It has been a long time since writer/artist Madeline Rosca released the first volume of Hollow Fields back in 2006. Across four volumes which were later compiled into one omnibus volume by publisher Seven Seas Entertainment, she created a wonderful, self-contained series which followed the tale of Lucy Snow, a young girl who accidentally found herself enrolled in a macabre Academy for the next generation of Evil Geniuses. It was one of the very first omnibus manga volumes I ever purchased, and it still sits proudly on my main manga bookshelf.
But while more than five years have now passed since the last volume was released and the story was self-contained, it seems like Madeline Rosca was unable to fully escape from the world she created. As part of Seven Seas Entertainment’s March 2016 line-up, they will be releasing “Hollow Fields and the Perfect Cog”, a new 192-page volume telling the tale of what happens after the reign of Miss Weaver is put to an end. You can read an official synopsis of this book below:
With the menace of Miss Weaver’s reign of terror supposedly behind them, the students of Hollow Fields can look forward to a more peaceful curriculum run by her ethically-minded successor, Principal Bleak. But there’s one problem—rebuilding the school after Miss Weaver’s reign has left Hollow Fields broke! If the school can’t scrape together the cash to pay its staff or maintain its grounds, the Board of Unprincipled Mad Science Education will have it shut down and use the student body for scientific experiments. Not wanting to be separated from her new friends, Lucy stumbles upon a chance for Principal Bleak to save Hollow Fields. All they have to do is win the inter-school mad science competition and along with it, a hefty cash prize. But just what kind of things go on at a mad science fair?!
Will it be a fitting successor to the previous four books? Time will tell very soon – March 29th to be exact! You can read my VERY OLD review of the original Omnibus HERE, and you can bet a review for this newest volume will be posted up sometime in the near future.
