The three-part series on Akira (starting with the Introduction to Akira) ends today with a wrap up of the last two volumes with a little bit of historical perspective thrown in. Find out what William Gibson, Star Trek, Transformers, and Star Wars have (tangentially, at least) in common with Otomo's landmark manga.
Speaking of Star Wars – how's that for a segue – the other comics feature article is on Star Wars: Dark Empire. It's sometimes hard to believe, after the gazillions of Star Wars comics that have been churned out by Dark Horse over the last two decades, that it all started there. Dark Empire came out at a simpler time, before the Star Wars expanded universe got all clogged with countless Secret Apprentices/Dark-side, Light-side flip-flops/ultimate Imperial weapons....