Next month, Blade of the Immortal finally ends in the U.S.

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llj
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Next month, Blade of the Immortal finally ends in the U.S.

Post by llj »

The manga that seemingly never ends...finally ends! Dark Horse is releasing the final volume of Blade of Immortal in North America on March 25th.

Please share your memories of either reading the series or seeing issues of this series in your local comic book store back when you were still in elementary, junior high, high school or college so many years ago.

I remember back when I was still a regular consumer of pamphlet-sized comics, Blade of Immortal was a familiar sight in comic stores. The art was unlike anything I was seeing in manga or American comics back then, with its unusual mixture of pencil, ink and wash and high level of draftsmanship. It was punk, it was gnarly, but it was also very pretty.

That said, I never really followed the series for long. I bought or read a handful of volumes when Dark Horse started collected it into GNs, but it was always "I'll probably read it all when it ends." But it. never. would. end. We saw many trends come and go since Dark Horse started publishing this, we saw many manga series have reached great heights of popularity and end, many manga series get discontinued, and the face of American comics dramatically change since 1996. And there was Blade of Immortal, plodding away year after year. After a period of "hipness" during oh, say, 1997-2002, Blade of Immortal became something of a punchline "Oh, that manga is STILL running? WOW."

Notable events in 1996 (when Dark Horse began releasing Blade of the Immortal):

On June 1996, when the first issue of Blade of the Immortal came out, Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls capped off their incredible NBA record 72-10 season to win their 4th NBA championship of the 90s.

On July 1996, the blockbuster film Independence Day was released, catapulting Will Smith into Hollywood Superstar status.

Tom Cruise had not one, but TWO films in the top 10 grossing films of the year--Jerry Maguire and Mission: Impossible

Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski was finally arrested after an 18 year manhunt.

Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to get a second term since FDR (Obama would also later repeat this feat)

Dolly the Sheep is born in Scotland. The first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell

Pokémon Red and Green is released in Japan, the start of one of the biggest money makers in Japanese history.
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usamimi
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Re: Next month, Blade of the Immortal finally ends in the U.

Post by usamimi »

Wow, end of an era, huh? I remember picking up back-issues when Dark Horse was still putting out monthly floppies and marveling at the artwork...I keep thinking one of these days I'd pick up the graphic novels, but I never did get around to it. I really should! It's a fantastic title.
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llj
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Re: Next month, Blade of the Immortal finally ends in the U.

Post by llj »

I wonder how the quality hold ups after so many volumes. The early volumes I've read were great, but I can't imagine there wouldn't be some sluggishness in the series by volume 15 or so. I'll probably read it all SOMEDAY, but that's down the line.
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