Hitoshi Iwaaki, Parasyte

Parasyte

Hitoshi Iwaaki

Del Rey, May 2007, $12.95

ISBN: 0345496248

They came from space at night; aliens falling planet-side while people sleep. These slugs crawl like snakes, as they seek human hosts to feed on from within. One by one they easily nestle into the brains of those humans they find. These hosts are no longer who they were, as the space slugs take over thoughts and their body, but conceal themselves and their master plan by pretending their human host remains in control.

However, one failed to cuddle inside the brain when high school student Shinichi sneezes, as the slug enters his nostril. He grabs the creature that he thinks is a snake, but it escapes. When it soars at his face, he instinctively puts his hand up; the parasite enters him there. Shinichi still controls his brain and can communicate with Migi as he calls the creature residing in his right hand. As Migi studies the host population, mass kings and serial murders become frequent. It appears man's reign is through with Shin the last hope, although first he must defeat Migi over just whose body is it before he can try to save the world.

Mindful of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this gritty grim apocalyptic manga thriller is a reprint of a tale released in the United States in 1990. The plot holds up quite nicely as a terrific coming of age tale with several twists, all inside a sneaky invasion by what would seem a whimper, but is a pandemic big bang. However, it is the manga art that grips the audience as the simplistic dark and grainy pictures means not to eat while reading or just afterward, as the gloomy vividness will stay inside your brain like a lingering PARASYTE long after this first book is finished.