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A look at the early Golden Age in Animal House

Added 2022-09-30 21:25:16 +0000 UTC

From the archives, here's one of Berserk's earlier issues, back when it was serialized in "Monthly Animal House", the magazine that came before "Young Animal". As you can see on the title page, this one is REVENGE 10, which was renamed "Golden Age (2)" in the volume (it's at the beginning of volume 4).

It was Berserk's 12th release, since the "Revenge" series started after "The Black Swordsman" and "The Brand". And it was published in Animal House's September 1991 issue, which came out in July '91. If you need a refresher on the history of those magazines and Berserk's publication in them, please check this thread on Skullknight.net.

There are a few things worth noting in the pictures above. On the title page, we can see that Miura was looking for an assistant at the time. This is presumably just before he turned to his friend Shizuya Wazarai, who worked for him before properly launching his own career. More generally, seeing the art on that page at that size is a good reminder than Miura was already very talented.

It's 50 pages long and ends with Gambino's death, highlighting the fast pace Miura was keeping for the flashback at the time. The next one, REVENGE 11, ends with Bazūso's death. The paces slows down a bit once Guts meets the Band of the Falcon.

Note that I abbreviate these as just "REVENGE" but there's more to them: 戦慄のヒーロー伝奇 (SENRITSU NO HI-RO- DENKI), which basically means "the fantastical story of the thrilling hero". The word "denki" is the same as in the 1997 anime's title: KENPŪ DENKI BERUSERUKU.

I've included the front and back covers too so you can enjoy the best mascot and that cool 80s logo. Note the clumsy English at the back: "more farther, more exciting!" Wyald would approve.