By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

Some quick hit thoughts on One Piece 47:

— This is Oda’s take on horror, so we get several obvious horror tropes, including the cast vanishing one by one. Surprisingly, though, it’s the 3 best fighters who are taken, showing that the enemy is serious business.
— Nami really gets a chance to show off her skills in the first half of this volume… sadly, it’s to make up for her being a damsel in distress for the rest of this and all of the next volume. I don’t really like unconscious Nami needing to be rescued, thank you very much.
— Chopper believing that Nami was really a man all along is hysterical, though. So that’s where all the genderbent fans got the name Namizou from…
— Meanwhile, it has to be said that Franky and Robin still work great as a team. I was rather startled at seeing Robin get stuck in that spider web (more fetish fuel from Oda, whose manga has gotten increasingly fanservicey over the years), but was gobsmacked at her Wing powers. Damn, that’s useful! Well, very briefly useful.
— Gecko Moria so far is merely a scary-looking big vampire guy, but as he’s one of the Shichibukai, clearly he will show off more later. Also, in case you were still in denial over Oda basing this on the Thriller music video, check out the Zombie Night dance.
— Brook… is an idiot. It has to be said. His jokes are so bad they make Franky want to smack him immediately, though Robin stops him. Briefly. After the 3rd bad pun, even she says “OK, hit him”. That said, he’s an idiot with a dream, and we know what that means in One Piece. He even got Franky to cry! Which admittedly takes little effort.
— Wow, that’s one big zombie.
— Eeeee! When Franky and Robin come to the rescue of Usopp and Chopper, she asks if they’re hurt. She asks… by calling them Usopp and Chopper! Not Long-nose and Doctor! Oh Robin, your thawing heart is so beautiful! (cries)
— Usopp’s method of waking up Luffy, Zoro and Sanji is the funniest thing in the entire volume.
— Ah yes, and now we come to Brook’s dream. It was noted in Enies Lobby that Oda loved to set things up well in advance, as he had Usopp telling the Giant guards about their leaders at Little Garden. But this is one better. We had been set up, on hearing Laboon’s story, to see it as fairly tragic. Everyone thought the crew had cut and run, leaving their whale behind. Now we see that it’s far deeper than that. This is the best part of the whole book, and the reactions of the four who were there to meet Laboon are fantastic.
— For all that I go on about Oda’s great pacing, I think if anything it’s UNDERappreciated. Look at the way Laboon is handled here. We first see Brook telling the story to Franky and Robin… but we don’t actually hear it. We merely see Franky’s reaction later. And they’re two of the crew members who wouldn’t know who the whale was. Then, once everyone is back together, we get the flashback to Franky and Robin being told about Laboon, followed by the reaction of the others. It’s almost flawless.

And so now we have the whole crew (minus one) back, going off to beat people up, get back Nami, shadows, and FOOD! Roll on, Volume 48!