by Randy Lander

EAGLE VOL. 20: SOMEONE YOU CAN TRUST Recommended (8/10) Viz Comics Writer/Artist: Kaiji Kawaguchi Translation: Yuji Oniki Touch-Up Artist: Steve Dutro Editor: Carl Gustav Horn Price: $6.95 US/$11.50 CAN I love a good crime comic, a good murder mystery. I'm a little disappointed to see that the tail end of Eagle is turning into one, but it is certainly a believable development given the ruthless world of politics Kawaguchi has shown us. This issue definitely puts us more into Takashi Jo's head than we've been in the last several volumes, and it seems as if Yamaoka, whose political Teflon ability is more resilient than even Bill Clinton's was, may have finally made a mistake that could cost him the election. There's also the usual twisting of perception where we wonder what exactly Yamaoka is up to, and while part of me expects to see him explain his way out of this one as well, I'm actually expecting to see him react to being trapped for the first time in a long time. The finale of the assassination story is a bit low-key and familiar, with Yamaoka once again proclaiming his message to the people and turning potential defeat into political capital, as well as doing a noble and good thing for a person on his campaign. The familiarity makes it slightly less exciting than the aftermath of, say, The West Wing's assassination plot, but certainly not a dull element of the story. However, where the story really gets going, as usual given the standard chapter division/pacing in this book, is in the second chapter of the volume. Takashi's meeting with ambitious freelance journalist Daniel Nicols is a fascinating bit of character interaction. Nicols isn't an entirely unsympathetic character; in fact, his drive for truth and his investigative abilities are pretty impressive, and he's certainly not the sleaziest journalist character we've seen. However, the way he rubs Takashi's nose in what he knows and glories in something that is obviously causing a fellow journalist pain makes him a bit unpalatable, thus setting the stage for reader acceptance of his unpleasant fate. I have to admit, the idea that Yamaoka had murdered Takashi's mother had crossed my mind before, and the notion of what would happen to Nicols wasn't entirely unexpected either. Guessing it would happen and not being a little surprised by it are two different things, however, and Kawaguchi does a really nice job of playing up Takashi's slowly dawning horror and fear when he hears the news. This story has always had a layer of family politics interacting with "real" politics, mostly relating to Takashi, Rachel and Alex (all children of Yamaoka) as well as Yamaoka's wife and former lover. This issue the balance shifted considerably, and the final conflict of the book seems to be not whether or not Yamaoka will be President but how all of this will end up affecting him and Takashi. I confess that this leaves me a little disappointed, but no less eager to see how everything turns out in the next two volumes. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.