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From Publishers Weekly
Mystery, obsession and a whiff of life in New York City blend to make Quick's manga an intriguing entree to the compulsive world of Christopher "Tory" Blake, a high school student living in Queens. He seems like a regular teenager, but for some unknown reason he's developed a fascination with the boy who recently moved in across the street, Colin Stephens. Why do Colin and his guardian keep the blinds drawn and live in a pricey duplex when there's just two of them? In pursuit of answers, Tory enrolls in Colin's school. But Colin remains frustratingly unknowable, despite Tory's schemes. Snooping through school records, running license plate numbers and even tutoring Colin in physics don't pan out as Tory hopes, although he does uncover a few tidbits. What is the Gaia Project and how is Colin's guardian involved? Why does Colin keep missing school? Most intriguingly for the reader, why on earth is Tory so deeply and unshakably obsessed with someone he barely knows? Although Quick does nothing to clarify this final question, her likable characters and crisp, convincing drawing make the reader willing to stick with the story and more than ready for the answers volume two should bring.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Manga Life
Author Jen Lee Quick tosses out clues about Colin and his guardian at just the right pace to keep the reader interested. As in any good mystery, the first few clues serve only to raise more questions. Colin's guardian, Dr. Garrett, is mixed up with something called the Gaia Project, and Colin seems to be ill. With his almost photographic memory and his notebooks filled with facts and figures, Tory is a good detective, but his obsession with Colin seems creepy at times, as his upstairs neighbor Paul likes to point out.
The cast is rounded out with several likeable secondary characters. Paul, who lives upstairs from Tory, is a college student and a graphic designer who drops in frequently to mooch some of Tory's mom's cooking. Paul's computer skills complement Tory's observations to keep the clues coming. Blonde and perky Mandy, Tory and Colin's classmate, breaks the popular-girl stereotype a bit with her attraction to loners and misfits. Tory's mom is overworked but affectionate, but, in typical teenage fashion, he brushes her away.
If there is a weakness to this book, it's Quick's rendering of faces, which all have the same snub-nosed profile. On the other hand, her figures are never stiff but gesture in a natural manner, and the settings are well drawn without being overwhelming....
Off*Beat is an intriguing mystery that taps into the universal curiosity we have about the people around us. I'm looking forward to volume 2.
~Brigid Alverson
Copyright © Manga Life
How Good Little Boys Become Stalkers
Christopher "Tory" Blake is a 15-year-old New Yorker with a mop of red hair, a blindingly-high I.Q., and an over-developed sense of entitlement. He lives alone with his mother in Queens and is regularly forced to fend off his neighbor Paul, a slacker college student obsessed with eating other people's food. Tory—like so many kids you knew in high school—thinks the world is boring because he's oh so smart, and bemoans a lack of sti
Only registered members can post comments
Offbeat Vol. 3 coming out in December is merely a rumor! Jen Lee Quick said so herself on her deviantart page.. Please, Tokyopop..please for the love of manga, get Off*beat off it's hiatus! You let Bizenghuast or whatever, with it's weak story and failed attempts to grab readers hearts, go past three volumes, and yet you let Off*beat, with so many fans willing to jump off a bridge just to see their beloved third volume released, drop like a stone just when the story reached it's most intensely drawn out peak! It's a crying shame!!
VAMPIREPLEXZERO
21.09.2008 08:00 AM
Offbeat Vol.3 Anounced for December 2, 2008, according to chapters and amazon YAY!
BOB101
21.08.2008 08:00 AM
It's unfortunate that the last volume has to be put on hold because of tokyopop having problems, but I will wait forever for my lovely off*beat!!!!!! I just wish it was still coming out in august.
RENATE
02.08.2008 08:00 AM
It's so cute >-
KYUUBIKIT
02.08.2008 08:00 AM
This was really good . . . hoping for a volume 3!
VAMPIREGIRL724
23.07.2008 08:00 AM
THERE BETTER BE A VOLUME 3! I love this book and I am ready for the finale.
JAYREGEE
22.07.2008 08:00 AM
To suinu9, yaoi is mostly boys screwing each other, without much of a plot. Shounen-ai is romance between two boys, WITH a plot.
FINALALICE
17.07.2008 08:00 AM
this is a good book. lots of subliminal yoai 4 yaoi goers... and mystery.
SKYREVIRSE
01.07.2008 08:00 AM
I absolutley LUV off*beat.I love the plot for this manga it's awsome,I recommend it to yaoi fans because of Tory's obsession with Colin,they look like a nice couple!!!
KIRA25
30.05.2008 08:00 AM
I love thi story, Tory is so funny ilikr the fact that he is a self-porclamed genius
PIERRAH
18.05.2008 08:00 AM
i heard volume 3 was coming out either in august or december this year...i cant wait that long!!! i need to see it by august!! im dying to know what'll happen!
RIN204
05.05.2008 08:00 AM
love this book =) but whn dose vol.3 come out?
XXSPILTMILKXX
04.05.2008 08:00 AM
amazing , cant wait till volume 3 comes out and i hope it doesnt end there :)
KEVINRODEN
22.04.2008 08:00 AM
she has stuff from offbeat on deviantart
NAMICHAN93
13.04.2008 08:00 AM
NUUUU! I want vol.3!!!! It's soo cuuuuuuuuttttee.... Me go 'splody without vol.3.....
ANGRYDUSTBUNNIES
06.03.2008 08:00 AM
You only get the first three chapters as a preview. I think.
DARKDAEMON
18.02.2008 08:00 AM
no clue... why doesnt this chapter work?
OFFTEMPEST32
25.01.2008 08:00 AM
The third book comes out in August this year. I guess she ended up rethinking the ending which is why it's so delayed. 7 more months! :(
BLUEBERRY
14.01.2008 08:00 AM
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN VOLUME 3 IS COMEING
MALLRATS2007
11.01.2008 08:00 AM
Shes just like me about phone calls, lol! it even shows through with Tory making calls in the manga. I love Off*Beat sooo much! Its an awsome story and I cant wait for more!
ANIMEEMO713
28.12.2007 08:00 AM
I love this manga, I read the entire thing first volume in one setting and then died cause by the time I fell in love with the characters, it was over....I need to track down and 2nd volum and the 3rd when it comes out!
VINCHAOS
20.11.2007 08:00 AM
whens 3rd book come out? It should have been out already right???
DANJI21
01.11.2007 08:00 AM
why this chap does not work???
HOROHOLIKKA
15.10.2007 08:00 AM
I luv this story it's awesome!!
JAZB
12.10.2007 08:00 AM
when does the third book come out? I'm tired of waiting
BUNNY2
06.10.2007 08:00 AM
meh... i want more....
TAROTLOVER
06.10.2007 08:00 AM
Waaaa! i love this one! i especaily love Colin!!!!!
EVILCRASH
04.10.2007 08:00 AM
ive seen loads ^.^ this was really good! i go to a school called st peters lol
ANIME0EYES
25.09.2007 08:00 AM
is this ch the only available one??
RAENIEL
24.09.2007 08:00 AM
how do you read it? it is too tiny! T_T
CHIBIASHLEYMEOW
22.09.2007 08:00 AM
Are there only 32 pages? I think I know but just in case, what's the difference between a shonen-ai and yaoi?
SUINU918273645
20.09.2007 08:00 AM
is chapter 2 not working for anybody else..? cause its not for me...omg i have to order the book anywhere, ive orded 1 but its not gonna be here for 2 more weeks...its torture!
LIKE2SPLUGE
12.09.2007 08:00 AM
Yes it is, and on another note I'm also curious as to why the second chapter is now unavailable.
HEARTLESSROBOT
01.09.2007 08:00 AM
This is honestly a really refreshing manga. It has such a fresh and modern art style, and the storyline is interesting and keeps you reading without having people with cat ears or wings to draw in the fangirls. I can't wait for the next volume!
APPLEDAGGER
29.08.2007 08:00 AM
All I have to say is "When are ppl getting #3?" I have no patience in this instance and am really anxious to see wut happens next.
LGV2705
27.08.2007 08:00 AM
yaya! i got book 2! and read the sneakpeek pages of the first one! its brilliant! my favourite character has got to be tory, but he only just about beats colin! ^~^ book 2 is awesome but as soon as i got to the end i started tearing my hair out because i really want to know what happens next! lol! its all good! :] xxx claire xxx
MAGICALCLAIREY
20.08.2007 08:00 AM
borders, has alot of manga there!!! including barnes & noble (but i'm not a huge fan of barnes & noble)
DIGNITY15
15.08.2007 08:00 AM
i love Offbeat!!...if only they could print it out faster...
JULIE5
12.08.2007 08:00 AM
great series great charactars I love this soooo much YAY Offbeat :)
INUYASHA9550
10.08.2007 08:00 AM
From the first chapter I think it's pretty good. I heard it's a shonen-ai. Is that true?
PUMPKINSGURL
09.08.2007 08:00 AM
I really enjoyed this. I was quite irritated when there was nothing left after the second chapter. I guess I'll have to hunt down this title.
HEARTLESSROBOT
31.07.2007 08:00 AM
it looks ok
SLEEPY
30.07.2007 08:00 AM
well,i checked the bookstores around minnesota.i really want the books!
AYANEMISA
29.07.2007 08:00 AM
why doesnt this chapter work
MARIMOQUEEN33
29.07.2007 08:00 AM
wow,this is cool even for american manga i thought it would be lame
MARIMOQUEEN33
28.07.2007 08:00 AM
YAYZ! LOVE OFF*BEAT!!!!!!
EMOKISS
27.07.2007 08:00 AM
U SURE U'VE CHECKED EVERYWHERE!!! CAUSE I'VE GOT BOTH THE VOLUMES AND THEIR GOOD.
EVS7
25.07.2007 08:00 AM
where can you buy these books? ive looked in a the book stores i come across and found nothin
AYANEMISA
21.07.2007 08:00 AM