Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: June 28, 2016
Price: $13.00
Creator(s): Masafumi Harada (writer), Sung-Woo Park (artist)
Format: 208 pgs., Black & White, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-3162-7232-2
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
On his spaceship, the Aloha Oe alien hunter Space Dandy wanders the universe seeking life forms to register so he can finance his frequent visits to the cheesy restaurant chain BooBies. Accompanied by his less than stellar crew, consisting of the robot QT and catlike alien Meow, Dandy is doggedly pursued by the sinister Dr. Gel of the Gogol Empire for reasons unknown.
Based on the anime of the same name by Shinichiro Watanabe who also created the series Cowboy Bebop, like Bebop, Space Dandy is a stylish space opera, though one primarily played for laughs. Dandy, billed as "a Dandy guy in Space," is a standard arrogant idiot oblivious to his many, many shortcomings. The only thing keeping the character from being completely repellant is he occasionally shows a flash of grudging decency. That and he's as incompetent at being a womanizer as he is at just about everything else he attempts.
The manga does a pretty good job of mimicking the mood and wild visual style of the anime. For instance, one of the highlights of the Space Dandy series is it features some really alien looking aliens. But with the exception of brief appearances by Dr. Gel, who looks like a gorilla in a 17th-century French wig dressed in a pimp suit, they come off looking pretty ordinary looking in the manga. As while as a manga it has its own merits ultimately, it's only a reasonable approximation of the actual article.
--Steve Bennett: Writer and retail services consultant.