The Bottom Line
Put together a bestselling author and an experienced global manga creator and you have the ingredients for a graphic novel with crossover appeal for manga fans and young adult novel readers. But even the best recipes are only as good as its cook and its execution. In Odd We Trust is good idea that's served up as a flavorless, half-baked dish that's unappetizing for any audience.
Odd and friends are drawn in a very odd style, with jutting chins and generic, mannequin-like expressions. For a suspense story, there's very little mystery or surprises here; from its awkward beginning to its anticlimactic end.
Pros
- A game attempt at translating a bestselling author's stories into graphic novel format
- Has a few entertaining flashes of unexpected humor and satire
Cons
- A mystery story that doesn't offer much suspense or many surprises
- Stiff, clunky artwork, with characters that look more like dazed mannequins than people
- Numerous missed opportunities to develop characters beyond just one-dimensional caricatures
- Famous ghosts like Elvis and Lyndon Johnson bring very little to their cameos
- Aussie artist Chan's rendition of a "quiet desert town" looks inappropriately Midwestern
Description
- Author: Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan
Artist: Queenie Chan - Publishers: Del Rey Manga (US)
- ISBN: 978-0345499660
- Cover Price: $10.95 US / $12.50 CANADA
- Age Rating:
Not rated, but suitable for T – Teens Age 13+
for guns, mild violence
More about content ratings. - Manga Genres:
- Original English Language (OEL) Manga
- Drama
- Mystery / Suspense
- Paranormal / Supernatural
- US Publication Date: June 2008
- Book Description: 224 pages, black and white illustrations
- More Manga by Queenie Chan:
- The Dreaming
Guide Review - In Odd We Trust
Now that manga has been racking up significant sales, several big name authors have signed up for a piece of the action. At its best, this mix of manga and the mainstream can appeal to two similar but separate segments of book buyers: manga fans and young adult novel readers. But at its worst, these two storytelling traditions clash miserably, failing to meet the expectations of both audiences.
In Odd We Trust by bestselling author Dean Koontz and global manga creator Queenie Chan must have sounded good on paper. Koontz is a well-known author with a long list of bestsellers to his name. Chan, is an experienced manga creator who has created two volumes of her suspense graphic novel, The Dreaming.So how did this well-intentioned project end up being such a mess?
A good recipe can't save a dish that uses poor quality ingredients and is left half-baked. In Odd We Trust suffers from several issues; in its storytelling, character development and artwork. For one thing, Chan's take on Odd and his friends are very odd looking. Odd has a huge chin, Stormy and Sherry 's lips look flat and painted on, and everyone is stiff and excruciatingly generic, with blank, mannequin-like expressions.
For a suspense story, there's very little mystery or surprises here. Genuine cliffhangers and quirky plot twists are in short supply. Without them, In Odd We Trust is just 200 pages of pedestrian storytelling plodding toward a conclusion that readers can see coming from a mile away.
In Odd We Trust is also found lacking when manga readers compare Odd with another teen who can see ghosts: Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. Compared with Ichigo, who is strong, brave and endearingly prickly, Koontz' and Chan's Odd is a flat paper doll of a character who has very mundane adventures and an inordinate sense of pride about his pancakes.
