Jormungand, Volume 1

By Keitaro Takahashi

Book Overview

Death is their business, and business is good.

Jonah is a child soldier, born amidst the chaotic conflicts that rage across West Asia, his family lost to a war fueled by weapons supplied by the so-called Merchants of Death--international arms dealers. Despite Jonah's hatred of weapons and violence, he employs both extremely well in the service of high-flying arms dealer Koko Hekmatyar and her band of mercenaries. Their journey through the dark underbelly of the world's arms markets may lead only to damnation, but will Jonah one day make his way back to the light? Only one thing is certain: it's going to be a long, hard road out of hell...

Koko Hekmatyar, the head of H&C Logistic Incorporated, introduces new recruit Jonah to her team of troubleshooters, and it isn't long before they have some trouble to shoot. An Eastern European government official is holding up a shipment of aircraft parts that would shift the balance of power in the region. The trouble is, that shipment belongs to Koko, and she's not about to miss an opportunity to make a profit, even if it means two nations go to war.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1421532158
• ISBN13: 9781421532158
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Quite the entertainer

Volume 1 of the Graphic novel Jormungand to me, is quite an entertaining comic. The story is structured in arcs, which I think is great. (Like it's episodic.) The characters are entertaining, especially Koko Hekmatyar, who has quite a quirky personality and if not, a little crazy. Jonah may be cold most of the time but has an interesting outlook, also keeps his cold demeanour as a mask. Not a whole lot of the cast is seen in this volume. Which is where I bring you to a problem- there is a whole squad of people Koko employed, but we only get to meet about 6 people of the cast throughout the whole volume. (This is fixed in later volumes) Art wise: The artist's style does not make much use of tones, so the book is done in mostly heavy inks, a bit rough at that (but still enjoyable!) He puts great detail into guns and action scenes, it makes the book very lively! About the story: The story in the arcs retains a very action based plot, but in the midst of it, there is a feel of comedy at times, which may bother some who are expecting a full on serious serious story. Also for those who are a bit sensitive, There appears to be bit of love interest (Female x Female) in here, which is great to see in my opinion but may not be for others. (it is more prominent in the second volume, more Valmet x Koko). In all, I give Jormungand a 4, not a 5 because of the lack of cast introduced and characterised, only displayed for a few panels.