of the plotting. And yet, Shirow makes good use of some dark humor to balance things out, which makes the reader appreciate the work some more. The art is ok, but I think Shirow has done better in other works. I liked the catgirl molls. Overall, this is a pretty quick easy read. Casual readers may not appreciate it as much, but I think Shirow fans will like it. I saw another reviewer describe this as campy, and I think that is a word that applies very well to this volume.

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first look at Dominion Tank Police is really a comical look at police work in a future that ended up wrong. Overall the humor is just right there as far as comic relief, and it's not like a sitcom, it's actually got what I call "stupid shit" going on. Shenanigans are also a good thing in this book and for the most part does stay serious but overall a good excuse for him to "let off some steam" vs. GITS and Appleseed. Art is what it is but overall if you like humor and a stretch of seriousness then look no further.

[Nick H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun comic; comedy-cyberpunk isn't exactly a genre combination I had expected to work. Good characters. Action scenes border on the incomprehensible, but they're over quick enough to assess the damage and sort of pick up what happened. Any scene in the police station is excellent, and captures the cacophony of answering phones really well.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's nothing particularly spectacular about the plot of this book, but Shirow definitely knows how to design gorgeous sci-fi worlds and societies. It's nowhere near Ghost in the Shell, but it's still a great read for anyone who likes sci-fi manga or Shirow's art.

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[Nina Phunsta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love Masamune Shirow books, so I was excited to read this, parts 1-3 were pretty awesome, I felt part 4 was weaker than the rest however....

[Eressea]

警察戰車隊DOMINON有點虎頭蛇尾
感覺沒畫完
跟攻殼比起來，劇情很鬆散
不過也沒有多到嚇死人的設定
整個來說挺普通的@@