Short Reviews: Haunted Tank #1 and The Manga Guide To Statistics

Other comics people want to bombard you with words while I value and respect your time!

That’s it. Really.

The new Haunted Tank comic? Surprisingly good. Frank Marraffino’s script is engaging, human, and funny, nicely aided by Henry Flint’s detailed yet just-cartoony-enough art. I’d normally question the more stereotypical bits of dialogue from the Iraqi army in a few places, but they seemed to fit in nicely with a tone that reminded me of the first act of Three Kings. I prefer what I’m seeing here to the also-well-done Unknown Soldier revival, but that’s likely mostly because I’m wanting more upbeat material at the moment.

If I told you that Shin Takahashi’s Manga Guide To Statistics features a cute 14-year-old schoolgirl who wants to learn statistics so she can make some time with her dad’s attractive coworker, exactly how surprised would you be? Setting this (I’ll call it a ) cultural difference aside, statistics is the sort of math I can get behind: pulling usable information out of a sea of numbers, so I actually brushed off my sadly-atrophied numerical skills and played along for a few chapters on a lark. From my very-much-a-layman’s view, this piece of nonfiction manga from newish player in the field No Starch Press seems to do its job very well, if you can handle a dram of reverse ephebophilia in your educational comics.