The Dirty Pair
Encyclopedia
The Dirty Pair is an original English-language manga
written and illustrated by Adam Warren
, based on the Dirty Pair characters
created by Haruka Takachiho
.
The American comic company and manga translator Studio Proteus
acquired rights to create comic versions of the Dirty Pair in 1988. The first three limited series, reprinted in the collected editions Biohazards, Dangerous Acquaintances, and Plague of Angels, were published by the since-defunct Eclipse Comics
. Later, the rights were transferred to Dark Horse Comics
. The first three 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
and posthuman
subgenres.
They originally met at Meizuru university for Lucien genetic upgrades around A.D. 2134, although it is not necessarily canon
, they were both misfits within their year, and so became friends. 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.
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.
of the two, being the more demure, modest, polite, and friendly of the two. This appears to stem from her traditional Japanese upbringing, and possibly from her fears of what other people think of her in regard to all the disaster
s they have 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 "seratonin-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 (which she believed to be a simulation). She was partially successful, terminating only the original Yuri. Shortly after, the cloned Yuri received medical attention, and is now identical to 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 Kei was in danger, ran immediately to her aid. In Fatal But Not Serious, Yuri could not bring herself to 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 other's bodies and trading perps in Run From the Future.
Biohazards is an original English-language manga written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren, based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho. The series was originally published by Eclipse Comics
between December 1988 and April 1989, and has since been collected into a trade paperback
, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics
in September 1998.
Dangerous Acquaintances is an original English-language manga written Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren, based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho. The series was originally published by Eclipse Comics between June 1989 and March 1990, and has since been collected into a trade paperback, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics in June 1997.
A Plague of Angels is the third original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren. It was the last Dirty Pair comic that Smith and Warren co-wrote, Warren going on to handle all future writing for the series on his own. The series was originally published by Studio Proteus
between August 1990 and November 1991, and has since been collected into a trade paperback, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics in December 1995.
Sim Hell is the fourth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. It was the first Dirty Pair comic that saw Warren handle all the writing, having previously co-wrote with Toren Smith. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between May and August 1993, and has since been collected into a trade paperback. Later, a colorized, reissued version (Sim Hell Remastered) was published between May and August 2001.
"I Honestly Hate You" is an 8-page short story originally published in August 1994 in the (annual) San Diego Comic Con Comics #3 (reprinted in 1998 by Dark Horse Comics in the Dirty Pair: Biohazards trade paperback).
, with heavy usage of gray-scale sheets, panels arriving to the edge of the pages on all four edges, cynetic lines showing movement, and some panels having no borders or being inclinated to a side to show the direction of action.
Fatal But Not Serious is the sixth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between July and November 1995, and has since been collected into a trade paperback.
Run From the Future is the eighth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between January and April 2000, and has since been collected into a trade paperback.
habitat, where the 3WA have scored a deal with the Black Market habitat to poach 50 of the worst "crims, terrs, and pirates" from its megatree branches, in less than 100 minutes. Subduing, arresting, and battling with an entient Smart Cloth "Living Leather" suit, a French post-human terrorist leader and his mechas, terrorist artists, biotattooed orcas, the blood thirsty Teddy Roosevelt gladiator, Kei's schoolgirl crush, and Binky. The Lovely Angels may just pull off their first ever "collateral damage"-free mission, but a trip down memory lane for Yuri and Kei's own faith issues conspire against them. In the end, the Angels are successful (if only for a short while), but narrowly miss seeing the real Shasti.
"A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'" is a 6-page story originally published from May to August 2001 in the back of each colorized reissue of Sim Hell, and later in the back of the colorized Sim Hell reissued trade paperback (2002).
pages, and they are neither inked nor toned (tones are greyscale sheets, like Japanese manga).
Original English-language manga
Original English-language manga or OEL manga is the term commonly used to describe comic books or graphic novels in the "international manga" genre of comics whose language of original publication is English...
written and illustrated by Adam Warren
Adam Warren
Adam Warren is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style...
, based on the Dirty Pair characters
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Haruka Takachiho
Haruka Takachiho
is a Japanese science fiction author and founder of Studio Nue. Takachiho is best known as the creator of Crusher Joe, Dirty Pair and Dirty Pair Flash....
.
The American comic company and manga translator Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
acquired rights to create comic versions of the Dirty Pair in 1988. The first three limited series, reprinted in the collected editions Biohazards, Dangerous Acquaintances, and Plague of Angels, were published by the since-defunct Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
. Later, the rights were transferred to Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. The first three series were written by Toren Smith
Toren Smith
Toren Smith is a manga translator and founder of Studio Proteus. He was born in Alberta, Canada, learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. By thirteen he had sold his first magazine article, an...
and Adam Warren
Adam Warren
Adam Warren is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style...
and drawn by Warren — after that, Smith left the project and Warren took over writing completely. These stories have a much more cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
style than the other versions; the later stories, starting with "Fatal But Not Serious", move into the transhuman
Transhuman
Transhuman or trans-human is a term that has been defined and redefined many times in history. In its contemporary usage, “transhuman” refers to an intermediary form between the human and the hypothetical posthuman.-History of hypotheses:...
and posthuman
Posthuman
Posthuman may refer to:*Posthuman, a hypothetical future being whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer human by our current standards...
subgenres.
The Lovely Angels
Kei and Yuri are two Trouble Consultants (Criminal Division, Class A) for the World Welfare Work Association (3WA), code-named "Lovely Angels", but known throughout the United Galactica (UG) as the "Dirty Pair", a nickname given to them by the press due to their bad luck with their missions, which always seem to end in 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 necessarily canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
, they were both misfits within their year, and so became friends. Around A.D. 2137, just before graduation from Meizuru university, they played a prank on their friends, convincing them that they were both psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
. Shortly afterwards, news reached the 3WA and they were scouted for recruitment and tested by a parapsychology
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
institute. The pair cheated every which way possible (the really short skirts were Kei's idea), and they tested positive for clairvoyance
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
, 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
Kei, 19, was born November 27, 2122. She is a Lucien-type genetic upgrade, 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 tomboyTomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
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
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit , pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked...
, large firearms, and bleeding edge mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
and war-tech.
Yuri
The original Yuri was born March 18, 2122; and the current clone on September 12, 2141. She is a Lucien-type genetic upgrade, has long black hair, blue eyes, is 171 cm tall and weighs 58 kg. Yuri is the more stereotypical retro-feminineFemininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
of the two, being the more demure, modest, polite, and friendly of the two. This appears to stem from her traditional Japanese upbringing, and possibly from her fears of what other people think of her in regard to all the disaster
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
s they have 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 "seratonin-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 (which she believed to be a simulation). She was partially successful, terminating only the original Yuri. Shortly after, the cloned Yuri received medical attention, and is now identical to 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 Kei was in danger, ran immediately to her aid. In Fatal But Not Serious, Yuri could not bring herself to 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 other's bodies and trading perps in Run From the Future.
Biohazards
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
between December 1988 and April 1989, and has since been collected into a trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
in September 1998.
Plot
The Lovely Angels are assigned to Pacifica. Tissue samples and the single surviving brainchip of leading biotechnical engineer Kelvin A. O'Donnell have been stolen by agents of Abraham Streib, a rival industrialist maimed in an accident apparently staged by O'Donnell. Enter the Dirty Pair, who rescue O'Donnell's brainchip, implanted by Streib in a cuddly Pseudo-Fuzzy. Mission accomplished, but O'Donnell convinces the Angels of Streib's traffic in illegal bioweapons, and persuades them to help him retrieve his tissue samples so he can regain his humanity. His consciousness transferred to a synthetic warbeast, O'Donnell leads the Pair to Streib's lab, obliterating most of his cronies — and a sizable section of Pacifica's capital city. O'Donnell assures the destruction of Streib's operation, and of Streib himself, but, en route home, is arrested by Pacifica Security for unlawful bioweapons production of his own.Dangerous Acquaintances
Plot
The Lovely Angels are on vacation on the planet of Rocinante when they spot an old "acquaintance", Shasti. Kei and Yuri immediately attack Shasti in a drunken rage, but are quickly subdued by the heavily-armed and violent local police as Shasti blends into the crowd. Through a series of flashbacks interwoven though the story, the tale of the betrayal, attempted murder, and humiliation of the (then-rookie) pair by the increasingly psychotic superagent Shasti is told. The Lovely Angels start investigating Shasti's presence on the planet, and uncover a nest of apparently unconnected plots that all seem to have Shasti as the leader. Revolutionaries, a band of thieves after a collection of priceless antiques, and an experimental one-of-a-kind FTL drive installed in an interstellar liner filled with rich and influential potential hostages: which is Shasti's real goal and what is simply smokescreen? One thing is clear, though: the Dirty Pair want revenge against Shasti, and not even their reputation will bar the way!A Plague of Angels
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
between August 1990 and November 1991, and has since been collected into a trade paperback, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics in December 1995.
Plot
As public outrage peaks, the Angels are restricted to the Kalevala O'Neill Colony to help with local investigations of a technology-smuggling outfit. Meanwhile, the 3WA launches a full-scale public relations assault, commissioning a glowingly positive profile for High Sense magazine. As the Pair turn a routine stake-out into a free-for-all, ambitious reporter Cory Emerson takes the assignment. Cory arrives to find the Pair in trouble with security for the stake-out fiasco, which nonetheless has revealed the nature of their adversaries: artificial personalities encoded on micro-software plugs enabling the smugglers to move between host bodies. The Angels, with Cory in tow, go solo to crack the ring, but the smugglers unleash their secret weapon: a robot using a maniacal artificial personality that threatens to blow everyone up using a low-yield gravity bomb. The Pair successfully defeat the robot, but the bomb does not seem to be with it anymore.Sim Hell
Plot
The Lovely Angels report to the 3WA headquarters for Kei's annual evaluative assessment by the top-secret Central Computer, the 3WA's "chief operating entity." Before any direct examination can take place, Kei must first participate via neural interface in several computer-generated interactive simulations, or "sims." Something goes awry and Kei is seemingly trapped in a potentially lethal feedback loop with the computers running the simulation. Yuri jacks in to the sim's virtual reality to save Kei, but soon finds that both of them are now stuck in an endless series of simulations. Initially, the Angels struggle through historical sims, set decades earlier during the genocidal "Nanoclysm," a plague of artificially intelligent Nanoviruses that nearly annihilated humanity. They discover that they are trapped in simulations belonging to the shadowy Bureau of Technological Regulation (BTR), a secretive group whose business is the control of certain dangerous technologies. Eventually, Kei and Yuri stumble upon a private sim owned by Kevin Sleet, their obnoxious tormentor from the BTR. There, they find that a rogue faction of the BTR, using supposedly forbidden technologies, intends to seize control of the 3WA's Central Computer and use its formidable powers to help mount a paramilitary coup of human civilization. But worst of all, the Angels discover that Sleet plans on a future where clones of Kei and Yuri serve as his personal harem. Nauseated, our heroines head for a final confrontation with the nefarious lout. They find the Central Computer is not without its own defenses.I Honestly Hate You
Plot
Kei decides that she has had enough of dealing with Yuri's personality and derisive comments. She equips herself with fighting equipment and storms her room to teach her a lesson.Drawing style
The black-and-white drawing style is reminiscent of Japanese mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, with heavy usage of gray-scale sheets, panels arriving to the edge of the pages on all four edges, cynetic lines showing movement, and some panels having no borders or being inclinated to a side to show the direction of action.
Fatal But Not Serious
Plot
While the majority of humanity still lives in fear of the Dirty Pair and their well-publicized "disastrous proclivities," a surprising number of people have, for a wide variety of reasons, chosen to embrace the Lovely Angels as beloved, if destructive, "idol figures." Recently, the Pair's galaxy-wide cult following has grown large enough to support an actual convention celebrating their dubious celebrity. In a doomed bid to generate some positive media coverage, the Lovely Angels themselves are attending this "Kei'n'YuriCon '41" as guests of honor... but their enemies are conspiring to derail this ill-fated "charm offensive." Just before the convention, the Lovely Angels defeated a terrorist group in a bloody battle that left Kei with a broken leg. The surviving terrorist sought his revenge by unleashing a tailored "neurovirus," designed to trigger an anti-Dirty Pair hysteria and mob violence at the convention. More ominously, a renegade branch of the 3WA has stolen the Lovely Angel's "back-up copy" personality constructs and tissue samples, generated a memory-intact clone of Yuri, and duped the freshly grown Angel into thinking she is undergoing an interactive simulation, a bizarre virtual reality scenario that requires her to assassinate the original Kei and Yuri. In typical Dirty Pair fashion, she is going to accomplish her mission beyond the shadow of a doubt... by causing the local sun to go supernova. Fortunately, the planetary authorities drew up plans to evacuate the system when they heard the Dirty Pair would be attending.Drawing style
This series uses finished artwork that is inked and colored. The character designs use plain colors without gradients and shadows are done with zones of darker plain colors or with black zones, similar to anime. Cinetic lines are heavily used to represent movement, like Japanese manga. The environments are all futuristic.Start the Violence
Start the Violence is a one-shot comic featuring the original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. It was included in the Dirty Pair: Run From the Future trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics in January 2002.Run From the Future
Plot
Kei and Yuri, disguised as a pregnant Shasti and an overweight male model, with EPD (Explosive Personality Disorder) Eddie, travel to the covert trade and technology nexus of the Nimkasi, a Dyson treeDyson tree
A Dyson tree is a hypothetical genetically-engineered plant, capable of growing in a comet, suggested by the physicist Freeman Dyson...
habitat, where the 3WA have scored a deal with the Black Market habitat to poach 50 of the worst "crims, terrs, and pirates" from its megatree branches, in less than 100 minutes. Subduing, arresting, and battling with an entient Smart Cloth "Living Leather" suit, a French post-human terrorist leader and his mechas, terrorist artists, biotattooed orcas, the blood thirsty Teddy Roosevelt gladiator, Kei's schoolgirl crush, and Binky. The Lovely Angels may just pull off their first ever "collateral damage"-free mission, but a trip down memory lane for Yuri and Kei's own faith issues conspire against them. In the end, the Angels are successful (if only for a short while), but narrowly miss seeing the real Shasti.
A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'
Plot
This short story consists of a series of flashbacks about how the relationship between Yuri and Kei has evolved over time. The flashbacks include events ranging from the time when both attended school to the current time, including, for example, their training at the 3WA.Drawing style
The pages are greyscale reproductions of tight pencil "layouts", like the EmpoweredEmpowered
Empowered is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Adam Warren. Described by Warren as a “sexy superhero comedy", Empowered began to take shape in 2004 with a series of commissioned sketches of a damsel in distress; these illustrations became the basis for short comic...
pages, and they are neither inked nor toned (tones are greyscale sheets, like Japanese manga).
External links
- A Guide to Adam Warren's Dirty Pair
- Press Release on the Dark Horse Comics website
- Run From the Future Preview at Dark Horse Comics
- Start the Violence Preview at Dark Horse Comics