So I bought the first 3 volumes of Viz's Signature series release of Golgo 13 at Amecon, on something of a whim, figuring I could ebay 'em if I didn't like 'em.
Well I did like them.
They're essentially a best of collection with each volume so far having 2 stories in each, from different times from the past 30-odd years. As Golgo 13 is essentially a factory produced manga, with differnt uncredited creators working on the stories, there's a degree of variation in both art and writing. Which is interesting as they are still essentially trying to fit a formula.
So far the early work has had art which has been a lot more fluid, but with plots that are simpler and more pulp noir in their tone. The later stories have stiffer looking art, the action doesn't look as dynamic, but they have complex, often political plots involving real life figures and events. These feel much more like espionage thrillers than the early examples so far. It will be interesting to see how the mix pans out over the entire collection.
Like Monster, this is another good print. I didn't spot any production errors here either, so my faith after the messes they made of early volumes of One Piece is somewhat restored. All in all a good read, and I'm looking forward to ordering the next volume. In fact I may stop collecting some other series now instead (BECK, I'm looking at you…).