Godchild, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Manga readers with a taste for stylish, delirious melodrama will enjoy this addition to the long-running "The Cain Saga" which also includes the manga series Angel Sanctuary. Late 19th-century London society women swoon at the sight of slender, sloe-eyed young Lord Cain, Earl of Hargreaves. They don't recognize his hereditary burden of melancholy, from which he distracts himself by tracking down dangerous maniacs. He is accompanied and sometimes aided by Riff, his manservant and extremely close companion, and by his doll-like, 10-year-old half-sister, Marie, who serves as an unwitting lure for serial killers. Cain is menaced by his mad-scientist half-brother Dr. Jizabel Disraeli, assassin for a secret criminal organization founded by Cain's monstrously abusive father. The four stories in this volume are thankfully self-contained, each developing from an initially baffling mystery into a frenzy of dark revelations and derring-do, after which Cain is left cuddling Marie or gazing soulfully at Riff. Yuki's stories revel in hints of spiritual angst and kinky tendencies, reinforcing the hero's romantic alienation. Her art is lovingly detailed but dramatically cut, with startlingly odd angles and abrupt jumps from closeups to distant shots; managing to create and sustain a giddy mood in which the absurd action can be convincing and even moving. (Mar.)
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Deep in the heart of 19th century London, a young nobleman named Cain walks the shadowy cobblestone streets of the aristocratic society into which he was born. Forced to become an earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreaves, a noble family with a dark past. With Riff, his faithful manservant, and Mary Weather, his 10-year-old half sister, Cain investigates the mysterious crimes that seem to follow him wherever he goes.

Kaori Yuki was born in Tokyo, Japan, and started drawing at a very early age. Following her debut work Natsufuku No Erie (Erie in Summer Uniform), she wrote a compelling series of short stories: Zankoku Na Douwatachi (Cruel Fairytales), Neji (Screw), and Sareki Okoku (Gravel Kingdom). As proven by her best-selling series Angel Sanctuary and The Cain Saga, her celebrated body of work has etched an indelible mark in the gothic comics genre. She likes mysteries and British films, and is a fan of the movie Dead Poets Society and the show Twin Peaks.