- 27 Nov 2012
- 1,689
- 1,086
I ask the question since it's one of the major success stories in comics in the last decade. Among manga printed in America, it's a huge success, and just last week it celebrated 30 million collections sold, over 12 volumes. That's pretty fantastic.
I've read the first five books. I was very taken with it at first, since the concept is really potent. There are a lot of questionable things about it though. The "titans" look very very 'white.' Supposedly, the story is set in a time where almost only white people are left, and one of the heroes is the last Asian person, but all are small nosed anime types so you don't consider the race of the protagonists much (the Mickey Mouse effect of sorts: all nationalities relate to Mickey). The titans are not manga-esque though, they are grotesquely European looking types. I really don't know the politics of the author, but it was the first time in my life I'd really felt like white people were full on vilified in any media with efficiency. All the same, I loved the first few volumes. By number five, it turned into wheel spinning, a problem I have with too much manga (stopped with One Piece after being bored at volume four) and I haven't ordered the sixth, but I'll probably catch up with it at some point.
The books have a certain resonance with The Walking Dead, which I've read every issue of. The post-apocalyptic atmosphere being the main connecting thread. But The Walking Dead is much more 'adult' in its themes. Not to say mature, but that it tackles the complexity of of sex and death a little more than Titan does.
Anyone else following this book?
I've read the first five books. I was very taken with it at first, since the concept is really potent. There are a lot of questionable things about it though. The "titans" look very very 'white.' Supposedly, the story is set in a time where almost only white people are left, and one of the heroes is the last Asian person, but all are small nosed anime types so you don't consider the race of the protagonists much (the Mickey Mouse effect of sorts: all nationalities relate to Mickey). The titans are not manga-esque though, they are grotesquely European looking types. I really don't know the politics of the author, but it was the first time in my life I'd really felt like white people were full on vilified in any media with efficiency. All the same, I loved the first few volumes. By number five, it turned into wheel spinning, a problem I have with too much manga (stopped with One Piece after being bored at volume four) and I haven't ordered the sixth, but I'll probably catch up with it at some point.
The books have a certain resonance with The Walking Dead, which I've read every issue of. The post-apocalyptic atmosphere being the main connecting thread. But The Walking Dead is much more 'adult' in its themes. Not to say mature, but that it tackles the complexity of of sex and death a little more than Titan does.
Anyone else following this book?
