Kamikaze #3

December 13, 2003

Quick Rating: Below Average

Andy seeks out someone who played Kamikaze and lived to tell about it.

Writer: Olallo Rubio
Pencils: Francisco Herrera
Inks: Cuevas
Colors: Leonardo Olea
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Alex Sinclair
Cover Art: Francisco Herrera
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm/Cliffhanger

With Stone dead after getting his invitation to Kamikaze, Andy decides the only way to uncover the truth of the extreme sport is to play it himself. He seeks out someone who survived a game of Kamikaze hoping to find his way there, but instead finds a broken shell of a man.

This book is pretty lackluster to begin with, but the hype it builds around the Kamikaze game raises it to the level of the absurd. It’s impossible to believe that any sport on Earth, even an illegal one, would be so deadly to most who participate and shatter the very spirits of anyone who survives. When the “big reveal” about the sport finally arrives, whenever it does, it is almost destined to be a disappointment.

It doesn’t help that the plot and characters in this title are paper-thin, either. None of the protagonists is developed beyond being adrenaline junkies (except Stone, who also gets the exceedingly unlikely character trait of claustrophobia), it’s difficult to care. The adult characters almost universally fall into the stereotypical “out of touch authority” figure mode, with police assuming those dangerous surfer kids are responsible for all the bad stuff going down in town without any evidence whatsoever.

Herrera’s manic art style is really the best thing about this title. It’s like Humberto Ramos’s art taken to the extreme, and although the plot and story may not be particularly appealing, it would be disingenuous not to say that the artwork suits it very well.

Unfortunately, the artwork is all that really works in this book. There’s nothing really new, original or gripping about this title, and it’s not a book that will have readers hoping for the next installment.

Rating: 4/10

Kamikaze #2

November 18, 2003

Quick Rating: Below Average

Stone gets the invitation of a lifetime.

Writer: Olallo Rubio
Pencils: Francisco Herrera
Colors: Leonardo Olea
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Alex Sinclair
Cover Art: Francisco Herrera
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm/Cliffhanger

A lot of books suffer from inaccessibility for new readers, and for some reason Wildstorm comics seem to suffer more than most. Andy is broken up over Amy’s death (presumably last issue), and Stone is trying to help him cope. It seems the only way to find out what really happened to her will be for Stone to “play Kamikaze.”

The problem is that there is nothing in this book to explain to us what Kamikaze is, who Amy is, why Andy is so upset or why Stone isn’t more upset, other than a vague reference to his appreciation of Zen.

Even the end of the issue seems very disjointed – it comes completely out of nowhere and seems to have little purpose other than shock value. We don’t know enough about any of these characters at this point to care about them.

I actually like Herrera’s artwork – from what little I could gauge about the story it seems to have a focus on extreme sports like skydiving, and his wild, big-eyed style, which blends wacky curves with extreme angles, fits somehow. Even if the book doesn’t read right, it looks right.

I wish I could rate this book higher, but there’s no way to have any idea what this story is about, and that’s a major problem for me as a reader. A brief recap at the beginning, even a few introductory captions, isn’t too much to ask, and it’s a must unless you expect sales of a book to steadily decrease with each issue – because there’s no way for a new reader to get into it.

Rating: 4/10