Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 1- Activation Hardcover – Illustrated, March 26, 2013

I’m not a regular manga reader, but I always have an eye out for collector’s editions of classic graphic novels of any kind. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin caught my eye immediately. The first thing you’ll appreciate is the quality of the physical book itself. Each volume in the series so far is well over 400 pages and hardcover with sewn binding. The books are heavy and feel good in your hands like they’ve been coated with some kind of soft waxy varnish. The pages are semi-gloss with black-and-white artwork supplemented with key sections in full-color.The first book in the series, Activation, introduces the main characters and the conflict. Varied circumstances all combine to result in a scenario where a space warship filled with refugees and manned by a mixture of inexperienced military officers and civilians is being hounded by a relentless enemy. The allies are green and outgunned with older tech—except for one key difference: they’ve managed to obtain the Federation’s new prototype Mobile Suit: Gundam.The depth of the story was actually a welcome surprise to me. This is quite a mature and realistic work. The characters all feel real and three-dimensional with their own personal struggles and mysteries. The villain, Char, is ambitious, shrewd and enigmatic. He’s a master of manipulating people and events to his plans, which becomes even more evident in book two. The main character and emerging hero, Amuro is the classic reluctant hero, slowly emerging from inexperienced youth to tried-by-fire soldier.The artwork is great and mostly easy to read. The artist definitely understands cinematic, visual storytelling and translates it superbly to a multi-panel, book format. Sometimes you have to look closely and study a frame or two to figure out exactly what’s going on, but for the most part, the images just flow. The harder to read parts I think are just the consequence of trying to convey complex motion in a still-frame format, which most of the time is handled perfectly. I also really love the water-color full color sequences spaced regularly throughout the books.The first volume was enough to make me want to read the second, but it wasn’t enough to hook me on the whole series. After reading volume two, I was definitely hooked. Each volume has been full of surprises. I’m now reading volume 7. My appreciation for this series has just skyrocketed with each successive book. The political maneuvering, character drama and military tactics are all so masterfully plotted! Read the first two books and you’ll be crazy about Mobile Suit Gundam too!

Just from the cover of this huge hardback edition you can see the quality. While much modern manga is lazily drawn or maintains a certain style that was boring to begin with and has somehow become the norm. Thankfully, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is completely different. With rich artistic detail, exciting action, and good dialogue it has the best of every world of manga.What has become a typical plot for a story of this sort is original here, where it all began. A young boy named Amuro finds himself facing off with an evil army when they attack his home. By hopping inside and piloting a giant robot called a Gundam, he takes these baddies on on the ground, in the air, and in space. Along with the love interest Fraw Bow and a spattering of other cool characters, this is the epitome of manly man sci-fi. Lots of explosions, lots of action, lots of testosterone. The volume contains a smaller amount of dialogue than volumes half its size. It doesn't need to have much dialogue though. The atmosphere and action tell all.The most remarkable part of this volume--and I'm sure it will be the same for all future volumes--is the art. While it was done in the 2000's it has a distinctly retro-style to the characters but a very detailed and lovingly drawn world. The Gundam looks amazing, the space ships look sweet. It's not cut-and-paste laziness. This is quite possibly the most well-drawn piece of manga I've ever gotten to read.On top of that, the volume requires multiple sittings to read because of the length giving it's somewhat hefty price enough value for the purchase. Even if you've not seen Gundam before, this is a great place to start and will be a great introduction. For fans of the original Gundam, it's a triumph of a remake and one of the most fun manga releases this year.