Pick of the Week: Centaurs & More

It’s a sparse week at Midtown Comics, but there’s always something to buy. Check out the Battle Robot’s picks below!

MJ: Okay, I’ll just say it. There’s almost nothing shipping in to Midtown Comics this week. And though volume twelve of GTO: The Early Years is a strong choice by all accounts, I feel rather disingenuous picking it, since I haven’t yet read volume 11. Instead, I’m turning my attention to JManga, which has been putting out some pretty exciting releases lately, including two new volumes from one of my long-time favorites, est em, Apartments of Calle Feliz and Working Kentauros. Though Apartments is the volume *I* covered in yesterday’s Going Digital, the one I’ve really got my eye on now is Working Kentauros, described by Michelle as “Highly, highly recommended.” Salaryman centaurs? BL salaryman centaurs?? Sign me up!

MICHELLE: I suppose it goes without saying that, with an endorsement like that, Working Kentauros is my pick of the week, as well! It’s quirky, charming, and moving, just like one would expect from est em.

SEAN: Um, well. There’s two titles, and I don’t read one of them, so hey, it’s the other one! Admittedly, there’s a good chance I would have chosen GTO: The Early Years, Vol. 12 regardless. As with most of this series (and indeed GTO and 14 Days in Shonan, albeit from a different ‘perspective’, this is about life as a teenager, where you feel no one understands you, where your family is uncaring, where all you have are your friends. Admittedly, it’s still a shonen manga, so there are perhaps a few more drag races, violent punchouts, and moral messages than I recall in my own teenage years, but that’s because Eikichi and Ryuuji are more interesting than I was. It’s actually astonishing how retro this title now seems, given it ran in the early to mid 1990s. Old school is 1995 now? Really?

KATE: “The angst of being a teen. The thrill of being a boat!” So goes the tagline for Dave Roman’s latest project, Teen Boat. Like Astronaut Academy, the premise of Roman’s comic is neatly — one might even say baldly — encapsulated in the title. Teen Boat is a teen who can transform into… well, a boat. If that doesn’t sound like the most fruitful idea for a comic, never fear: Roman brings his trademark wit to the proceedings, poking fun at YA cliches, action-movie tropes, nautical lore, and whatever else pops into his head. John Green’s smart, stylish artwork is the perfect complement to Roman’s script, helping sell the Teen Boat idea at its most ludicrous. And really, how can you *not* like a comic about a boat who loves a girl named Nina Pinta Santa Maria?

Readers, what looks good to you this week?