Historical
Kabuki | Circle of Blood | Volume 1
Before I start this review I’ve got to get it out of the way that I am a HUGE David Mack fan. His work is a massive inspiration to me and he is definitely one of the nicest guys in comics working now, so to say that this review is slightly biased is an understatement. However it’s because of the sheer power and thought behind his work that made me this passionate about it in the first place.
The story is dedicated to his mother who died in 1995, when Mack was 21 years old. This story was published sequentially after his mother died and so the story deals a great deal with the issues of family and the importance of a mother and father figure in one’s life.
The story is set in Japan in the future; however the main character’s origins are well placed in the past, dating back from the second world war. The story flips back and forth between the two time periods.
The story effectively begins, with the main character’s mother. Caught in a military camp, rather than provide sexual favours for the soliders the General would make the women perform Kabuki dances. The general has a favourite; this however doesn’t bode well with his son. This is the backstory.
The present is set in our future. The government controls the media waves and in order to keep everyone in check have got the Noh agents who are Japan’s darlings. They are both the eyes and ears of the government.
Mixed in are the details of her unfortunate upbringing and her training, which is linked directly to the missions that she undertakes for the government.
This first story is in black and white before Mack decided to unleash the power of his amazing watercolour skills on the world at large. Even at this early stage in his artistic career Mack was beginning to experiment with how a page was set up and how the story was being told. It’s not as completely insane and poetic as his current work, however you can see him building his way to that particular style.
Mack’s never afraid to experiment with the page and how to tell his story, whether it’s different sized panels scattered all over a double page spread to a decent sized paragraph where he’s trying to tell a specific part of a story. Effectively this isn’t your typical graphic novel and neither should you expect something simple. It works in many layers, many of which unfold right before your eyes.
This is the first part in Kabuki’s overall story, which is not yet complete and it is a marvellous introduction to an intricate and exceptionally well built world.
Writer/Artist: David Mack
Letter: David Mack
Publisher: Image Comics
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Nice review.
Kabuki is truly incredible work.
One of the truly great graphic novels.
As a writer, Mack is up there with Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaimen, and Frank Miller. They are the only other writers to give me as satisfying a read as Mack’s stuff.
It is good to see people starting to discover Kabuki in a bigger way.
The current Kabuki series from Marvel is AMAZING!!
As are all the trades!
Although I adore all the mentioned writers above, I’ve got to say that Mack raises the bar slightly because while those guys explain what they want on the page, Mack draws, often builds and sculpts the page. He’s in a different zone because he’s extremely unique at what he does, and since he does it this well his stuff is a treat for anyone.
I’ve only bought the first issue from Marvel, just to see where the story went since Metamorphosis, but I’ll be picking up the hardcover when it comes out in a heartbeat.
I can’t wait for the hardcovers or trades (though I’ll probably get the hardcover too!).
I just have to read issue by issue as they come out cause I like seeing each chapter on its own. And the letter collumns of each issue of the new series are very informative too, the letters and responses, often building and adding to what was in the story.
The Alchemy continues right where Metamorphosis leaves off, and even blossomes into a bigger scope than Metamorphosis did.
I really like how you explained that about Mack being in his own zone and raising the bar. I can’t disagree with that.
There is nothing else like Kabuki and there never has been anything quite like it before.
I like that Mack doesn’t mind being ahead of his time, even though it seems to take some of the market and culture a bit of time to catch up to something this innovative and intelligent.
Some people don’t know how to react to something this far outside of the cookie cutter. But it is great to see that so many new readers are catching on to it.
The Alchemy especially is fascinating to see that this level of unconventionality and personal a work is being published as a Marvel Comic.
No matter how you cut it, that is a good thing and a very interesting experiment.
I’ve heard loads of people complain about the fact that they’ve got to turn the book upside down insideout, sideways etc to read the story and that apparently annoys them. Dudes, you get 2000 books a month that are bog standard, shouldn’t this be refreshing?
You know what pisses me off a lot. It’s the fact that he’s been nominated for a Harvey, an Eisner, a this a that, and all these panel of judges just don’t seem to get his genius and end up giving it to someone else.
Now art is subjective but the fact that the man is nominated so many years in a row and not get the award at some point is just seriously wrong. Hopefully when he finally completes Alchemy it’ll make enough waves that he’ll be able to put from the eisner award winning creator on all the future printings.
Yeah that’s funny. He’s like the Susan Luci of the Eisners.
Well, you know, Einstein created the theory of relativity when we was just out of college working outside of the scientific community. But they didn’t give him the Nobel prize for it until he was an old man.
It seems like history shows that is just how things go. It usually takes a lifetime for the culture at large to actually appreciate someone who is doing something new or innovative or off the beaten track.
They get a ton of criticism for being different and not conforming, and then they get diefied when they are old or dead.
Mack’s work transcends the medium and elevates the medium at the same time. Hopefully more people are realizing that the medium is big enough and strong enough to accomodate something more than the standard.
We can only live and hope Robin.
[…] The word Kabuki means a lot to me as it’s the title of one of my favourite graphic novels (I’ve written the first review for this series on Splash Panel). The graphic novel effectively showed me what could be done with the graphic novel format and I’m still aspiring to craft something that I can be proud of in that genre of storytelling. So when I saw the advert for this particular show I had to see it. […]
[…] I’ve spoken about the purely sublime series Kabuki when I reviewed Circle of Blood. Now you can start reading this series on a daily basis for free. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me for one of the best stories ever written (by a 21 year old David Mack, no less). You’ve seriously got to see this to believe it. Subscribe now and make sure you read it every day…well once you’ve read a couple of pages you’ll be hooked no doubt, then go and buy the blasted book ^_^. […]