Comic-Con attendees are RYAN PEARSON's eyes and ears in the world of comics. They report back on their favorites, from '30 Days of Night' to 'Naruto.'
Humberto Castro is deep into the manga "Death Note." (AP Photo/Ryan Pearson)
Kyle Crumrine and Chanel Dealy keep up to date on "Naruto." (AP Photo/Ryan Pearson)
The big thing in journalism right now is citizen reporters, and it's a good thing.
Because without them, mainstream media reporters would've been lost at Comic-Con International when it comes to actual comics.
Below, four avid readers volunteered to keep us up to date on the latest in their comic and manga worlds -- "30 Days of Night," "Death Note" and "Naruto."
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30 DAYS OF NIGHT
Expert: Xander Smith, 14, of Longmont, Colo.
It's about: A secret society of vampires lives in Barrow, Alaska, where in the winter the sun doesn't rise for 30 days. They learn to cope with humans including the federal government. Written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith.
Characters: FBI agents Andy Gray and Paul Norris and local John Ikos.
His latest: Norris becomes a vampire and Gray enlists the help of Ikos to kill his former partner with a sniper shot to the head. Gray also tries to share news of the vampires with the government, but finds out they already know about the society and are keeping it secret.
Message: "Secrecy is power," Smith said.
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DEATH NOTE
Expert: Humberto Castro, 20, Mexicali, Mexico.
It's about: The Japanese manga and anime series is about a high school student who finds a supernatural notebook. It was written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.
Characters: The student is Light Yagami, and his nemesis is the quirky detective known only as L. Finally, there's Misa, who helps Light along the way.
His latest: L determined that Misa is also using the note to kill.
Message: "The message of the series is what can a person do with the power of a god," Castro said. "In this case, Light uses that power to kill evil people, to kill criminals."
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NARUTO
Expert: Kyle Crumrine, 24, of Chicago, and Chanel Dealy, 20, of Costa Mesa, Calif.
It's about: A teenage ninja who is trying to become the strongest in his region. The manga is written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto.
Characters: The main character is Naruto Uzumaki, and he's surrounded by allies and enemies.
Their latest: "Deidara and Tobi are fighting Sasuke, who used to be on Naruto's team but has left," Crumrine said. "Manda died but Sasuke survived with serious injuries." Later, that group took off to find more characters "with demons sealed inside them," Dealy said. "Apparently they caught Sasuke's scent so they're heading towards them, and that's where they left off." Naruto is searching for Sasuke but Dealy said she hopes the traitor will be sentenced to death.
Message: Loyalty and adventure.
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asap staff reporter Ryan Pearson used to read Tintin, but that was about it.
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