Nihei’s drawings are like a heaping helping of H.R.

Still, what’s lost in story, Tsutomu Nihei makes up for with a heady brew of dark sci-fi images. Like a poem based upon impressions of things to come, NOiSE is a sneak peek – a visual journey through a trippy sci-fi universe, preparing readers for the bigger thing. THE LOWDOWN: NOiSE is less a narrative than it is a mouth-watering taste of a larger meal. Mosubi’s continued investigation takes her deep into a giant conspiracy involving “The Order” and something called the “ Netsphere,” which may destroy her and all normal life on the planet. It is only with an energy blade weapon she recently found that Mosubi is able to save herself. Mosubi tracks down the killer, who calls himself “ The Order.” He unleashes a “ silicon creature,” a bio-mechanical, cybernetic fighter, to attack her. She is investigating a series of child kidnappings, when during a raid, her partner Kloser is spirited away by a dark figure. “NOiSE,” which is a prequel to Nihei’s ten-volume series, Blame!, stars Detective Mosubi Susuno. NOiSE collects Nihei’s shorter manga work, including the novella, “NOiSE.” Tsutomu Nihei is a manga creator who may already be familiar to American comic book readers for his Marvel Comics work: the five-issue mini-series, Wolverine: Snikt (reprinted as Wolverine Legends Volume 5: Snikt!, and a short story in the Halo Graphic Novel).

Nihei tsutomu noise