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Fool's Gold Manga Review
Heeeeh........................................I lurk a lot. I get busy with school and work that I end up eventually lurking on everything. Forums, journals. In any case.....I finished everything for tonight, so I'm going to do a quick review of one of my favorite mangas. It's a shame it never finished, but from the volumes that are out, it's a good read. The story I'm reviewing today is Fool's Gold by Amy Reeder Hadley. Fool's Gold is an english manga by Tokyopop that was published in 2006, and it was the debut work of the artist who is now working for Vertigo penciling the new Madame Xanadu series
STORY
It is about a girl named Penny who is an aspiring fashion designer who is starting her sophomore year. Upon meeting her friend Katie and discovering that her boyfriend is cheating on her, perssuades her into dumping the scumbag. Upon witnessing that girls tend to be attracted to jerks and are under a delusion that most men are like that. Penny then organizes a club to point out all of the school's jerks/cheaters/scumbags and single them out as pyrites (Essentially, Fool's Gold), leaving the good guys available. However, her fashion design, school life, club, as well as potential romance all collide as she attempts to balance it all out.
This series is stated on the back as being a comedy/romance...and while there is some of that in there, I actually feel this series is more like a high school drama. The story is told through Penny's thoughts as we see her thought process on how girls are attracted to jerks, and how she ends up on top of the high school social ladder. Her ambition to get into fashion also influences her thoughts about romance, love, and relationships. That aspect of the character I admired and related to. For me, the story was interesting because of the premise of a club that identified jerks. I am not sure if it has been done before. It has been a while since I read the story, and I am not a big fan of these kind of stories, so I may not be 100% in what I'm saying in a more analytical way, but I enjoyed it.
ART
This is one of my favorite points of the book. First off, style. Even though this is manga, the style of it feels like a combination of realism and manga to form a distinct look that actually reminds me of Kazuma Kaneko (Character/Monster Designer for most of the Shin Megami Tensei games). It defiantely identifies the artist, and in my opinion, seperates her from the rest of the Tokyopop artists. That being said...the art can use some work at times. I would say it feels flat at some points, and I'd have to say that it's somewhat both the style as well as the toning. However, most of this is at the beginning, and there is not much. The artist settles into things at the end of the book as well as into Volume 2. On top of that, this is her first manga, and in comparing her art from Fool's Gold Volume 1 to Madame Xanadu 8/9 (Depending on when you read this), it has come a long way.
One last thing. This is one thing I particularly admire with this artist, along with her style. The layouts and composition of her pages are simply amazing. They're very eye-catching and lead your eye around the page. They're not of the Archie-style 6-panel per page, nor are they set in any sort of static pattern. Each page has an original layout with how the panels are placed, and it is not boring. I would say the layouts and artwork is both provocative and different from other manga.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I do not think this is much of a book for guys in my opinion at first glance, as it will probably appeal to girls more. However, I encourage everyone to at least give this a readthrough. The story is interesting and the concept is an original idea that has not been done in a long while and in this form, I believe. The art is stylized and great. If you can handle a cliffhanger at the 2nd volume (Since it never finished), then I would buy it.
All in all, this book deserves an 8.5/10
And make sure to check out Madame Xanadu from Vertigo too~!
STORY
It is about a girl named Penny who is an aspiring fashion designer who is starting her sophomore year. Upon meeting her friend Katie and discovering that her boyfriend is cheating on her, perssuades her into dumping the scumbag. Upon witnessing that girls tend to be attracted to jerks and are under a delusion that most men are like that. Penny then organizes a club to point out all of the school's jerks/cheaters/scumbags and single them out as pyrites (Essentially, Fool's Gold), leaving the good guys available. However, her fashion design, school life, club, as well as potential romance all collide as she attempts to balance it all out.
This series is stated on the back as being a comedy/romance...and while there is some of that in there, I actually feel this series is more like a high school drama. The story is told through Penny's thoughts as we see her thought process on how girls are attracted to jerks, and how she ends up on top of the high school social ladder. Her ambition to get into fashion also influences her thoughts about romance, love, and relationships. That aspect of the character I admired and related to. For me, the story was interesting because of the premise of a club that identified jerks. I am not sure if it has been done before. It has been a while since I read the story, and I am not a big fan of these kind of stories, so I may not be 100% in what I'm saying in a more analytical way, but I enjoyed it.
ART
This is one of my favorite points of the book. First off, style. Even though this is manga, the style of it feels like a combination of realism and manga to form a distinct look that actually reminds me of Kazuma Kaneko (Character/Monster Designer for most of the Shin Megami Tensei games). It defiantely identifies the artist, and in my opinion, seperates her from the rest of the Tokyopop artists. That being said...the art can use some work at times. I would say it feels flat at some points, and I'd have to say that it's somewhat both the style as well as the toning. However, most of this is at the beginning, and there is not much. The artist settles into things at the end of the book as well as into Volume 2. On top of that, this is her first manga, and in comparing her art from Fool's Gold Volume 1 to Madame Xanadu 8/9 (Depending on when you read this), it has come a long way.
One last thing. This is one thing I particularly admire with this artist, along with her style. The layouts and composition of her pages are simply amazing. They're very eye-catching and lead your eye around the page. They're not of the Archie-style 6-panel per page, nor are they set in any sort of static pattern. Each page has an original layout with how the panels are placed, and it is not boring. I would say the layouts and artwork is both provocative and different from other manga.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I do not think this is much of a book for guys in my opinion at first glance, as it will probably appeal to girls more. However, I encourage everyone to at least give this a readthrough. The story is interesting and the concept is an original idea that has not been done in a long while and in this form, I believe. The art is stylized and great. If you can handle a cliffhanger at the 2nd volume (Since it never finished), then I would buy it.
All in all, this book deserves an 8.5/10
And make sure to check out Madame Xanadu from Vertigo too~!
Tags: amy, anime, comedy, drama, fool's, gold, hadley, madame, manga, pyrite
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