Gin Tama, Vol. 2

Hideaki Sorachi loves him some Rurouni-Kenshin-on-acid manga, yep he does. The second volume of "Gin Tama" is no less whacked out and cracked out than the first -- in fact, most of the time it's even weirder. Pop idols, giant canines, drugrunners and stalkery cops all fill these pages -- and the only problem is that it's too short. Gin gets drafted as the chauffeur for a prison escapee, who insists on being driven to a pop idol concert. Turns out it's the guy's daughter, and the concert is about to get ugly. And a brief stay in the hospital leads Gin and Co. to a dying playboy, who hires them to find his first love... and the only clue is her hairstick. Additionally, Otae is being stalked by a weird guy when she failed to be repulsed by his "afro butt." She pretends that Gin is her fiance, leading the love-addled stalker to challenge him to a duel... which Gin doesn't seriously intend to fight. But his dirty trick backfires when "Stalker-Pervert" turns out to be Kondo, the leader of the Shinsengumi. And the way, way too enthusiastic Hijikata intends to destroy Gin for humiliating his superior. And Kagura finds a hippo-sized puppy outside their door, and immediately becomes passionately attached to "Saduharu" -- but the animal-crazy prince also wants this valuable pooch. Then a client hires Gin and Co. to find his porcine daughter, who has gone missing -- but unfortunately they uncover more than a mere missing socialite when they investigate a local club. "Gin Tama" seems to have settled into a comfortable little niche, where modern Japanese sensibilities are mushed together willy-nilly with Meiji-era trappings and a lot of sci-fi stuff (an alien with a giant maw in his belly?). Most importantly, it gives Kagura a dog the size of Montana, who also has an unfortunate habit of chewing on people's heads. And by people, I mean Gin and Shinpachi. Most of the second volume is taken up by a series of one-off comedic stories, involving everything from rabid fanboys to rooftop duels, flying hospital entrances to rabbit death (namely, the hilariously tragic story of happened to Kagura's first pet). The last story -- which ends on a cliffhanger -- is a bit more serious, with a lethal drug and lots of gore. What's more, Sorachi's knack for the surreal is firmly in place, and his clever satire of Japanese history is full of fun ("STALKER PERVERT! Come out come out wherever you are! Ollie ollie income free!"). Gin himself continues being the perpetually mellow, almost stoned guy who extols the virtues of calcum, unless someone really makes him angry. But Sorachi also shows a little more of his real personality -- he has a nightmare about his days as a warrior, and shows gruff compassion to the people he fights, to the idol's dad, and to the pet-loving Kagura. The second volume of "Gin Tama" is a fun ride, with some more serious material near the end. Definitely a good read... just have the third ready.