This has quickly become my favourite comic ever. It's from Japan but I hesitate to call it "manga" because most people associate that with saucer eyes and schoolgirls battling romatic demons with magic crystals. BLAME! is not at all like that. In fact the artwork is so unique that it could just as well come from the US or France.
The story of BLAME! is very hard to describe because it starts right in the middle without much explanations and you just have to grab whatever you can get in terms of information and answers as the story progresses. Some will no doubt find that frustrating but I completely loved it! Finally something where the author doesn't feel the need to spell everything out for you every step of the way!
BLAME! is set in an impossibly distant future. The entire plot takes place in what is called the "megastructure", a semingly neverending succession of buildings and constructions that are sometimes many miles high and/or wide. There is some doubt about wether this is set on Earth at all or somewhere else and that is one question that is answered later on in a prequel called NOISE. Brilliant stuff but I won't spoil it. The artwork is very detailed and when reading BLAME! you'll quickly realise that there is not a whole lot of dialogue. Instead you get highly cinematic views of this weird but strangely beautiful future world and expertly coreographed fights. Which brings me to the villains. BLAME starts with a character named Killy who is after what he calles "network-genes". However, freaky silizium-based lifeforms that look like something out of a H.R. Giger artbook want to stop him or maybe have the genes for themselves. As the story progresses you get giant, concrete-eating maggots, cloning machines, occult sects and a fair share of gore.
I was not sure if I should write about BLAME! here as it is obviously a horror/sci-fi hyberid but I'm sure it would appeal to many of the people who post here.
The series has not been officially licensed in the US but a group of people have put scanned and translated versions online.
You can get the first 7 volumes right here:
<a href="http://www.omanga.net/?cid=blame" target="_blank">http://www.omanga.net/?cid=blame</a>
If you're not sure just download the first chapter, which is a mere 3-4 megabytes and give it a try! It's free and I really can't recommend it highly enough!
The story of BLAME! is very hard to describe because it starts right in the middle without much explanations and you just have to grab whatever you can get in terms of information and answers as the story progresses. Some will no doubt find that frustrating but I completely loved it! Finally something where the author doesn't feel the need to spell everything out for you every step of the way!
BLAME! is set in an impossibly distant future. The entire plot takes place in what is called the "megastructure", a semingly neverending succession of buildings and constructions that are sometimes many miles high and/or wide. There is some doubt about wether this is set on Earth at all or somewhere else and that is one question that is answered later on in a prequel called NOISE. Brilliant stuff but I won't spoil it. The artwork is very detailed and when reading BLAME! you'll quickly realise that there is not a whole lot of dialogue. Instead you get highly cinematic views of this weird but strangely beautiful future world and expertly coreographed fights. Which brings me to the villains. BLAME starts with a character named Killy who is after what he calles "network-genes". However, freaky silizium-based lifeforms that look like something out of a H.R. Giger artbook want to stop him or maybe have the genes for themselves. As the story progresses you get giant, concrete-eating maggots, cloning machines, occult sects and a fair share of gore.
I was not sure if I should write about BLAME! here as it is obviously a horror/sci-fi hyberid but I'm sure it would appeal to many of the people who post here.
The series has not been officially licensed in the US but a group of people have put scanned and translated versions online.
You can get the first 7 volumes right here:
<a href="http://www.omanga.net/?cid=blame" target="_blank">http://www.omanga.net/?cid=blame</a>
If you're not sure just download the first chapter, which is a mere 3-4 megabytes and give it a try! It's free and I really can't recommend it highly enough!
