Aron's Absurd Armada
Aron's Absurd Armada is a Korean manhwa series by MiSun Kim. Originally published as a yonkoma webcomic, it has been serialized by Daewon between 2008 and 2012 in five volumes. The series is licensed in North America by Yen Plus in full color, and a collection of three omnibus volumes. The series revolves around the adventures of a gang of pirates led by idiotic Lord Aron Cornwall. Plot Lord Aron Cornwall, son of bookish Duke Victor Cornwall and warrior-like Duchess Cornwall, and nephew of the seemingly psychic King, has decided to become a pirate. However, he is a stupid fool who makes for a poor captain. His crew consists of his manservant Robin, who acts as Aron's bodyguard and whose main interest is making money, and general servants Anton and Gilbert. The crew rescue a woman called Ronnie, but because a jellyfish got caught in her long hair, Anton and Gilbert cut her hair to a more boyish length resulting in the crew thinking that she is a man. When she denies this, the crew come to the conclusion that Ronnie is gay. She also instantly falls in love with Robin at first sight. Later on, the crew are joined by two more members: Mercedes, a male transvestite who joins the crew as a hair stylist but is actually an assassin; Vincent, a cook whose food tastes so awful that it can be used as a weapon; the masked burglar Luna, who works under the name of Phantom Thief XX; and Wendy, a witch who specialises in making rare poisons. Aron's crew go out searching for treasure, including the tiny but valuable "Crown of the Queen of Ants". Along the way the marines try to scupper their plans. The marines responsible are Lieutenant Luther Nelson, who has had an antagonistic relationship with Aron since childhood and is the illegitimate son of Duchess Cornwall's rival Admiral Nelson, and Ensign Dorothy Nelson, Luther's cousin with whom he is deeply in love. Reception Melinda Beasi, writing for Manga Bookshelf gave Aron's Absurd Armada a positive review. Beasi wrote, when reviewing the opening sections of the comic: "This is a supremely silly comic, but I don't actually mean that as a criticism. It's light and whimsical, and though I had to read it through a couple of times to really get the premise, I found it genuinely enjoyable." When reviewing the first printed collection Beasi gave a more mixed review saying: "True to its name, Aron's Absurd Armada is devoted to humor rather than plot, and in this it largely succeeds. Though translating foreign comedy tends to err on the "miss" side of "hit-or-miss," Kim's sense of humor easily bridges cultural barriers—most of the time, at least. Only two or three jokes rely too heavily on Korean pop culture references to translate effectively in this first volume, which is a fairly good track record when compared to much of the Japanese 4-koma that's been licensed for English-language release. L.B. Bryant of ICV2 also liked