Dogs is the only manga series that currently inspires me to run out to the bookstore the day it's released. Dynamic art, loveable characters, and a slowly unfolding storyline make this series incredibly enjoyable. Shirow Miwa is one of those manga artists who can play both roles as illustrator-author without dropping the ball on either end.

On the author side, he's taking his sweet time shedding light on the plot, the world, and each character's back-story. A bookstore cashier once asked me what Dogs was about, and I could barely answer him: "Um...it's set in the future. I think. It's a sci-fi, and there are these levels in the city....? Some of the characters are genetically modified. They all have shadowy pasts, but now they're kind of like guns-for-hire..?" Despite this -- or maybe because of it -- I'm completely absorbed with the story and have read each volume a dozen times. On the illustrator end, the Shirow is equally as stellar -- his mastery of light, angles, and human forms borders on showing off. ( )