Steel Ball Run Volume 1: An Opener To A Great Odyssey That Represents the Power of Overcoming Adversity - Comic Watch

Author(s): Hirohiko Araki

Artist(s): Hirohiko Araki

Publisher: Shueisha

Genre: Seinen, Shonen

Published Date: 05/20/2004

Over twenty years ago. This series started. Without a doubt one of the most impactful parts for me, Steel Ball Run is a part of Jojo's universe made of steel. But also, of heart. Unlike previous parts where the story could become overly meandry and plain-out nonsensical, Part 7 was stirred by its world not one character. Its world was its opus and everyone who lived in it. And this time the Jojo we follow is one that truly deserves the title of best written Jojo. Johnny Joestar. And he wasn't like the other Jojo protagonists with very specific quirks and one singular over-the-top thing that made them; Johnny was complex and had a wave of growth. He was a human that nobody would call a hero. He was an antihero to himself who grew on the journey to realization. Not to say he was a saint, but to say he found himself more, as most of us do as we grow up. It was his coming-of-age tale represented through a race that itself represented a multitude of topics that stem from the issues at this time in America that festered in the general role of President Funny Valentine. Even more, there was a yin to the yang. For Funny Valentine, we had Gyro Zeppelin. What's better is that as we saw Johnny grow, we also saw the art grow, with Araki being rivaled not even by Inoue in terms of realism yet burning style and a sensation of hyperawareness to his world through, especially, the pages he fills with a colossal amount of color. Araki has also had six whole parts to develop his art and writing abilities, and here was his peak and one he made sure no one would forget. In a way, Steel Ball Run is all change. The artist became a master at not just cool designs but also face models and knowing how to draw not just humans or manga characters but his own characters. Now, every single thing about the world looks realistic to a degree that is hard to ever find on a single page of any of his other work. Yet it is also undeniably Jojo. The story is becoming, for the first time in Jojo history, truly multifaceted without losing its polish and direction, as well as its emotional curve and impact. The characters are becoming more morally gray and compelling. The author himself became wiser as age finally hit a once-shonen, for boys, brand to become for adults, seinen. Jojo truly grew, not just with its audience but for itself. Araki destroyed the fantastical to reach the personal here that Jojo felt so fearful of. True vulnerability. Jojo, like life itself, grew up. And, even better, this part had an immaculate ending.

Now, I could go pages after pages, spoiling and discussing Steel Ball Run, as I have so much to say about it from years of rereading it like crazy, but I will mainly hone in here on the first volume and aspects of this part.

One of the coolest things about an alternative universe is how Araki is able to reference past parts without ever cringey doing so and uses reflection and age to perfect his original characters into these morphed, more complex humans. Johnny is not Johnthan from Part 1. He is not a “heroic” and “do the right thing” kind of guy, and the narrative sees this. He sees the world as depressing, and death is the only that awaits him, given his time period and his inability to walk. Through Gyro, he is able to find a hope, one built on the fantastical yet symbolically representing reality, that gives him the key to wanting to live and enjoy life. “The shortest route is the detour. It was the detour that was our shortest path.” This quote represents why I love this part so much. It’s a simple answer. Steel Ball Run never fails to answer everything it sets up wonderfully, and sometimes without words. Winning was not running faster but knowing and not knowing where to go all along. It was the memories shared. While I am getting ahead of myself, as this is the first volume, it is a truth that burns brightly all the same. Steel Ball Run is a narrative that doesn’t base itself on expectation; in a way, you know the road ahead if you read Araki this much, but it is seeing someone grow like his characters on a journey that is as refreshing as a cold drink in the beaming sun. Even better, it is a timeless narrative that can be read, unlike every other Jojo part, two hundred years from now like Don Quixote in both its exuberant charm and timelessness without falling to, unlike every other Jojo part, annoying references or being hyper stuck to the times.

Araki is an artist who I would describe as any other artist. He works his way up to such a peak; the only way up is down, and that down was part 8. And part 7 was that peak. To show some comparison to previous parts:

Part 1 Panel:

Part 7 Panel:

I rest my case.

The artwork here should be taught in art classes, my god. I have no words. Araki, especially in this first volume, really hits the mark. While in later volumes he will become a tad more realistic, as these early chapters do feel slightly similar to Part 6 in their more exaggerated and less hyper-realistic expressions on the characters faces, the transition is still clear and is why this part works so well. A transition is needed as it represents, like the characters and everything else in Steel Ball Run, growth. This isn’t Part 6 anymore. It. Is. Steel. Ball. Run.

One of the most remarkable things about Steel Ball Run is the journey. Even in this first volume, the pacing is never kept down. It is fast and well controlled. Araki precisely shows us the relationship between Johnny and Gyro without ever slipping to the plethora of characters that make up Steel Ball Run. While this is Johnny’s journey, Araki keeps the worldbuilding and the world itself on display to illustrate how this world existed before Johnny’s birth and after he’s long gone which prepares us nicely for Part 8.

A brilliant choice to make it in the country is how dangerous it feels. Compared to the more urban setting other arcs took, Part 7 feels empty and unforgiving in the sense that it shows us the world barely. The city is what I would call a fantasy of sorts. A place constructed to give people a space solely is a creation. Like a story, it is something we make out of the world. When we see the world for what it is, there is Steel Ball Run. Wide spaces of nothing, starvation on your own, the feeling of freedom, and boundless possibilities represented by a race not to be damaged by our curse of overthinking everything. Here, it is the feeling of being alive that is enough.

A cool thing about Steel Ball Run is how it starts. Not with our hero, but a look at the world. It is not called Johnny Joestar, but Steel Ball Run. While the narrative almost observes him as a clear indicator or insight into all that happens, this opening makes clear that the world surrounding this race is what’s in control of it all.

Now, to get into characters, most of them are shown here in simplistic ways that will go further, but for now, we have seen Johnny Joestar, Lucy Steel, Steven Steel, Gyro Zeppeli, and a lot of others that I will be able to explore further once the narrative opens itself to more of what’s going on in the next and later volumes. Regardless, in such a short time, we are made aware of our characters. We got Gyro, for now, a mostly Mad Hatter of sorts with a crazy attitude and costume that would be a cool cosplay. His character is more towards, for now, what we don’t know about him and his mysterious steel balls. We also see Johnny and parts of his backstory, the rest of which will be revealed later, and his situation itself. Life struck him unfavorably and quite sadly and seeing the effect of Gyro’s steel balls on his legs, he knows he must follow him to the race. The push and pull dynamic between Gyro and Johnny really capture a good deal of this initial volume and helps guide it. While they may not see eye to eye, that doesn’t mean they have great and fascinating interactions. We see Johnny give it his all and is soon able to get on the horse and… join the race right as they start! Personally, this is one of my favorite scenes because of the intensity and joy of seeing him finally on the horse and how well written it is. In one chapter, we set up the execution of one part of his journey, getting on a horse, and reflect a slight inch of his growth while also progressing the race as to not slow down the narrative and also giving great artwork that feels better than the last chapter and stunning and nice flowing of the panels. Once the race starts, we get a slight look at the competition and Gyro’s steel balls. We also see Johnny getting a look at Gyro taking down one of his competitors using the steel balls. It all helps to set one up quite nicely for what part of the race and powers will be like before ending the volume off.

As an introduction volume to the world, Steel Ball Run Volume One is brilliant and so, and I repeat, so blazing with Araki not just crafting out a world and a race in an accomplished initial volume, but also setting up nearly every character's growth and destination. And never has a world felt so alive in a first volume. To end off, simply put, Steel Ball Run has a polished and crunchy bite to it starting out that will become only more, brilliantly, polished from here.