Manga authored and of course illustrated by
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who was a founding member of
GAiNAX, the character designer for
Neon Genesis Evangelion the TV show, as well as for
Wings of Honneamise,
KareKano, and
FLCL. It was conceived as an
adaptation of the show, but it premiered before it did in
Shonen Ace-A magazine.
Though it is an adaptation of the series, it starts to meander away from the storyline from the first volume on. Characters are slightly changed; for example, Shinji isn't much of a "wimp" as he is in the show, but instead is really rash and fool-hardy. Take for example Shogouki's first sortie as it differs in the series and manga:
Series:
Shinji trips, and gets royally ass-whupped by Sachiel. Then his mom gets pissed, and you know the rest...
Manga:
Shinji doesn't want to look like a coward, so he charges into the angel. Sachiel leaps out of the way, and Shinji gets his ass kicked royally. Then his mom gets pissed, and you know the rest...
Also, Asuka is nicer (sort of) to Shinji when she makes her appearance in Volume 4 (Which is a LOT different, but I won't spoil it here).
Basically, the manga covers:
Volume 1: Episodes 1 and 2
Volume 2: Episodes 3 and 4
Volume 3: Episodes 5 and 6
Volume 4: Episodes 8 and 9*
Volume 5: Haven't read yet...
There are of course a ton of other differences, but I won't spoil them for you. Get it yourself!
I think that the manga is at least as good as the series, and perhaps even better, in my opinion. Of course, those action scenes don't look as good on paper, but hey, it's good enough for me.
After a short hiatus after Volume 3 or so, Sadamoto continued on with Volume 4 and 5. Volume 6 was released in Japan, for the pretty price of 560 yen or so. That's way cheaper than the price that Viz sets, which is about $15.95, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I don't know Japanese.
All Eva no Otaku should flock to get this manga, especially because of the divergent story and the lighter tone, though some may be turned off by that. Anno, however controls how far Sadamoto can meander, so expect things to get darker, quick.
*Episode 7 was skipped over {
go there)