The Dirty Pair
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The Dirty Pair is a satirical and humorous science fiction American manga franchise writen and illustrated by Adam Warren and is based on the Dirty Pair Characters from the light novel series by Haruka Takachiho.
The American comic company and manga translator Studio Proteus acquired rights to create comic versions of the Dirty Pair in 1989; the first two graphic novels Biohazards and Dangerous Acquaintances were published by the since-defunct Eclipse Comics. Later the rights were transferred to Dark Horse Comics. The first 3 series were written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and drawn by Warren - after that Smith left the project and Warren took over writing completely. These stories have a much more cyberpunk style than the other versions; the later stories, starting with "Fatal but not Serious", move into the transhuman subgenre.
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[edit] The Lovely Angels
Kei and Yuri are two Trouble Consultant's (Criminal Division, Class A) for the Worlds Welfare Work Association (3WA), code named "Lovely Angels", but known through out the United Galactica (UG) as the "Dirty Pair", a nickname given to them by the press due too their bad luck with their missions, which always seams to end with complete disaster. But they are always cleared of any wrongdoing by the UG's Central Computer because the extreme damage is never actually their fault (though their mere presence has been known to make things worse).
They originally met at Meizuru university for Lucien genetic upgrades around A.D. 2134, although it is not confirmed as Canon, one can assume they were both misfits within their year, and so became friends due to nether of them fitting in. Around A.D. 2137, just before graduation from Meizuru university, they played a Prank on their friends, convincing them that they were both Psychic. Shortly afterwards, news reached the 3WA and they were scouted for recruitment and tested by a parapsychology institute. The pair cheated every which way possible (the really short skirts were Kei's idea), and they tested positive for clairvoyance, the 3WA considered this to be useful and hired them.
Although, outwardly they almost constantly fight and bicker with each other, they are both loyal best friends, always pairing up together to deck anyone that calls them by their "Dirty Pair" nickname.
- Kei: Born 11/27/2122 Age 19, she is a Lucien type genetic upgrade (although Yuri might dispute this fact, claiming she might be a yamashita upgrade), she has long red hair with large bangs, brown eyes (more often than not green) is 174-cm tall and weighs 59-kg. Kei is the tomboy of the pair, outgoing, loud and boisterous, she has remarked that she is "the exciting half of our team" and that "drinking or sex would be my responsibilities". Although she often fights and argues with Yuri, she has displayed a much softer side to her personality, revealing in the Sim Hell mini series that her biggest fear is that of losing Yuri, and having very watery eye's over the death of the original Yuri during Fatal But Not Serious. Kei has a passion for cheesecake, large firearms and bleeding edge mecha and war-tech.
- Yuri: Born 3/18/2122 (original) 9/12/2141 (Currant Clone) Age 19, she is a Lucien type genetic upgrade, she has long black hair, blue eyes, is 171-cm tall and weighs 58-kg. Yuri is the more stereotypical retro-feminine of the two, being the more demure, modest, polite and friendly of the two. This appears too stem from her traditional japanese upbringing, and possibly from her fears of what other people think of her in regard to all the disasters they had been indirectly involved in. During the plot line of Fatal But Not Serious, another version of her was cloned from her stolen personality construct and tissue samples kept on record at the 3WA. The cloned version of Yuri had a "serotinin-based progressive imbalance" set into her neurochemistry, to make her psychotically suicidal, and was tasked with the mission of killing the original Kei and Yuri (albeit that she believed herself to be in a simulation), she was only 50% successful, terminating only the original Yuri. Although she often fights with her partner Kei, she has a deep devotion to her best friend. In Sim Hell while dining with "an old friend" Dan, she spoke of nothing but Kei, and when it was revealed she was in danger, ran immediately to her aid. And in Fatal But Not Serious, yuri could not bring herself too kill Kei in cold blood, despite her neurochemistry imbalance. It is also revealed that Yuri has a deep admiration for Kei's rebel side, stealing her stuff in Fatal But Not Serious and acting the "Bad Girl", as-well as attempting to act more like Kei after they engaged synchronous puppet mode, taking control of each others bodies and trading perps in Run From The Future.
[edit] Publications
- Biohazards - 4 issues, December 1988 - April 1989 (trade paperback [TPB], 1989; 1998, reissue)
- Dangerous Acquaintances - 5 issues, June 1989 - March 1990 (TPB, 1991; 1997, reissue)
- A Plague of Angels - 5 issues, August 1990 - November 1991 (TPB, 1994)
- Sim Hell - 4 issues, May - August 1993; colorized reissue, May - August 2001 (TPB, 1994; 1996, 2nd edition; 2002, colorized reissue)
- I Honestly Hate You - eight-page short story originally published in August 1994 in the (annual) San Diego ComicCon Comics, #3 (reprinted in 1998 Dark Horse Comics reprinted TPB of Biohazards)
- Fatal but not Serious - 5 issues, July - November 1995 (TPB, 1996)
- Start the Violence - one-shot, May - July 1998 (TPB, 1999; also included in Run from the Future TPB)
- Run from the Future - 4 issues, January - April 2000 (TPB, 2002)
- A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'. - 6 single pages orignally published May - August 2001 in the back of each colorized reissue of "Sim Hell", also in the back of the colorized "Sim Hell" TPB reissue (2002).
[edit] References
^ Adam Warren and Toren Smith - The Dirty Pair: Biohazards. ISBN 1-56971-339-1
^ Adam Warren and Toren Smith - The Dirty Pair: Dangerous Acquaintances. ISBN 1-56971-227-1
^ Adam Warren and Toren Smith - The Dirty Pair: A Plaque Of Angels. ISBN 1-56971-029-5
^ Adam Warren - The Dirty Pair: Sim Hell. ISBN 1-56971-742-7
^ Adam Warren - The Dirty Pair: Fatal But Not Serious. ISBN 1-56971-172-0
^ Adam Warren - The Dirty Pair: Run From The Future. ISBN 1-56971-577-7
