Remember when I talked abit ago (during the W.I.T.C.H. Volume 2 review) about thinking outside of the proverbial manga box for new ideas? Well, as it turns out a title that we have already reviewed from TOKYOPOP’s CineManga line has a counterpart title in a lesser known company… and that title turns out to be the better bargain as you are about to find out!

From Papercutz, a company you probably don’t know (if you are not following their lines or already picked up their paperback/hardcover CineManga style reads) it’s another go around with Totally Spies. Only this time the format is different. How so? Here, let me count the ways Papercutz’ presentation differs from TOKYOPOP’s.

1-Here’s the most important when it comes to visuals.
Unlike TOKYO Pop’s “wasted space” pages with panel sizes that were too small? This one wastes zero space, panels are larger and presented in a more comic style format over the whatever format used in TOKYOPOP’s CineManga version.

2-Here’s another important thing, the content.
Here you get TWO CineManga episode translations instead of one for TOKYOPOP’s run, which means each volume you get twice to content over the TOKYOPOP CineManga version of the same title.

3-Pricewise this is also a true keeper if I ever saw one.
The soft cover is $8 ($4 per story), and while the hardcover is $13... Well… it’s a HARDCOVER, and a splendid hardcover at that (if you could hear it you’d hear me tapping on this nice cover which makes a lovely reverberating sound as I do so). $6 a pop per story plus a $1 for the hardcover? Still saving money here folks!

4-Original content stuff is here too!
Papercutz has something for both male and female readers!
Like classic manpower mystery solving? How about Hardy Boys comics (done with a beautiful art style from what I can see of the ads).
Like your mystery solving with a female power instead? How about lovely (and recommended) reading with a hot looking Nancy Drew? And yes, if your wondering she will make you forget all about that live action movie “version” of her once you read this.

Given all the positive points for this run you can’t find anything to fault with it, so let’s see what the two stories are… in the first one Jerry (our lovely Spies boss) is turned evil and almost causes chaos by releasing all the prisoners in the WOOHP (which is still not a worldwide organization for Harry Potter fans) prison, then almost allows the girls to become brainwashed by the same evil guy who turned Jerry evil.

Then the girls, after playing rock-em-sock-em robots with a giant out of control robot, are given a two week cruise on a WOOHP owned ship… which turns into an Episode of Groundhog Day (or is it) as the girls find themselves reliving the same “day” over and over again… or are they?

Well, no need to go over the positive points of the read with you again so I’ll just sum it all up for you. In comparison between TOKYOPOP’s CineManga and this? I’d have to say you’d be far better off investing in Papercutz version of Totally Spies than TOKYOPOP own version… unless they printed stories that Papercutz didn’t, then go with them to fill out your collection.

Otherwise for superior product all about? Papercutz can pat themselves on the back for a job well done on this one. Sure, sure, the title is still probably only for die hard fans of the series, or people who like female lead series, but if you are the experimenting sort you might want to check this out (and then go on to read either or both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew from Papercutz).

For a job well done, Papercutz gets a good score with a 4 out of 5. Well done, people! Well done indeed!