Aron is a nobleman who decided (with encouragement from his mother) to go off and become a pirate. He was bored and thought it might be fun. Since he's his family's heir, he's accompanied by a bodyguard named Robin. Robin only cares about money and is kind of pissed that this job isn't as cushy and simple as it originally sounded like it would be.

Along the way they're joined by several new crew members: Ronnie, a girl who instantly falls in love with Robin because he's good-looking, and who everyone on the ship thinks is really a gay guy; Anton and Gilbert, two ordinary pirates who join Anton in order to avoid being killed by Robin; Mercedes, who specializes in magical makeovers and who is either a transwoman or a cross-dresser (I'm not sure the author thought about it very deeply, but I suspect the answer is “cross-dresser”); and Vincent, a man who looks like a dangerous pirate but who is actually an incredibly terrible chef.

Other characters occasionally join the story: the King, who is gentle, generous, and may have psychic powers; Aron's incredibly mismatched parents; Luther Nelson, Aron's childhood friend and occasional enemy; Admiral Nelson, Luther's father and Aron's mother's enemy; and Dorothy Nelson, Luther's niece and also the one he secretly loves. Yeah, you read that right – Luther's brother is only his half-brother, and also old enough that Luther and Dorothy are about the same age, which is how Luther justifies his incestuous feelings for her.

This was one of my used bookstore finds, and it was a disappointment. Unfortunately, I also have the second volume. I hope that one's better than this one, but I doubt it.

The best thing about this series is the artwork. Yen Press released this in full-color, and it looks great. Most of the pages loosely follow the 4-panel gag strip format, although there are occasional multi-page interludes for things like backstories and slightly more serious moments (although even those moments are never serious for long).

Unfortunately, the story, characters, and humor weren't nearly as appealing as the artwork. There was a plot, sort of, but it meandered a lot. Also, since characters rarely seemed to be emotionally affected by what was going on around them, and because so many breaks were taken for purely humorous moments, it tended to be hard to remember what was supposed to be going on. For example, at one point Luther attacked Aron's ship because he had been ordered to by his father. In theory, this should have been a deeply emotional moment, since Luther and Aron were technically childhood friends (sort of – Aron mostly just made Luther do the things he didn't want to do himself). However, the next few pages were all about how Ronnie was emotionally devastated because Robin said he hated her for lying. By the time Gilbert and Anton started going over the way people with different blood types react to being stranded on a deserted island, I'd forgotten why everyone was even stranded. Then they all took over Luther's conveniently abandoned ship.

The characters were extremely one-note and not always particularly likable. Aron was childish and didn't seem to care about anyone – even Robin was more a tool to help him keep from being bored than a true friend. Robin only protected Aron for the money, not that I really blamed him. Still, money was literally all he cared about. If he'd been offered more pay to wipe out the whole crew, he probably would have. Ronnie was mostly just an annoying excuse for gay jokes, and Anton and Gilbert were the ones usually responsible for making those jokes.

Which brings me to the humor. There were a lot of jokes about characters' lack of common sense, gay jokes, trans jokes, sexist jokes, and a few jokes that relied on anachronistic details like cell phones and even an air conditioner. It didn't work for me, and I got especially tired of the gay and trans jokes. They just would not stop.

The most similar series I can think of right now, in terms of overall style, is Hetalia: Axis Powers. For some reason that series worked much better for me. This was just an annoying and tiresome slog.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Aron's Absurd Armada is a Korean webcomic by MiSun Kim that roughly follows a yonkoma, or four-panel, format. Even though the series has been translated into English beginning with the release of the August 2010 issue of the digital edition of Yen Plus magazine, I only became aware of the manhwa with the publication of the first trade omnibus. Published in 2012 by Yen Press, Aron's Absurd Armada, Omnibus 1 collects the first two volumes of the original Korean release of the series, published in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Aron's Absurd Armada continues to be serialized online. So far, the series has been collected into five volumes in Korea with more expected to follow. Yen Press' release of the series is completely in color on nice, glossy paper with a larger trim size. I came across Aron's Absurd Armada more by chance than anything else, but still looked forward to giving the series a try.

Lord Aron Cornwall is a pirate. Or, at least he wants to be. Mostly because he thinks it sounds like it would be fun. He's not off to a very good start, though. Sure, he has a ship. He even has a bodyguard. (Of course, Robin is actually more interested in treasure and getting paid than anything else. He only protects Aron in order to protect his source of income.) But that's about it. Aron's friendly if slightly oblivious personality paired with his natural incompetence doesn't make him the most inspiring of captains. Despite this, Aron still manages to slowly put together a crew of somewhat loyal misfits, all who have their own peculiar quirks and personalities. He's even drawn the attention of the Marines, a sign that at least somebody has noticed his less than successful attempts to become a pirate.

At its heart, Aron's Absurd Armada is a gag manhwa, but it also manages to have something resembling a plot. Most of the humor in the series is derived from the characters themselves, their varying levels of incompetence, and their general quirkiness. There are a few strips that partially rely on some knowledge of Korean culture, including an homage to Bong Joon-ho's 2006 film The Host, which I found hilarious. But then, I am rather fond of that film. Some of the "gay" jokes in Aron's Absurd Armada are a little harsh. However, considering the context and overall tone of the series, which is lighthearted and quite funny, I don't think that Kim is being deliberately malicious even if the comic can occasionally come across as homophobic. For the most part, Aron's Absurd Armada is a lot of fun.

To be completely honest, I actually wasn't expecting much from Aron's Absurd Armada. It ended up being a delightful surprise and highly entertaining. As with any gag-oriented comic some of the jokes can be hit-or-miss. Personally, I was consistently amused and caught myself laughing aloud on several occasions. Granted, I tend to enjoy ridiculous and absurd humor. I'm glad that Yen Press published the omnibus in full color. Part of what makes the series so fun is Kim's playful illustrations and use of color. I enjoyed Kim's artwork and characters in Aron's Absurd Armada. I was particularly fond of Robin and his nearly perpetual look of resigned disinterest. I enjoyed Aron's Absurd Armada much more than I was anticipating; I'm really looking forward to the release of the next omnibus.

Experiments in Manga ( )