The Fall 2022 Manga Guide

Tower of God

What's It About? 

What do you desire? Money and wealth? Honor and pride? Authority and power? Revenge? Or something that transcends them all? Whatever you desire—you can find it here, at the Tower. When Bam's best friend Rachel declares she's going to climb the mysterious Tower, he is devastated, and decides to try and make the climb after her in order to see her again, risking death and much, much worse. (from webtoon)

Tower of God has story and art by SIU, and Webtoon Unscrolled will release its first physical volume in November.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Part science fiction, part fantasy, all oddball adventure story, Tower of God captured my attention much more in its original manhwa (webtoon) form than its anime adaptation did. That may be because of the pacing, which feels much more natural on the page, but I suspect that it's also because the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland themes come through more clearly, and we all know how much I love Lewis Carroll's classic Victorian children's duology. From Headon, the white rabbit-like monster protagonist Bam first meets in the Tower, to Bam's partnership with Black March, a clear March Hare reference, there are a lot of interesting Alice elements floating throughout the book. While those seem to wander off a bit once Bam reaches the second floor (although the two lizard people could easily be a couple), lines about losing heads, queenly ladies in red, and the entire nonsense-feel of the story's world all contribute in interesting ways.

Carrollian references aside, the story is relatively straightforward: Bam somehow enters a mysterious tower that's usually invitation-only in pursuit of his childhood friend/substitute mom Rachel, who does appear to have been invited. As an Irregular, Bam is only partially subject to the rules everyone else has to follow, which catches the interest of both Headon and Lady Yuri, although both have different feelings about his status and vanish in the second half of the book. Bam has to pass a series of tests to ascend the Tower, and this volume has him passing the first two tests, one of which is at least a three-parter, probably more. Bam appears to mostly just be coasting on his status as an Irregular, which is simultaneously interesting (seeing how he's not like the others) and kind of dull, because he really is just gliding cluelessly along. His partnership with Khun, another boy he meets on the second floor, may change things up, but mostly the other characters feel more like accessories to Bam's awesomeness than actual people. The art is a mix of barely sketched in and more polished, which I think does work well for the nature of the story, and while I'm not fully sold, I am curious enough to think this deserves at least two volumes before making a decision.

Bam may be chasing his own Alice, in the form of Rachel, up the Tower in a reverse of Alice chasing the White Rabbit down a hole. I'm not sure where I'm going with that thought yet, but it seems worth considering. And truly, everyone does seem mad here.