Gun Blaze West , Vol. 1
Grade 10 Up–Closing in on 200 pages, this volume seems much longer. In the first of seven chapters, Viu Banes is an angry nine-year-old determined to hold his own against the bad guys of the Wild West and become a gunslinger. Living with his sister Cissy, the schoolteacher, he meets a wandering gunslinger, a scruffy character who goes by the name Marcus Homer. Despite his huge crush on Cissy, Marcus decides to prepare Viu to travel to a mythical place known as Gun Blaze West. For the 10 days that consume most of the story, they train and are put to the test when a band of outlaws from the State of Arkansas in the West arrive in tiny Winston Town, IL, and start making trouble, starting with stealing Viu's gun belt. Five years after the climactic fight, Viu finally heads west in search of Gun Blaze West. Graphic violence and some strong language make this a better fit for high school readers. Drawn in a traditional manga format, reminiscent of Akira Toriyama'sDragonBall Z(Viz Media),Gun Blaze Westsuffers from a slow pace and an awkward translation, but is a suitable addition for libraries that regularly purchase new manga series titles.–Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.