Akira #1

by Katsuhiro Otomo

I have a confession to make - I've never read Akira, or seen the movie.  I remember when Epic started printing these when I was a kid, and some of my friends were really into it, but it didn't attract my attention.  Now that the comic is being reprinted in English again, I thought it might be time to check it out, and then when I found this first issue of the earlier printing for just a dollar, all signs pointed to yes.

This issue is mostly set up.  It introduces us to Kaneda and Tetsuo, a pair of motorcycle-riding juvenile delinquents, who race through abandoned and closed-off sections of old Tokyo, until Tetsuo has to swerve to avoid someone in the road, and has an accident.

As it turns out, the mysterious and ghostly child with an old man's face, known only as Number 26, is being pursued by the army and by a pair who claim to have helped rescue him.

This first issue is nicely drawn, and I like the way in which Steve Oliff coloured it.  Considering when this book was published (1988), the colours really stand out.  Here's the problem - the new printings are in black and white, and now I feel like tracking down all 38 of the Epic series instead.