supervixen

Calamity Jack written by Shannon and Dean Hale; illustrated by Nathan Hale. It's my first new Graphic Novel for the year. It is the sequel to Rapunzel's Revenge, but it isn't necessary to read that one to understand this one. From the title it sounds like it should be based on "Calamity Jane," but it's really related to "Jack and the Beanstalk." There are a lot of steam punk slants - one of the major locations in the story is an airship on top of the high rise building. Another is the third main character who constantly has weird gadgets. The other major influence, though it is mostly in back story, is Native American and Old West Cowboys. The main character (Jack) is, and it's reflected in his clothing. However, this aspect is quite cliche. Rapunzel provides the Old West feel. The only thing that the Cowboys and Indians really do is cement the feeling of Steam punk era shenanigans. As icing on the cake another supporting character is a pixie showgirl. The story is fairly straight forward, and all the clues are given to solve the mystery of the book. However, it is not presented as a mystery and I must admit that I was thinking something entirely different, even though it did relate back to the given clue. It is an adventure, and for me it was a fairly easy read with a second perusal to slow down and look again at the pictures. I'm no one to speak about the art, I don't read enough comic books to speak on it authoritatively. However, I do know that I liked this style of drawing and the characters were very expressive. It's a great read for anyone who likes fairytales or steampunk, and especially for people that like both. If you like X try Y: The most immediate thing that jumps to my mind is Full Metal Alchemist. A Japanese Manga which has been translated into English. That is mostly because it is also designed to be read by Young Adults, and has a lot of steampunk magic in it. However, if it's the fairytales you want to read about try Fables. It's a little darker than Calamity Jack, but it's off shoot, Jack of Fables, is a little more light-hearted and about the same Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk). It's also a series of graphic novels (or you can read it as individual comics if you want to hunt them all down). It had the same feel as Leviathan and Airborn, so if you liked either of those or this then you should read the other two.

2022-10-14 07:58