スーパーマリオくん 12

Another pretty focused volume that, as with the prior volume, actually keeps the majority of the volume sticking to one plotline (Wario Land 1) and only switching to Wario's Woods and the bonus chapters near the end. I appreciate that the pacing and structuring of the series seems to have reached a sane equilibrium where they can have a few stories going on, but it's not like the Mario Land 2 volumes where some of them only had a chapter or two of Mario Land 2 related content only starting near the second half.

As far as the story goes, we finally get to see Captain Syrup some more, she had a very brief scene earlier but this is where they actually start to have to deal with her. One thing that's been a bit disappointing is that she hasn't been much of a presence in this plot which is surprising given that the villains of prior games were a constant nuisance during their respective arcs or at the very least we got to see them reacting to what Mario and crew were up to even when they aren't directly fighting. Making it sting a bit more is that she's the first final boss that isn't dumb muscle and gets by more by scheming and commanding others which is an interesting take for the series, so it would have been cool to get more of her earlier on.

Still, seeing Mario and Wario go through the various Wario Land 1 bosses is entertaining. My favorite is the money ghost whose name I don't remember, but he basically loves coins and tries keeps trying to charge for things. It's still a bit of a lit down how little Wario gets to take charge in the plotline based on his own game, and it gets even more crowded this volume with three addition Marios showing up plus Luigi, so poor Wario really doesn't get to do much (he even says as much on the teaser page for next volume). There are some pretty wild gags this volume, including an absolutely cursed recurring bit where Wario suggestively holds a pair of... bals, and Mario getting completely sloshed during the penultimate boss fight. It's maybe not the most deranged volume, but if you like seeing how off-brand these iconic characters can get, you'll find some wild stuff here.

The last few bonus chapters have some cute stories too. We get the prologue of what seems to be the Donkey Kong Country arc and it looks like Mario will be teaming up with DK to find the stolen bananas in this version of the story. While I do have issues with how Wario's gotten sidelined, I do like how this series tries to weave all the spinoffs into one coherent timeline with the main games and involve Mario in games he wasn't a part of, so I think the upcoming arc has potential. There's also a fun one-off about Wario having a New Year's party at his castle and well... he's at least creative.

Language-wise I blew through this pretty easily and there wasn't any real surprises. This has become a series I can basically read at an almost-normal pace, though the very zany, not-super-plot-driven nature of it does make it better if read in short bursts.