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BIKER GIRL by Misako Rocks!

BIKER GIRL

by Misako Rocks! & illustrated by Misako Rocks!

Pub Date: June 1st, 2006
ISBN: 0-7868-3676-8
Publisher: Hyperion

Manga with a heavy dose of cute, this debut introduces a shy teenager who is transformed into a reckless heroine by a bicycle with unusual properties. Just a day or so after Aki come across an old bike in the garage that—with a mighty FWOOOOSH—changes her school uniform to high boots, a short dress and a snazzy helmet, a gang of masked bicyclists embarks on a crime spree. Somehow managing to overcome her reluctance, off Aki pedals to do battle. Outfitting her lissome young daredevil with a hot boyfriend/sidekick, a cheery kimono-clad Grandfather to fill in the back story and a “Spirit Bike” with a front fender that turns into a giant snake at need, a toy elephant’s head on the handlebars and the ability to zoom along at super speed, the author propels the tale through many sudden jumps and inset-crammed pages to a climactic race, the dismaying revelation that the gang’s leader is a member of her own family and a juicy closing clinch with the aforementioned sidekick. Bound on the left edge rather than the right, but otherwise indistinguishable from its imported cousins, this should find a ready crowd of action-oriented shojo fans. (Graphic novel. 11-13)