Okay, so the hype has been building for several months now regarding Dark Horse’s acquisition and release of the popular manga GANTZ. The manga/anime/video game set that comes into my shop have had their bonerz primed for a while, and I had to know what the fuss was all about. Were their bonerz warranted? GANTZ has lots of exploding bodies, gratuitous nudity, and a trippy concept: just as they die, individuals are selected by an ominous floating black orb to run around assassinating aliens posing as humans on Earth. They are given the right tools for the job: black body-suits that enhance endurance and strength, and an armory of physics-defying weaponry. Oh, by the way—failure to comply results in explodey death. Is it some weird-ass reality TV show, as one “player” states, or is this what’s waiting for us in the afterlife? Volume 1 doesn’t provide any quick answers, but its pep, raunch, smarts and humor will bring me back for Volume 2.
 
Final assessment: bonerz not wasted!