Off*Beat Volume 1

Presents the adventures of fifteen-year-old self-proclaimed genius Tory Blake.

Mystery, obsession and a whiff of life in New York City blend to make Quick's manga an intriguing entree to the compulsive world of Christopher "Tory" Blake, a high school student living in Queens. He seems like a regular teenager, but for some unknown reason he's developed a fascination with the boy who recently moved in across the street, Colin Stephens. Why do Colin and his guardian keep the blinds drawn and live in a pricey duplex when there's just two of them? In pursuit of answers, Tory enrolls in Colin's school. But Colin remains frustratingly unknowable, despite Tory's schemes. Snooping through school records, running license plate numbers and even tutoring Colin in physics don't pan out as Tory hopes, although he does uncover a few tidbits. What is the Gaia Project and how is Colin's guardian involved? Why does Colin keep missing school? Most intriguingly for the reader, why on earth is Tory so deeply and unshakably obsessed with someone he barely knows? Although Quick does nothing to clarify this final question, her likable characters and crisp, convincing drawing make the reader willing to stick with the story and more than ready for the answers volume two should bring. (Oct.)
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