Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including "ghost hackers" who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers' criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside down.
From Shirow Masamune, the award-winning creator of Appleseed and Dominion, comes The Ghost in the Shell, the breakthrough manga that inspired the internationally acclaimed animated film. An epic dystopian tale of politics, technology, and metaphysics, The Ghost in the Shell has been hailed worldwide as an unparalleled visionary work of graphic fiction. And now it's ready to dazzle the imagination in its second millennium.
This edition includes a new Introduction from Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson, and a fascinating Postscript from author Shirow Masamune, with his thoughts on the phenomenon that is The Ghost in the Shell!
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The Ghost in the Shell franchise has had many iterations over the years and with the new film to be released this marks 28 years since the original manga by Shirow Masamune was released. Whilst every iteration has been different in it's interpretation of the original graphic novel, such as the 1995 animated film spinning the series into a horror flick or the more suspense futuristic cop drama that was Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex the TV series, nothing has been quite as sheerly dense as the original 1989 manga, least of all the upcoming film. Shirow Masamune, who has studied heavily into the fields of philosophy and computer coding has meticulously crafted a semi-light hearted cyberpunk mystery about the adventures of a top secret government agency aimed at countering cyber-terrorism in a world that is quickly assimilating with the digital world. The story presents a gripping and complex narrative that might take a few reads to grasp both the plot and themes as the work is utterly jam-packed with world building technical jargon and doesn't follow a tradition beginning, middle and end narrative format. The story instead is told out of chronological order and is at times presented in an arcing nature and other chapters are more episodic and self contained. Due to this it can be said that this graphic novel is probably not the greatest gate way into the franchise but is an absolute must read for any fan of the series and it's world. It is advised that you start with the 1995 animated film as the entry point into the series and from there start the TV show and if you are invested enough in those then definitely pick this one up. - Lachlan (QBD)
Guest, 15/03/2017
