A darkly comic spy story that buzzes like a caffeine high.
In this comic collection set in the cutthroat world of carbonated corporate espionage, a spy and a scientist face off against rival cola kingpins.
The high-pressure world of Big Cola can involve bombings, assassinations, and even global diarrhea outbreaks. These are the tactics of Kaito and Goro Koizumi, formerly conjoined twins who are now bitter rivals battling for complete soda supremacy. Goro, the head of Fizz-One Cola in Osaka, employs the oversexed, square-jawed hitman Jon Pyle to sabotage his sibling’s company, Popso Cola—even if it means murdering a union boss or toppling a Congolese president. However, Kaito, in the high-rise next door, has a secret weapon, and her name is Dina Deluxe. A brilliant, underappreciated scientist, Dina is on the verge of cracking the formula for self-regenerating carbonation, which would keep Popso fizzy longer than any competitor. Jon’s orders are clear: seduce and recruit Dina for Fizz-One—or liquidate her, if need be. Neither Jon nor Dina know that Kaito has bugged her apartment and would rather kill her than let Goro claim the formula. As she’s pursued by a menpō-masked hit squad and a half-burned, knife-wielding enforcer, Dina believes her best hope is to explain to her boss she has no intention of jumping ship. However, her newfound superspy bodyguard knows just how vengeful Koizumi can be, and that it’ll take more than words to survive his wrath. Writer/artist Johnson tackles his first full-length, creator-owned series alongside Painkiller Jane co-creator Palmiotti, crafting a tale of espionage that effectively balances the serious and absurd. The multibillion-dollar companies’ antics mirror real-life acts of corporate manipulation, although the cola-can silencers and booby-trapped six-packs are on the wild side. The villains shine bright here, and Goro and Kaito’s antics are hilarious and horrifying. Jon and Dina have good banter, but a perfunctory romance. Santacruz’s pencils fit the genre perfectly, with a modern, cinematic approach to action scenes and a bit of Howard Chaykin influence apparent in the character designs. The soda logos are standouts—as dynamic and believable as real-world brands.
A darkly comic spy story that buzzes like a caffeine high.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781545817872
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Immensely enjoyable.
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated.
The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of “third-class wishes”—wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren’t specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher’s body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three “first-class wishes” (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed’s art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout.
Immensely enjoyable.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-524-74841-8
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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