*The theme of this year’s Booktrust Children’s Book Week is Words and Pictures. That got me (and my fellow cave denizens – hurrah!) thinking about COMICS. Scroll down, or click here for part one. Now read on…

Here are the covers of the first three volumes of Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba, with art by Takeshi Obata:

I was recommended Death Note by someone I met on one of my school visits. I get some great book recommendations that way, and this was no exception. The series is a massive international bestseller: there’s already an anime and two live action film adaptations, so I guess it doesn’t need any extra help from me(!) but if you haven’t read it yet, then definitely do. I’m only three books in so far, but I’m totally hooked: Death Note is BRILLIANT.

What if you were handed the power of life or death over anyone you choose? When Light Yagami, a bored young student, finds the notebook of Ryuk, an equally bored death god(!) he gets the chance to find out. To Ryuk’s delight [that's Ryuk above, on the cover of Vol 3] Light decides he’s going to use the power of the Death Note to change the world. Soon criminals are dropping dead all over Japan. Soon the police start to notice. An eccentric and superintelligent detective known only as L pledges to discover who is behind the deaths, and a ferocious and twist-filled battle of wits begins…

Death Note is utterly compulsive storytelling. There are loads of things I love about it: the twists, the art, the fact that Ryuk is addicted to apples(!) But my absolute favourite thing about it, I think, is that it doesn’t over-explain everything.

Take the first time that Ryuk and Light meet. Ryuk (it’s implied) has met humans before, but this is the first time Light has met a Shinigami death god, so, as you’d expect (no kidding!) at first Light is pretty surprised. But where a lesser writer might feel like the character ought to be shocked or awed or traumatized, or (even worse – snore) need pages and pages of exposition, Light gets used to Ryuk’s presence extremely quickly. This doesn’t make the story feel unrealistic. On the contrary: Ryuk is impressed with Light’s pragmatic attitude – and so is the reader. The same goes for the book’s attitude to morality. Some authors would show Light agonizing over his new-found power to make people die at his whim. Light doesn’t. He just gets on with his plans – leaving the reader in the much less comfortable position of having to work out the morality (or otherwise) of Light’s actions for themselves.

I love stories that make the reader keep on their toes. Death Note makes my brain feel like it’s dancing a jig. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find the rest of the series…

Another comics post from me coming soon. Maybe. ;p