Hiro is charming because he isn't exactly looking to be a hero, He has no powers and he doesn't seek adventure, He's just a guy trying to work his way up to cutting fish at a sushi restaurant while struggling to make rent in New York City.
If sometimes his girlfriend Mayumi is captured by a giant lizard, he rescues her, On occasion he might be attacked byronin at an opera, or be chased down the street by cleaver wielding busboys.
I gather that these things happen when one lives in the big apple,
Johnny and Mayumi are delightful characters going through the sort of professional and personal struggles that anyone can relate to.
And there are also giant robots, You should definitely read this book, Dude. People.
This.
All this needs is just to turn It Up A NOTCH and I would be blown away by the spectacular.
As it is, it's REALLY really good,
It took me a second to get it, to mentally slide into this ride, But once I did, oh man,
Here's the deal: Once Johnny and his girlfriend Mayumi find this out, they start encountering epic adventures everywhere, Many of which involve Johnny running away,
In their "normal" lives, Johnny works for a sushi restaurant, and wants to work his way up from dishman to someone who gets to actually touch raw fish.
Mayumi works as an editor for a publishing house, They occasionally run into celebrities.
Great concept, great execution, You can tell Chao is smart, He does great little asides particularly when he portrays something inaccurately, and I ADORE the way he introduces a new apartment.
These feel like real people, just with a few monsters thrown in,
The downsides:
, Not in color OMG if it was!
, Doesn't pass the Bechdel test correct me if I'm wrong
I will DEFINITELY be keeping an eye out for more Fred Chao stuff, and dreaming/hoping/wishing for the day he writes something All Ages so I can promote it to my kids.
Loved this hilarious and poignant comic about a twentysomething guy struggling to make it in NYC, The city itself is a character, a place equally dangerous and beautiful, harsh yet hopeful, In that setting, Chao deftly weaves together the realistic and the fantastical, so it somehow totally makes sense that these characters have financial woes but also encounter monsters and have epic chase/fight scenes.
We don't have a lot of real, relatable, likeable Asian American heroes, and Johnny Hiro is among the best I've seen lately.
Most of the characters here are Asian/Asian American, but they're not the kinds of caricatures or stereotypes we find so often in pop culture.
And Chao doesn't dwell on any cliched identity crises either, Take Hiro's girlfriend, Mayumi, who happens to speak with an accent but is also really funny, strong, confident, and not really in need of anyone's rescuing.
I love her character, and she totally steals the show for me,
I also love all the pop culture referencesfrom Godzilla to hiphop to Alton Brown to Night Court, it felt like Chao was writing for my generation.
I really hope Chao writes more adventures for Hiro and the gang! A highstars, I liked the potential this had more than what was actually there I think, I liked the first/the best, then felt like it lost a bit of steam after that, It's clever, and it's cute, sometimes humorous, and the art feels original, organic, and very adequately conveys the story.
I liked it, but there as a little something deeper missing for me, Johnny Hiro is subtitled “Half Asian, All Hero,” and chronicles the adventures of a young man struggling to make ends meet in the city of New York.
By day he lives in a tiny apartment with his girlfriend Mayumi, who adores him in ways he can barely understand.
By night he works in a sushi restaurant owned and operated by Mr, Masago, a hardboiled, whipcracking manager if ever there was one, Johnny believes his life is ordinary at best, yet somehow by the end he finds himself hanging out with the mayor of New York, Gwen Stefani, and Judge Judy, all while trying to escape from a band of vengeful Ronin during a night at the opera, rescuing his girlfriend from a Godzillalike lizard bent on revenge, and dodging murderous meat cleavers wielded by the chefs of a rival restaurant as they chase him and a prize lobster through the streets of New York.
If this sounds wacky, thats because it is, And its awesome. Author and artist Fred Chao packs more humor, heart, and charm into his writing and drawings than could possibly legally exist in one place okay, U.
S. law allows it, but I'm still checking with the laws of nature,
Fred Chao is also the artist for this book, His blackandwhite artwork is deceptively simplelooking, yet detailed and expressive, Every panel feels alive. Every character design embodies the persona that has been created for them, Its genuinely affecting.
Somehow, through the fairytalelike stories and all the wit and charm, the author also finds a way to wax poetic about todays youth trying to make it in the big city.
He weaves in his own philosophies about growing up, dealing with adversity, and finding love, He strikes the balance between entertainment and meaning, In other words, this is good storytelling, Johnny Hiro, at the top of my pile of loot from Maryland's Small Press Expo, is one of the more skillfully written graphic novels I've read recently simultaneously funny and sophisticated, Chao manages to work in numerous cameos and pop culture references while crafting the very down to earth plot of Johnny and his girlfriend's struggle to make ends meet in Brooklyn.
The Alton Brown bits are spectacular, At times, the disappearing and appearing plotlines leave the novel feeling rough around the edges at others, Johnny's troubles seem to vanish too easily.
Despite these slight flaws, it's a thoroughly enjoyable book, and one is left with the sense that Fred Chao has a bright future in the graphic novel world.
It's tempting to compare
him to other comic artists who write about the experience of Asian American characters, like Adrian Tomine or Gene Luen Yang, but Chao's comics explore racial issues with much more subtlety and, really, Hiro just has too much going on in his life to dwell.
I am thoroughly looking forward to whatever Chao writes next, This review originally appeared on my blog, sitelink Shared Universe s,
Johnny Hiro vol,Half Asian, All Hiro tells the story of Johnny, a busboy, and his girlfriend living somewhere in New York.
Simple, right But its much more than that, This story has surprising depth and philosophical meanderings about life, Johnnys life with his girlfriend, Mayumi, is constantly being interrupted by odd and supernatural events which Johnny has to overcome after which he often comes to a realization about his life.
Written and drawn by Fred Choa, Johnny Hiro tells a done in one story every issue but it has story elements that continue from one chapter to the next.
In the first story a giant lizard monster, à la Godzilla, breaks into the Asian couples bedroom and kidnaps Mayumi, the daughter of Ami Murakami a member of the Super AOK Robot team who defeated the monster when it attacked Japan in.
As it can be expected, its up to Johnny to rescue his girlfriend but in the end shes really the one that saves the day with her savvy New Yorker knowhow.
Its a pretty dense first story but Chao keeps it breezy, During all this giant lizard chasing action, Chao also establishes the relationship between Johnny and Mayumi, adds an appearance from Mayor Bloomberg, makes a metatextual comment on the ridiculousness of living in a New York in which superhero catastrophes happen on a daily basis such as in the Marvel Universe and sets up one of the main plot elements that pops up in nearly all the following chapters.
Fred Chao does an excellent job with his characterizations, Johnny feels a bit lost and confused, Hes searching for something, hes trying his best to work towards making a better life for Mayumi and himself.
Mayumi is absolutely charming. Shes very capable and even though she has her own thoughts regarding her future with Johnny, shes there to support Johnny throughout all his challenges.
The book is sweetly funny, There are no lough out loud moment but there was a lot quiet laughter and little smirks on my part while reading the book.
The whole comic had a comforting feel to it, Perhaps its because I relate to what Johnny and Mayumi are going through,
Johnny Hiro reminds me of Scott Pilgrim and to a lesser extent Sharknife, Johnny Hiro is more down to earth than the other two but not because of the contents of the plot see above but because of the tone.
More than anything, Johnny is trying to be responsible and seems to almost force himself to mature whereas Scott Pilgrim is a young adult being forced to mature.
The similarities with Sharknife has more to do with rival restaurants then it does with the plot and themes of Johnny Hiro but there is still something I cant put my finger on that links the two in my mind.
It's important that I point out I'm a very big fan of all three series and that I'm not comparing them in order to rank them, simply to point out some of the similarities and differences.
Chaos art separates his book from the other two, IT doesnt have the same manga influences in both the story telling, the bouncing line work and the heavy inks.
He uses thin lines which gives his drawings has a light and airy quality to the art, He doesnt use many lines, Its very clear and Chao seems to have a desire to use as few lines as possible but in a way to keeps the art simple but without using a minimalist style.
The best way I can describe it is that hes precise with the lines that puts on the page.
For a seemingly simple style, there is a surprising fluidity to the characters movements, This fluidity and kineticism is aided by Chaos inventive use of panels during certain scenes bet it introducing Mayumi to their new apartment or running around in back alleys of the Lower East Side while being chased by cooks from a rival restaurant.
Johnny Hiro is about doing what is right, it's about working hard so that you can give the people you love what they want the most.
As a hero, Johnny is selfless, All the samurais, giant fish, prize lobsters, rival restaurants, back alley and rooftop chases just happens to be a colourful way to portray everyday tasks that shape a young man into a young, responsible but still fun, adult.
In short, Johnny Hiro is about life and growing up and you should give it a read, .
Seize Your Copy Johnny Hiro: Half Asian, All Hero Developed By Fred Chao Released As Publication
Fred Chao