Yoko Tsuno Book 1: On the Edge of Life

Yoko Tsuno Book 1: On the Edge of Life, by Roger Leloup, Cinebook

YOKO TSUNO first saw serialisation in Spirou magazine in 1970 and I found that interesting because visually the collection under review (actually Book 7 of 24 chronologically) feels similar to a number of comics produced by America's Charlton comics at the time.

Charlton still had a line of romance comics (this features a girl as lead character and has undertones of Gothic romance) ad o with Kung Fu being popular on the television at the time they were doing variations on that theme (the lead character in this is Japanese), they also had a few artists of Eastern extraction working who brought that swirling brush stroke line to their work and offered facial expressions and mannerisms that were novel to most western readers (these were not manga artists per se, but their presence in the American comic book field should not be forgotten) and that is present in Yoko Tsuno creator Roger Leloup's work while retaining his Belgian clear line style along with a slight cartoon feel too (Charlton had the Hanna-Barbera licence at that time). I would either imagine it's either coincidence or was just something about the 70s where there were shared influences since I can't imagine many Charlton titles reached France.

Anyway, this collection was first put out in 1978, close enough for the 80s to be rearing their ugly heads.

Yoko Tsuno is an electrical engineer and she has many friends around the world that she visits and has adventures with. These locales tend to photo-realistic as in the case of this On the Edge of Life collection where she visits a small German band and we're left admiring some beautiful high-peaked buildings.

She has gone to visit her friend Ingrid, only to find her bedridden from a mysterious disease. When one dark night a cloaked figure breaks into the family home we are left wondering if this will take a leaf out of Dracula's book. However, as the front cover reveals it takes on some more science fiction like qualities, though not too far out there.

Amidst it all there are a number of intriguing mysteries to puzzle over, some nicely developed character motivations where emotions and angst are allowed their due place, and a pretty comprehensive story once you've come to the end of the book.

I have to say it's not completely my cup of tea, and it's more a book that is likely to find particular appeal with young girls, with Yoko being an inspirational character.

For further information on Yoko Tsuno visit Cinebook.

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