Mr. Charlie #100 takes a look at TOKYOPOP's new way to introduce kids to Manga:

TOKYOPOP
WRITER: Alex De Campi
ARTIST: Edo Fuijkschot
ISBN: 1598168029; soft cover
96 pp., B&W, $4.99

TOKYOPOP is constantly diversifying its line of publications as it seeks to broaden the audience for Manga.  The company has a new publishing format that they're aiming at 8-10-year old readers - mangachapters.

A mangachapter is a hybrid of the illustrated juvenile novel (like The Chronicles of Narnia or Lemony Snicket) and Manga.  This is essentially a prose novelette with spot and full-page illustrations, but at certain moments in the story the narrative morphs from prose into comics (or Manga).  These moments of comics outburst can be as short as one page or as long as six pages.

One of TOKYOPOP's first mangachapters is Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent written by Alex De Campi (of the graphic novel, Smoke) and drawn by animator Edo Fuijkschot.  This book follows the adventures of a 4th grader named Boo, who is something of an outcast because she's small in size, but who must be brave when she finds herself the lone sentinel standing between her home and a band of marauders.

In the world of Agent Boo, Space City is the center of the Multiverse.  The Agents (space rangers), the builders of the city, operate from the Aerie, the tallest building in Space City, where they guard an inter-dimensional doorway to the Parallel Worlds.  Each autumn the Agents choose, from Space City's high school class, replacements for the Agents who were lost (died) during the previous year.  Each agent has an animal companion and mentor, and each companion chooses a senior who is to become an Agent-in-training.

Much to her surprise (and the surprise of everyone present at the choosing ceremony), Pumpkin, a feisty orange cat, chooses 4th grader Boo as an Agent-in-training.  Training is difficult, but its nothing compared to Boo's accidental first mission.  When The Agents travel to another world on a desperate mission and leave Boo behind, their enemies, Queen Misery and her Commissars, invade the Aerie.  Can little Boo save the day?

Even as an older reader (much older), I found much of Agent Boo: The Little Agent quite entertaining.  Once you get past the fact that its simplistic prose is geared towards elementary school readers, you can enjoy this breezy little tale about the littlest underdog.  The illustrations and comic sections add a visual punch to the story that makes it more immediate.  The art sells the setting and characters, while the prose delivers the plot and narrative.

I like Alex De Campi's concept, and I think her idea of adding talking animals in the story will endear young readers to the series.  Edo Fuijkschot's illustrations and comic book pages crackle with energy, and the character and set designs have the feel of drawings done for animation.

I have to commend TOKYOPOP because this mix of prose and Manga seems like an ideal way to introduce kids that have only experienced picture books and prose books to the fun of a visual narrative like comics.  I give this my highest recommendation as a gift of reading to a young reader.