OLDMAN Part 2

Oldman #2

by Sheng Chang

A beautiful queen rules her country with an iron fist. Unmarried and without an heir, she adopts orphans as a way to prove that even commoners can reign as kings. Yet, as the years progress, she shows no sign of aging. Only one man knows the dark secret to her eternal Oldman, a bearded magician the queen has locked in her darkest dungeon. One night, Oldman steps through the bars of his prison and disappears before the queen's very eyes. Enraged, she sends her army after him in a desperate campaign to keep her secret hidden.

Staging his escape, Oldman appears to step through the bars of his cell and vanish as if by magic, cleverly misleading the guards. He rescues a neighboring prisoner, an outlaw sword maiden who has had her arms and legs amputated. Upon taking her to a brilliant doctor who fits her with mechanical limbs, Oldman and the sword maiden vow to take revenge on the queen that wronged them, all the while evading the queen's army as she launches a desperate campaign to keep her secret hidden.

The story continues as Oldman, the escapee plots to go back to the Queen's palace alone to negotiate with her. On his way to the palace, Oldman's comrades explore his childhood and how it intertwines with the Queen's dark secret.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2013

About the author

Name (in native language) : 常勝

Zodiac : Sagittarius

Blood type : O

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/jlcomic/

Reviews

[47Time]

The second volume starts with a page that presents the characters and their back story. Their conflicting back story and updated names. Oldman knows about the Queen, Wen Sheng is now Vincent, Nero is now Neleh (which sounds kind of cool), Hanmer is Hammer (typo, probably). This is what happens when you get multiple translators for a manga. It's not vital to my enjoyment of it, it's just a bit inconsistent.

Oldman is heading for the palace by himself to meet someone. Meanwhile Neleh recounts his origin story, though Rebecca is finding it hard believing it. Oldman was an orphan boy who learned magic from a butterfly. He gained the ability to manipulate time. He got into the queen's court when her advisers convinced her to pick a commoner as her heir. Years later she abused his ability to make her body youthful again - which made him old as a result - and imprisoned him.

Back in the present Oldman is brought in front of the queen. He uses his illusions to trick the guards and escape, though Hammer manages to wound him with his sword. He then visits his childhood sweetheart Helen. Somehow he manages to appear young again. They must cut their meeting short when Owen appears at the door, but Oldman promises they will reunite.

The streets are filled with guards, making escape difficult. Oldman is joined by Rebecca and Neleh who are determined to escape the city.

[Jin]

Good read. The visuals are stunning.

[Irem]

Meh

[Nicolas]

Un deuxième tome consacré exclusivement à un long flash-back qui nous raconte l'histoire d'Oldman. C'est clairement moins dynamique que le premier tome, mais ça n'en est pas moins intéressant. Le plus grand défaut de ce tome est que le personnage de la reine est quand même sacrément caricatural dans son ambition désespérée de régner pour toujours.