My kind of Hiro

(image source: Goodreads)

I have been underground reading for a while and have a backlog of books and comics and graphic novels to talk about. My anti-social behavior is your gain.
This third book on my list of recent reads is Johnny Hiro (vol. 1) by Fred Chao. It is a collection of issues 1 through 3, with two other issues tagging along as well. After reading it, I can see why it garnered four Eisner Awards
I am not an artist, so my impressions and opinions are that of a reader. But as such I thought Chao’s crisp, clean style was terrific. Because a lot of GN pages are black and white, if the images are too busy the art can look messy. My brother – the artist in the family – the first thing he said when I handed him this book was “Wow, it is so clean. This looks great.” That being said, please don’t think that the art was in anyway boring or plain. This story is full of action and each panel somehow manages to have a lot going one. The design of each panel in Johnny Hiro managed to not only maintain simplicity of line, but also express the energy of a fast-paced action adventure.
Speaking of adventure, let’s talk about the story. Or rather, stories. These are just damn good stories. Bad things happen to Johnny and sometimes his girlfriend, Mayumi, too. Then Johnny and sometimes Mayumi - and occasionally Mayor Blumberg - have to fix things. Straightforward and so much fun. Chao’s characters are as genuine and as engaging as is his art.
I really loved Johnny Hiro. Some GN and comics are meant to be pretty and end up pretty light on story. Others are all story and the art is a distant second. Don’t get me wrong, both of those options are fine. But when I pick up books like this, what I am really looking for is a good balance between art and story. Johnny Hiro rides this balance excellently. Go out and buy it. Now.