Story and Art by ODA Eiichiro
Copyright © 1997-1998 ODA Eiichiro & Shueisha.
Currently running in WEEKLY JUMP (Shueisha), series started in issue #34, 1997

Sometimes, flipping through the latest manga magazines, it feels as if many of today's manga artists use this year's EX motto "a look forward, a look back" as their basic concept. And the series that are currently popular in WEEKLY JUMP are no exception to that rule. Take, for example, ONE PIECE—the current front-runner for JUMP.
Monkey D. Ruffy was a young boy who looked up to Shanks the Redhead, a pirate that had recently had a base in Ruffy's hometown. Ruffy always asked Shanks to take him along, but the pirate captain always said no. One day, Ruffy gets angered that Shanks didn't fight back when a group of thugs ravaged the saloon that was the pirates' hangout. When Shanks tried to stop the little boy from trying to give the thugs a piece of his mind, he found that Ruffy accidentally ate the pirate's treasure, a GomGom Fruit (rubber-rubber fruit). This fruit makes its eater stretch semi-infinitely, but also makes them unable to ever swim again.
When the thugs returned, Ruffy faced them alone, but he was no match for them. He realized the reason why Shanks never let him on the ship was because the world was a dangerous place and the boy was too weak. When Shanks left town for good, Ruffy promised him that he would become the king of pirates. Ten years passed. Ruffy has grown to utilize his stretchable body, and sets sail in search of comrades and the ultimate treasure needed to become the king of pirates—One Piece.
As shown above, the premise for ONE PIECE is simple: a boy whose life was saved by a pirate vows to become the king of pirates, sets sail looking for comrades, and the story follows his adventures. If one takes the concept of a manga about a pirate's adventure by itself, one can be easily reminded of a generation ago when the main focus of many a manga was adventure into the unknown where the character grows up as a result of the adventure. However, one simple difference in one character can change the old stereotypical adventure manga (as this reviewer sees many but not all of old-school shounen manga) into something new and interesting. The concept of a "stretchable" protagonist also puts something new into the combat-oriented mangas that have infested the industry in the past few years (most notably after the huge success of Capcom's STREET FIGHTER II game). Here, you are presented with a character that relies only on his ability to stretch and not on weapons or energy shots—something that is different from the other characters that predominate combat-oriented manga.
Considering that this is his first series, Oda Eiichiro shows a great amount of care in what he draws. His drawings show that while he has learned much from his assistant jobs for artists including Watsuki Nobuhiro of RUROUNI KENSHIN fame, he was able to create his own style of drawing, unlike many other artists in JUMP today. When drawing in monochrome, his lines are clean and well-defined, aided by the notable lack of ziptones, giving a very crispy picture. (He has mentioned that it was his policy to keep his art completely black-and-white instead of haphazardly filling the pages with ziptone.) The color pictures only enhance his clean lines with great use of subtle shade changes.
Characters burst with life and personality, and his use of angles in scenes is sometimes exquisite. But perhaps one of the greatest aspects of the art is its consistency. Unlike many new artists, Oda's art has been relatively stable ever since the first episode appeared almost a year and a half ago. Of course, improvements can be noticed, but the differences are very subtle.
The future is uncertain for Ruffy and company, but at this point in time, it looks like it will be full of great comrades and many a treasure for the bright, cheerful rubberband-man wearing a straw hat.

Vol.1 - ISBN4-08-872509-3 (1st print 12/29/97)
Vol.2 - ISBN4-08-872544-1 (1st print 4/9/98)
Vol.3 - ISBN4-08-872569-7 (1st print 6/9/98)
Vol.4 - ISBN4-08-872594-8 (1st print 8/9/98)
Vol.5 - ISBN4-08-872619-7 (1st print 10/7/98)
6 volumes currently available under JUMP COMICS label, Shueisha.
(volume 6 will be available by the time EX 3.7 ships)