Kimera: Volume 1

This manga opens with a disturbing image: a full-page pinup of an androgynous being with a man's torso, a woman's face and long hair, naked from the waist up and reaching out to the reader. The story's protagonist, Kimera, is almost equally disconcerting: he's a green-haired, naked alien vampire. Osamu, a Japanese man living in America, finds Kimera after an auto accident and immediately sees the alien as beautiful and mesmerizing. Osamu and his friend Jay help Kimera escape from the lab where he's being treated as a test subject. Not only is Kimera alien, he's also hermaphroditic, with a functioning set of ovaries. He's been sent to Earth to save his race, and other alien vampires have followed, some to help, some to stop him. This kind of story needs an appropriately spooky and emotional atmosphere to sell its combination of science fiction and erotic gothic touches. Kodaka's artwork is more straightforward than atmospheric, but she keeps the story moving with sometimes gruesome twists and turns. Still, readers acquainted with similar stories, such as Alien or Species , may find the uneven pacing frustrating—the story is jumpy, with key plot points left out in favor of scenes of bloodsucking and gay sex. (Oct.)