ORPHEN: Volume 1

Originally a series of fantasy novels by Akita, this tale of a young, irreverent and talented sorcerer has been adapted into an anime, a video game and a popular manga, now translated into English for the first time. Orphen was the star student of the Tower of Fangs, a school for mages, until he turned his back on his teacher, Childman. Orphen now lives from hand-to-mouth, using his magic on jobs to pay the bills. He is accompanied by his apprentice, Majic, and the groupie brothers Volcan and Dortin, who spend more time beating up on each other than helping with the job. On one job gone wrong, Orphen's entourage takes on another member, the cute and clumsy Cleao, who's intent on meddling with Orphen's love life. Surrounded by this comic group, Orphen struggles with ghosts from his past, and one in particular: his former fellow student, the beautiful Azalie. The characters and plot are unfailingly generic, but that doesn't change the fact that Orphen is just plain cool. The take-no-prisoners swagger in his step comes through clearly in Sawada's hip illustrations. This solidly entertaining manga will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the genre. (Mar.)