Next Exit

Next Exit
File:Next Exit.jpg Next Exit Promotional Art
Genre	Original English Language, Action, SciFi/Fantasy, Surreal, Indie
Created by	Christy Lijewski
Manga
Written by	Christy Lijewski
Published by	Slave Labor Graphics
Related works
Rising Stars of Manga 3

Next Exit is an American or Original English Language (OEL) manga series created by the comic artist Christy Lijewski. It is her first running series starring the two characters Millicent Retrab (the girl with the map) and Markesh (travelling companion and muito-mysteriouso Alchemist) in their quest to try to escape from the world of Akaline, a plane inhabited by people, figments, shadows, demons, and dolls (all in the most literal sense of the words).

The world involves many SciFi aspects, such as alchemy and organic cyberkinetic dolls, as well as fantasy, such as dragons, talking animals, and magical apparitions. The world also interestingly seems to be multilingual (languages resembling if not being Japanese and Korean appear in art throughout the series).

The series is currently up to issue 8, and volume 1 ( a collection of past periodicals) hits bookshelves this month (June 2006).

Characters

Main

• Retrab: A horn-styled-red-haired girl, Retrab is a bit of an easy going slacker. She wins a map (a guide to an exit from the world of Alkaline, and one of the worlds most valued commodities) in a high-stakes chess game. She always wears a visor with an anarchy pin, and a tag that reads "FREE?". her eyes are orange spirals. She has a tattoo on her left shoulder that reads NO. Her full name is Millicent Retrab, and she is apparently originally from an world similar to if not in fact our own.

• Markesh: Retrab's friend and traveling companion. A skilled alchemist, and also when push comes to shove, pretty much her guardian. His past is a bit shady and he keeps many secrets from Retrab. He always wears a shirt that reads 27, and his eyes are mismatched: one yellow, and one blue. He also wears a punky half skirt, a pair of goggles, and a skull branded knee pad. His full name is Markesh Arcadia. He has scars on his face near his right eye, and his right forearm is always covered with a bandage.

Secondary

• Cara: A skilled alchemist and Syndoll engineer, she is an old friend of Markesh, and knows at least some of what he's hiding. She is a bit narcissitic and a self-proclaimed genius. Built Mortimer among countless others.

• Professor Sevi: an alchemist and scientist, as well as a friend and rival of Cara's, who recently passed away, orphaning his daughter, Mary Alice.

• Queeny, The Mayor: umm... she's the mayor. she likes to wear just enough clothes to cover her breasts. She wants the head of her syndoll Mortimer back.

• Mortimer: Queeny's Syndoll, he has the numbers 0069 on his missing head.

• The Guilliotine: A thief who steals only the heads of Syndolls. Her identity is the Syndoll Mary Alice.

• Mary Alice: Professor Sevi's Daughter, a hermit girl with some mysterious happenings. Ss actually a syndoll, one who can perform alchemy, and the creator of Holmes and Watson, alchemic chimera or frankenstein. she is also the Guillotine.

• Abraxas: First Captain of the Iluminati, a unspecified but probably combat division of LOGOS. His hair is milky white, and eyes are blue. His full name is Abraxas Arcadia, and he is Markesh's older brother. There may be bad blood in their past. It is strongly implied that he killed Mary Alice's father, Professor Sevi.

• Ren Cobalt: A Member of Illuminati, he is the shortest and youngest of the characters profiled in Volume 1. He is Abraxas' Vice Captain, implying the Illumnati as system that may be similar to the Gotei 13 in the Kubo Tite manga BLEACH, one of Lijewski's favorite manga.

• Franz the Cat: A talking cat, shaped like a sac. His name is Franz, and he is a friend of Cara. He enjoys hats and cute girls.

Groups

• LOGOS: A mysterious government force that defines what is and isn't existence in Alkaline. Cara, Abaraxas, and Ren are known members and it is strongly implied that Markesh was once one as well. They seem to be powerful alchemists, and were likely the "powers that be" that destroyed the Academy. Cara seems to be inactive, but still Affiliated.

• The Academy: a mysterious and apparently extinct institution of Alkaline. They made among other things, all the exit maps. They were known to be alchemists.

Species

• Humans: Humans are the accidental creators of Alkaline. Their psychic residue (dreams, memories, perception) create the whole of existence. Some but not all may be Alchemists, but this point is unclear.

• Figments/Fragments/Shadows: Creatures created entirely from the matter of Alkaline. any fantasy creature or nightmare animal is here. They are made from the same matter as Syndolls, but are created subconciously. Fragments are figments of figments, and will cease existence if the mother-figment dies. This is seen in chapter (issue) 1, with the dragon Momma and the fragment Saru. Shadow's are like figments, but loosely tied to whats real. they appear more in Doors than Next Exit, although they appear in both.

• Syndolls: Human like creatures created by alchemizing and engineering the matter of Alkaline. They are marked with numbers on their foreheads and they can be as intelligent and emotional as real people. However, like Figments, their existence is dependent on the nature of Alkaline. They shouldn't be able to do alchemy.

• other: It is suggested that some of the sentient and humanoid beings come from other realms that are "real", but are not human. This has yet to be fully explained. It is possible that all alchemist characters fall into this category, but unknown.

Alchemy in Next Exit

Alchemy in Next Exit is unique and distinct, differing in many ways from that which appears in other Manga such as Full Metal Alchemist. For one, no alchemist in Alkaline seems to need to draw transmutation circles or even go through an aligning ritual like the main character of Full Metal, Edward Elric. They seem to be able to transmute out of instinct alone. There is also no mention of that series "Equivalent Exchange". Also, in Alkaline, Matter may only be transmuted once, after that nothing can be done to change the object again. Also, organic material can be altered with alchemy, even humans, although it does seem to cause some kind of corruption.

However, there are some similitarities. Only certain people can do alchemy, and, it is implied, simply the talent is not enough to do advanced work. That apparently requires study and research. Also, as with other Alchemic Universes, it is sometimes feared by the ignorant as a form of witchcraft.

Doors

Doors, although being the basis for the series and having Markesh and Retrab as leads, is not a prequel. It can best be described as an alternate or simpler version of the same story, or a very similar story with the same characters. File:DoorsByNyanko.jpg

Markesh and Retrab talking about finding "their door"

Doors is the short one-shot comic story on which the comic Next Exit is based, having been written a few years earlier by Lijewski for the TokyoPop Rising Star of Manga Contest, where it was a runner-up. The basic premise, as well as the two protagonists, are the same. Retrab and Markesh are seeking a "Door" (a term which in the series is replaced by exit) out of the world of Alkaline, a fantastic dreamscape where thoughts mould and change as rapidly as they can while abiding the rules of this reality. They journey through various traps and monsters (called shadows) to try to reach a door. And eventually they do, but it's not exactly what they expected...

Differences include that Markesh's alchemy is less developed (not in terms of his ability but in explanation), motorized vehicles seem more common place, and Retrab is more useful in a fight, though still careless. Also, Exits are called Doors and neither Maps nor the Academy are mentioned. Doors also are apparently easier to find than exits, but they are individualized, only working for certain people, or even, only a certain person.

It ends up that upon reaching the door, the duo cannot reach it as the door is on the other side of a very deep and wide cliff. Retrab, However, notices a pair of foot prints in the ground facing the door, and encourages Markesh to stand on them. He does and nothing happens, although he does remark that it makes him feel "like an idiot". Retrab shrugs and begins to walk away saying that it must not be their door, but Markesh stops, saying that it might be hers.

Convinced that it won't be, Retrab stands nonchalntly on the foot prints and begins to say how nothing is happening just in time for a bridge of blocks to rise out of the gap and fill the space to the door. She looks on in denial as she realizes that this is her door, but not Markesh's. After some conjoling, Markesh is able to convince her to fearfully leave him behind, promising that he will follow her soon. The comic ends on a reveal of Retrab, waking in a hospital bed next to several others, the nearest being an unconscious Markesh, and a pull out through another door, revealing the area to be the coma center. Alkaline in this early version of the story is the land where all those forced out of the concious plane must live. It is yet to be seen if this reality is also true in the series.

Differences Between Doors and Next Exit

Although very similar, the differences between the two stories are noticeable and obvious. The Art differs the least, the only change being slight alterations to Retrab's Visor. Character is simpler and more immediate in Doors but otherwise the similar. The only noticeable character change is Retrab seems a bit more useful in a fight in Doors. The alchemy is present in Doors, but lacks any major development.

The only major difference lies in the ending. Although Next Exit seems to be leading a similar path, there is no telling how it will end. Also, the change from doors to exits could mean that the ways out are more abstract in Next Exit (in doors, it is implied that every door is in fact a household door) and there is no indication of the ending of Doors being a shared fact with Next Exit, although this fact (see above spoiler at own risk) as only revealed at the very close of Doors.

Other than that, other changes include the introduction of virtually all side characters and stories, and a more concrete reality.

References

Lijewski is a big fan of Japanese Manga and American Cartoons, and this is shown in the art, story, and dialoge of her comic. Here are some of them:

• In Issue Two of Next Exit Retrab Yells "SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS!" the favorite exclamation of Professor Farnsworth in the cartoon Futurama. She also has a quote from this show on her ID page at deviantArt [1]
• Many of the characters in Next Exit (syndolls mostly) have tattoos or marks of numbers on their foreheads, similar to those on the faces of some Shinigami in the manga BLEACH, one of Lijewski's favorite manga. The syndoll Mortimer shares his number "0069" (except the 0s) with vice captain of the 9th division of the Gotei 13, Shuhei Hisagi, who Lijewski has cosplayed.
• Alchemy plays a heavy role in the manga Full Metal Alchemist which Lijewski has sometimes stated as her single favorite manga. This probably inspired the use of it in Next Exit.
• The Illuminati in LOGOS are seem to the Gotei 13 in [BLEACH], and furthermore, Ren Cobalt seems to share some traits with Toshiro Hitsugaya
• Like Kubo Tite Lijewski assigns her characters theme songs, though she calls them "Image Songs".

External links

• Christy Lijewski on deviantArt
• Slave Labor Graphics