D.Gray-man Volume 23 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Allen Walker lives in a fictional version of 19th century Earth.  The 15-year-old searches for a substance called “Innocence,” some of which has bonded with his left arm to form a bladed weapon.  Allen is an Exorcist, one of many fighting the evil Millennium Earl and his minions, the demons known as “Akuma.”  Allen is also a very special Exorcist, and the Earl knows that.

As D.Gray-man, Vol. 23 (entitled Searching for Allen Walker) opens, we see into Allen Walker’ past.  Now, everyone knows the truth about him.  Inside Allen resides “The Fourteenth,” a legendary Noah (which is a special class of demon).  Because of this, Allen has left his friends behind to go on a new journey.

Now the Exorcists’ leadership organization, the Black Order, has deemed Allen one of the Noah and has made him a wanted man.  Yu Kanda, whom Allen saved, and Johnny Gill begin a long search for Allen.  But the Noah have already found him.

THE LOWDOWN:  The D.Gray-man manga is a series constantly in flux.  It has been an action/fantasy, a battle manga, a fantasy drama, a fantasy horror, a fantasy adventure, and even a comic fantasy.  The art style seems to change about every four volumes or so.  Sometimes, the story is a muddle of action sequences that are almost incomprehensible; other times, the story is straight-forward and melodramatic.

But that is the good thing about this series.  It’s always wild and crazy, and sometimes, readers get a particularly good volume, as is the case with Vol. 23.  D.Gray-man also has an X-Men vibe about it, which makes it like a superhero comic book, a cool superhero comic book.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for superhero action/fantasy in a manga will enjoy the Shonen Jump Advance title, D.Gray-man.