Psst! Want to Read a Comic in Which the Villains are Banksters?

[McCamy Taylor]

You may have heard that a manga adaptation of Karl Marx's Das Kapital flew off the shelves in Japan a couple of years ago.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081224a6.html

Well, "flying off the shelves" may be a bit of an exaggeration. 6000 copies is a pretty small number considering just how much manga gets sold and read in Japan.

However, if your interest was piqued by this story, there is another manga you might want to check out, one that was released from 2002 to 2006 and which ran 18 volumes, the mark of manga success in Japan. I am referring to Akumetsu ("Kill evil") by Yoshiaki Tabata and Yuki Yugo.

I can almost hear you say Why would I want to read manga? Dragon balls do not turn me on, and I have better things to do than leer as magical girls strip in order to transform.

Before you blow off this manga, think for a moment about the villains in super hero comics. Mad scientists who want to remake the world. Evil warlords who want to rule the world. Underworld crime lords. Drug dealers. Folks bent on revenge.

Akumetsu is a typical (and extremely violent) super hero comic/manga with a twist. The villains are Banksters. Did you take government (i.e. tax payer) money and then deny loans to small businessmen whose lives were on the line? Guilty! Did you abuse your power as a government official catering to the whims of corporate fat cats so that you could get a plush private sector job when you retired? Guilty! Did you squander people's retirement accounts in risky investments and then pay yourself an enormous bonus? Guilty! Did you run up the government's debt in order to line your own pockets via unnecessary infrastructure projects to be done by your private company? Guilty! Do you scheme to get your puppet candidate elected to national office so that your multinational corporation can steal even more tax payer money? Guilty! Do you run for national office on a platform of reform which you do not intend to deliver? Guilty!

Yes, this does sound like Alan Moore's V for Vendetta . But it is different. This one's genetically engineered vigilante is funny (when he is not splattering CEOs all over the pavement).

I am not going to say any more. However, keep in mind that vigilante justice is a huge no-no under Buddhism, so this one is not likely to go where you may think that it is going. On the other hand, the expressions on the Banksters' faces before they get axed/smashed/shot is just priceless, especially when the Banksters in question are wearing school girl panties on their heads.

This one has been republished in Italy and France, but I will eat my hat if it ever gets a publisher in the United States. So, go read it online, courtesy of unpaid English language translators.

And remember, this is just a comic book. It is meant to make you think not to make you pick up a gun.

[villager]

1. And where would we read it online!?

Inquiring minds...

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Google is your friend here.

[villager]

3. indeed -- just found a place. Didn't know if you had a preferred alternative

...or perhaps just prefer not to post one.

Looking forward to scanning the scans! ;-)