book 57
Raiders, Vol. 5 by JinJun Park
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
It had been a long time between volumes for me in this bizarre Korean manhwa. Oddly enough I got it used via Amazon and it was a library version but in excellent shape. After reading it, I imagine that excellent shape was because some mom saw this and raised a ruckus and the library pulled it. It’s always been a bit subversive. Irel, a young archaeologist, had drunk the blood of Christ from one of the few vials of it that the Catholic Church has been hiding. Lamia had wanted it believing it would reverse her undead state. They ended up teamed up with her eating his flesh because he can heal. Irel now has all of Christ’s powers.
Well that was mild compared to the twist this one took. I can see some people being put out by what it does with religion because it really steps it up from ‘drank the blood of Christ and have his abilities.’ In this volume Irel and Lamia have gone their separate ways. Clarion, another undead girl, and the werewolf sent to kill Irel have joined up with him. In the meantime, Irel’s lady friend has been captured by Crossline who seem to know what’s going on with those vials of blood.
The ladies and Detective Chris escape, Chris still convinced this is all a con job both Irel and Ian, another young man also with Christ-like abilities. The escape is very long and not that exciting. I don’t mind fight scenes in general. I do mind them when half the book is made up of no dialogue and just fight and there is a very disturbing thing Chris does with complete lack of regard for innocent lives.
The story then picks up with Lamia who is meeting with the person who makes her sword and there’s hints he is either Judas or another Frankensteinish monster. And this is where the storyline gets very subversive. Lamia’s scenes are interwoven with Ian’s who made actually be Christ. He’s also a megalomaniac psychopath. There is a Peter as well who doesn’t like Ian very much and the whole idea of God and Christ (and especially of them being one and the same) was Ian’s idea to grab for power. Also we learn what Lamia really is and it isn’t what she’s thought for centuries.
It ends with Irel and more priests in a massive fights scene as Ian’s forces try to eliminate Irel (whom Lamia’s sword smith thinks is an actual threat to Ian). It ends mid-battle with one of the group taking unexpected damage.
I was disappointed with this one (and I already have #6 having bought it by mistake before I got #5). Almost to the point of saying it might be time to part ways but since I have #6 I’ll give it another chance. The fight scenes bored me. The storyline is getting very muddy which isn’t a help. Detective Chris is almost as bad as the enemy so it’s hard to root for him. If it wasn’t for Irel I’d probably say goodbye to this.
It’s not even the subverted religious elements that bother me, per se. It’s how they were handled. Ian? Really? If you were going to make this character be immortal and suggest he was Christ, why not a Hebrew name? Make it at least a little believable. The art is good except for the weird huge and fat turtle necks everyone is wearing. I sure hope the next volume is better.
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