The history of Nic and Worick is revealed in vol. 3 of “Gangsta.”! An intriguing and rare manga series to come from Japan and brought to the United States, if you are looking for a manga series with a little sex and plenty of violence, “Gangsta.” vol. 3 by Kohske is a manga series worth recommending!
Image courtesy of © GANGSTA. Kohske 2011. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Gangsta. Vol. 3
STORY AND ART BY: Kohske
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shinchosha Publishing Co.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Viz Signature
RATED: M for Mature
Available on August 19, 2014
Ergastulum is a tough town, the kind of place where the rule of law takes a backseat to the law of violence, and where Handymen like Nic and Worick make a living doing odd jobs for their clients, from routine deliveries to extrajudicial killings. Discreet, ruthless, and efficient, the men are respected by both the police brass and the Mafia dons, but it took many long, hard years for them to make their names. Behind those years is the hidden history of how the scion of an elite family and a boy soldier of the Twilights ranks formed an improbable, unbreakable bond.Â
We have seen how the city of Ergastalum is run by thieves, whores and murderers and those calling the shots are members of four mafia groups. But working on no side are the mercenaries, Nic, the womanizing patch-wearing blonde and the silent and quiet Twilight named Worick.
Not much is known about both men until now as the history of Nic and Worick is revealed in volume 3 of Kohske’s “Gangsta”.
Learn how Nic’s family was massacred, how Nic and Worick became friends but most importantly, the history of the Twilights and the war for dominance in Ergastalum.
What is “Gangsta.” about?
In the city of Ergastulum, the area is full of thieves, whores and murderers. And as for the police, they are corrupted and chaos is king.
This is the setting for the manga series known as “Gangsta.”, written and illustrated by female mangaka Kohske.
Debuting in 2009 with the short story “Postman” for Shonen GanGan Magazine, “Gangsta” has been running in “Monthly Comic Bunch” in 2011 and a total of five tankobon volumes have been published in Japan.
And now the manga series was released in Feb. 2014 in the U.S. as part of Viz Media’s “Viz Signature” line.
“Gangsta.” begins with a prostitute being assaulted outside a building. Meanwhile, inside a building are two owners of the business known as “Handymen”, Nic and Worick, two men paid to take on assassination or difficult jobs that police or big business can’t handle.
As Nic and Worick are completing a job with the elder businesswoman inside the building, they see the beaten prostitute going inside the building.
The Handymen are then called for business with the police department and are sent to go after a gang leader named Barry Abbot (the man seen beating on the prostitute in the opening pages). Both Nick and Worick are hired by the inspector to eliminate him and his gang (including his prostitutes) as they are doing business in the restricted zone. They work out a deal that they can take whatever they can in return for killing them.
As Nic and Worick go after the gang and eliminated everyone including the gang leader known as Barry. They run into the prostitute and give her the opportunity to escape. But instead, the prostitute named Alex comes back and instead of killing her, they decide to take her (as in agreement with the inspector) and make her as part of the Handymen as one of their employees.
Meanwhile, as Alex continues to work for the Handymen, she tries to figure both Nic and Worick out. Is Nic an ex-mercenary, does he talk at all? Why does Worick wear an eyepatch?
One day, Alex sees a newspaper article about a massacre of the Arcangelo family 20-years-ago, all were killed except a 13-year-old boy who was 13 at the time. And the perpetrator, said to be a boy hired as a mercenary by the family. And Alex begins to wonder, can the two boys be Worick and Nic? Is Worick the missing boy that was never found?
In volume 2, a gang war seems to be inevitable as Corsica and Cristiano are engaged in a battle of outwitting each other and destroy each other’s families with the use of Twilights. But what happens when the Handymen come and Nic must take on another Twilight A/O.
And for volume 3, we learn about the history of Nic and Worick and how they met. The volume also provides valuable insight to the Twilights, the mafia families and the employment plus backstory of the hatred towards the Twilights.
There have been lingering questions after the first two volumes of “Gangsta.”. From the city of Ergastalum to questions about Nic’s background and hints that his family was massacred. But what is this working relationship between Nic and Worick, two total opposites.
Suffice to say, Kohske gives readers immense backstory regarding both characters from how they met but how Worick was kept alive using a special type of drug.
And while half the book focuses on the past, the other half focuses on the present and how Twilights are being murdered throughout the city. Who is responsible?
With the release of “Gangsta.” vol. 3, we also get to see somewhat of a western influence in this manga series by Kohske.
Reminiscent of Frank Miller’s “Sin City”, where the world has gone corrupt and in the city of Ergastulum, a city overrun by thugs, gangs, mafia, whores and murderers, the police are just as bad and when the going gets tough, the only way for the police to maintain order is by hiring mercenaries, in this case, the Handymen, Nic and Worick.
Nic is the silent, deadly killer with a sword. Worick is the playboy with an eyepatch that is good with a gun and together, they are two men who aren’t afraid of taking on the most corrupt people in Ergastulum. And it’s not a duty done for the sake of morality but to them, it’s money and survival.
As these two men are mysterious individuals and through the eyes of former prostitute Alex, who joins the Handymen as their personal secretary or whatever she can be used for in order to get the job done, even Alex, has her thoughts on both men and their mysterious background.
But in this city, there is no normal. There is no peace. And right now, a major gang war is about to ignite between the Corsica and Cristiano gang. And for the Handymen, they have their hands tied in trying to keep people alive while Twilight A/O’s have been hired to assassinate major gang members.
Meanwhile, Alex is going through major hallucinations that may thwart her recovery and hopefully she can find help.
And once again, through another volume of “Gangsta.”, we get to see how corrupt this world they live in but how they fit in to all the chaos. There is no one character that is pure in Ergastulum, everything is corrupt, a lot of violence over runs the city and this volume does a great job as showing background of these Twilights and why they were the hunted.
As for the manga, Kohske has developed a intriguing series full of sex and violence but also an illustration style that is unique to her style of work. The manga is different from your standard yakuza storyline or your assassins for hire manga series. There is a western influence and it will be interesting to see how the story of “Gangsta.” will continue to grow overtime.
Overall, “Gangsta.” is an action-packed series about mysterious two assassins for hire in a crime-filled land and a former prostitute who starts working for them. An intriguing and rare manga series to come from Japan and to be brought to the U.S.
If you are looking for a manga series with a little sex and plenty of violence, “Gangsta.” vol. 3 by Kohske is a manga series worth recommending!