A Thousand Miles

Black Cat

****

Black Cat is an action adventure manga by Kentaro Yabuki. It was serialized between July 2000 and June 2004 in Weekly Shonen Jump. VIZ Media published it’s 20 volume run in the west between March 2006 and May 2009.

Cover Appeal

Texture – Sweet Baby Jesus, the cover is textured. No, really, the bricks on the front and back cover are glossy and textured. I mean, it doesn’t say anything about the story so it’s purely aesthetic. But I liked it a lot, so you have to hear me gush about it.

Bricks – Gushing aside, the thing the texture is used for are bricks. On the front cover, we got two brick walls. Now, brick walls easily invoke thoughts of buildings – which easily lend themselves to urban or town imagery. The story so far does take place in a town, so it does directly foretell the setting. However, the fun comes when you pay attention to what the brick walls actually are. Two brick walls close to each other with a view of horizon? It’s an alleyway. So we’ve got cats and alleyways. The colloquialism “alley cat” is used to refer to stray cats, something we come to learn Train considers himself as. It’s a bit of a protracted visual pun so it works for its city imagery when you first see it and as a visual pun on later viewings.

The Gist

Visual Pun aside, the cover is pretty straightforward. We know that Train, our main character is a man with a checkered past who is going to have to contend with its fallout.

Train Heartnet, a former assassin, has put his days as the infamous “Black Cat” behind him. He spends his days now as a sweeper, or bounty hunter, with his partner Sven. It’s a trying existence and there’s rarely enough money – but at least Train’s done with his old life. But is it done with him? An old friend from his assassin days shows up telling him his old organization wants him back. Furthermore, someone else wants the services of the Black Cat. A career thief requests Sven and Train’s help in tracking down a weapons dealer. What are the organization’s plans for Train and what are the thief’s true intentions?

The Cast

Train Heartnet – Rambunctious, fun loving bounty hunter. Formerly worked for “The Organization” as the infamous Black Cat. Carries a custom, likely high-calibur, revolver inscribed with “XIII”. The same numerals are inscribed on Train’s chest. Exhibits superhuman strength and speed.

Sven – Train’s partner. Wears an eyepatch and white suit. Generally the responsible one, he manages the money and curbs Trains impulsiveness.

Rinslet Walker – Career thief. She approaches Train and Sven to apprehend Torneo Rudman. She entices the duo with the bounty on Torneos head and lets it slip that they’re conducting scientific research to genetically engineer superhuman weapons. It’s obvious that she wants to manipulate the two, but to what ends, we’re unsure.

Torneo Rudman – Presently running a weapons smuggling ring. Rich and sadistic, he’s working on some genetically engineered superhuman project – one that just might rival Train himself.

The Rub

Black Cat is built on the same base as the likes of Devil May Cry, Outlaw Star and even Blazin’ Barrels. That being the “skilled fixer/bounty hunter who’s always broke” paradigm. Fortunately, Black Cat side steps the main problem I had with Blazin’ Barrels – the main character isn’t a lovable detriment to the story. Whereas Sting would bounce between lovable buffoon and threatening fighter, Train Heartnet’s playfulness and fighting skill are never at odds.

I like Train Heartnet as a character. He likes indulging his desires, but isn’t hedonistic. He’s idealistic, but also pragmatic. He has a sense of pride, but doesn’t allow it to make him cocky. It becomes clear that he’s an easy going guy, but that he does have ideals and things he cares about. There’s also the fact that he’s essentially a cat boy without the ears and tail and I am ALL about that.

But beyond Train, I’m rather ambivalent about the rest of this volume. I do have to give them credit for being willing to include guns as weapons. They really can mess with the type of combat and associated power level structure of your universe. However, Black Cat doesn’t go nearly far enough to make their inclusion interesting in any way. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what part of this volume it was that disappointed me and I think I can finally say that it’s Train’s fight with Race Donovan.

If there’s anything I have to hit Black Cat for, it’s got to be that one fight. I don’t want to hold this against Black Cat too much because the weapon of choice in this universe, so far, is the trusty fire arm. Making gun fights interesting is hard because they’re such straightforward weapons – you point, shoot and (hopefully) hit your target. The act of firing a gun isn’t all that interesting. It’s boring, really. You have to pair it with other feats/tactics and/or embellish the act of gun wielding itself to the point of spectacle to make it interesting. For example, in Live Free or Die Hard, there’s a scene in a stairwell where John McClane and a henchman run into each other at a door. They immediately draw their guns and point them in each other’s faces. However, due to their proximity and stance, it’s more like two sword fighters who’ve clashed the forte of their swords. What follows is them jockeying for position, turning, bobbing their heads like boxers and using their off hands to bat the guns from directly in front of their faces as they fire at each other. It lasts only six seconds or so and they eventually bat the guns away completely to engage in some good ol’ fisticuffs (one guess who comes out victorious) but it’s a hell of a sequence to watch.

What Black Cat elects to do, however, is bathed in Shonen fare. Race, not quite buying that Train is indeed Black Cat, thinks he can kill Train and raise his reputation in the Organization’s eyes. He fires off a quick salvo of bullets. Train blocks them with his beast of a weapon, then proceeds to shoot bullets into the barrels of his guns, destroying them.

You can see my reaction above. Of course, Train then proceeds to pounce on Race, inform him of the error of his thinking and shoot him dead. Of course, Race is describing what’s happening the entire time in his head. And OF COURSE, he’s denying the plausibility of it all. Again – BELEAGUERED SIGH. That is boring. Just because this is Shonen, doesn’t mean you can’t make the spectacle more elaborate. A lot of ammunition is super-sonic, meaning it has a muzzle velocity of at least Mach 3. Some sub-sonic ammunition is bigger and weightier, meaning that comparable (or even larger) amounts of energy are still being imparted with each shot, only the round moves slower. All that really means is that Train has to be strong and fast to block bullets. He’s even been shown dodging bullets. He’s also been shown using Sven’s gadgets such as bombs. So why not embellish his tactics some? Having Train block bullets is all well and good, but why not mix in some use of the bombs to disorient his opponents, his speed to dodge some of his opponents frenzied firing, his ungodly accuracy to return fire and disable their limbs and/or weapons? Hell, Train is a good physical fighter, so why not get some close quarters combat and mind games in as well? This would showcase skill and power to a degree convincing enough to make me believe the Black Cat is a force to be reckoned with – even when fighting multiple foes.

The Verdict

I don’t want anyone getting the idea that I think it’s a bad read so far. The humor is good, usually fueled by Train’s playfulness or commitment to doing his own thing. By the end of the volume there’s a genuine sense of tension as to what everyone’s motives are so far and how the upcoming battle is going to go down. I was just a little exasperated at what I presumed would be one of it’s strong points.

Continue?: Eh, Maybe