Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable Volume 3 manga review

Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable Graphic Novel Volume 3 cover image

VIZ Media has been publishing the legendary Shonen Jump manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, in English since 2015.  VIZ's edition, the first in English, is comprised of deluxe edition, hardcover graphic novels with color pages and new cover art.  Created by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a multi-generational tale that centers on the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil.

Thus far, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has been published in four arcs/series:  “Phantom Blood” (Part 1), “Battle Tendency” (Part 2), and “Stardust Crusaders” (Part 3).  The new arc, “Diamond is Unbreakable” (Part 4), is set in 1999.  It continues the focus on members and descendants of the Joestar family and their battle against the “Stand users,” and the power known as “Stand,” which is an entity that is psychically generated by its creator.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 – Diamond is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 (Chapters 38 to 56) offers four story lines.  First, in “Let's Go Eat Some Italian Food,” Josuke Higashikata and Okuyasu Nijimura discover that an Italian restaurant has recently opened in their small Japanese city of Morioh.  What they don't know is that at Trattoria, there are only two tables, and Chef Tonio Trendy does everything himself, from wait tables to preparing the meals.  And Okuyasu is about to discover just how powerful Chef Trendy's meals are.

In the next arc, “Chili Pepper,” Josuke, Okuyasu, Jotaro Kujo, and Koichi Hirose gather to battle the “Stand” known as “Chili Pepper.”  But who and where is its “Stand user?”  And why does he want to kill Josuke's father, the legendary Joseph Joestar?  In the third arc, “We Picked Up Something Crazy!”, Josuke is forced to spend time with his father, Joseph, but the estranged parent and child will soon be forced to deal with invisibility.

Finally, “Let's Go to the Manga Artist's House” begins and finds Koichi and his pal, Hazamada, get to meet 20-year-old genius mangaka, 20-year-old Rohan Kishibe.  However, they are about to discover why sometimes it is indeed a bad idea to meet your idol.

[This volume includes “Author's Comments.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  My VIZ Media rep has recently been sending me review copies of select graphic novels in the “Diamond is Unbreakable” series.  This latest JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga reminds me of why I like this mixture of period action-adventure, horror, occult-history, and plain weirdness.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 – Diamond is Unbreakable Graphic Novel Volume 3 is wall-to-wall weird fiction.  These four story lines exemplify the “bizarre” in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.  I am reluctant to spoil the wonderful imagination and inventiveness that Hirohiko Araki unleashes in these stories.  Diamond is Unbreakable Vol. 3 is one of the very best volumes in this series.

Nathan A. Collins' English translation captures the outlandish and even freakish action in this volume, and he keeps the story from flying away on crazy-ass wings.  Mark McMurray's lettering is stylish, and yes, occasionally, perfectly weird.  I heartily recommend JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, especially Diamond is Unbreakable.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of weird shonen manga will want to try the “Shonen Jump” series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 – Diamond is Unbreakable.

A+
10 out of 10