Lee, Stan

While Ohta's artwork is both cute and impressively detailed, Lee blends his signature weakling-turned-hero plot with some rather clichéd manga elements (a school-aged child who gains mysterious powers and has repetitive fights with cookie-cutter character villains). An awkward English translation detracts from the story. Readers who are fans of Lee's but less familiar with manga may enjoy it, as well as younger male readers who are newer to both comics and manga.

With the extended combat sequences, the emotional aspects seem short-shrifted. But the adaptation is well done and inventive, and the art is splendid. With almost bloodless violence and only near nudity, this is fine for teens wanting a compelling entry into the Elizabethan era.

The legendary Lee's career in comics goes back to 1940...