So I did a little research and went back to my local bookstore. The StarCraft manga series I talked about last time seems to span four installments. Known as StarCraft: Frontline, the Tokyopop publications each feature four stories within their paperback covers. No doubt I am interested in all the lore that accompanies the StarCraft universe, so I have made it a priority to purchase all four manga in the near future. (And by near future I mean whenever I have some spare cash on me, which at the time seems like it will take about a month or two.)
Anyway, while at the bookstore I decided to once again tease my appetite for the manga by flipping through them. Unfortunately, the Borders bookstore I went to only had volumes 1 and 3. (It’s a real pet peeve for me when only certain volumes of a series of books are available at bookstores.) Still, I looked through both volumes for about three minutes each, making sure not to look too far ahead so that I wouldn’t spoil anything for myself when I actually do purchase the publications. I was very happy to eye some cool drawings and great writing, although the fact that manga are always in black and white is really, really annoying. Regardless of the aforementioned gripe, however, I still liked what I saw, and at just about 11 bucks per book, StarCraft: Frontline isn’t pricey at all.
I put the manga down, left the bookstore, and headed home. I got online, and did a bit of research only to find out that each of the volumes is based on StarCraft II material. How sweet is that? Now, the description I read wasn’t too detailed, but I’m guessing these stories either connect StarCraft and StarCraft II or they just foreshadow some of the expected happenings of StarCraft II. Either way, that’s some good content, and it’ll definitely make for some really good literature when I purchase the four little bundles of science fiction joy.
Additionally, StarCraft: Frontline features fringe stories that aren’t told elsewhere. I don’t think I need to even explain how awesome this is. I love a good original story, and I’m a big fan of fan fiction, but Tokyopop including bonus material—that is approved by Blizzard, mind you—in their four-issue series just makes me want to ask my older sister for money and let her know I’ll pay her somewhere down the line. (But I won’t, because that would be messed up. Shoot!)
So I definitely look forward to getting my greedy little gamer hands on StarCraft: Frontline. As we speak, Tokyopop is already working on StarCraft: Ghost Academy, with one volume already out and the rest to be released throughout the year; and I sure want to read that series as soon as possible. Here’s hoping I have enough time to read StarCraft: Frontline before all the installments of Ghost Academy are in bookstores.
