The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

November 15, 2008
"America's first business manga" introduces Johnny Bunko, chained up in cubicle city and crunching numbers for the Boggs Corporation (bogg-ed downheh heh) when he'd rather be doing almost anything else. Then in an office all-nighter, he snaps a pair of disposable chopsticks and snaps into beinga genie?! Diana, complete with mangastyle elf ears, promises to return six times to teach him the key lessons for career success and satisfaction. And"poof!"she's gone. Naturally, Johnny isn't buying this and gets coworkers Yuko and Carlos to witness these charmed chopsticks. "Snap!" There's Diana again with lesson one: there's no fixed "plan" that guarantees step-by-step career success and happiness. Later comes snap two: think strengths, not weaknesses. After four more snaps, Johnny has all the lessons and a better worklife. In his highly regarded "A Whole New Mind" (2005), Pink identified six "senses" as crucial for 21st-century professional survival: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. His first shot at manga has all of these in an entertaining synergy that's perfect for students, recent grads, and cube dwellers of any age. Diana's timeless advice rings true, and the art is pleasant and effective, although the Japanese sound effects look strange in an American book. Recommended for high school, public, and academic libraries.M.C.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2008
Instructional comics are at least as old as the World War II comic-book pamphlets showing GIs how to do various things (or, reputedly, not do, such as get VD). This book is ostensibly the first American business-career advisor in comics form, though manga industry buzz has it that such is ancient hat in Japan (where, furthermore, 40 percent of all books are mangaso there). Gotta say its nifty enough. It traces the titular young office drones transformation into an asset to the company via the six rules he learns from a smart-alecky genie he summons by cracking apart pairs of cheap chopsticks. Up-and-coming business guru Pink contributes a text that many may find didactically routine and only just over-the-bar in terms of humor, but Ten Pas, an American thoroughly steeped in manga style, moves it like it was preferred stock. His panel design and page layout are slick as glare ice, and he makes the customary repertoire of manga grimaces and sound effects strut like showgirls. More enjoyable than may have been intended.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)