Daughters of the Dragon

This is what happens when you fall WAY behind with your posts: you write a review for a series at the same time that the follow-up to the series is being reviewed on other sites. It's like reviewing Empire Strikes Back while Return of the Jedi is in theaters. Oh well, I never claimed that this site would be timely.

Daughters of the Dragon by Marvel Comics

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who read kung fu comics in the seventies, but I was never one of them. While Shang Chi and the Sons of the Tiger kicked ass around the world, I was entirely oblivious to their activities. I was too absorbed in the antics of costumed heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America. And when Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, the Daughters of the Dragon, made their first twenty or so appearances, I paid them no mind. In fact, I wouldn't have been aware of them at all if they hadn't made a token appearance in Marvel Team-Up. As it was, I only had a passing knowledge of these heroines when I picked up their most recent miniseries.

In Daughters of the Dragon, Misty and Colleen have teamed up to run a supervillain bounty hunting service, chasing down bail-jumping baddies. That's pretty much all the background they give you when you start reading the book, but it's all you need to dive into a book that's long on action and stereotypes, and short on actual impact and drama.

Just so you can keep them straight--I had trouble figuring out who was who when I first saw them--Misty Knight is the tough, black, ex-detective with the cyborg arm. She's pretty much a take off of every hard-edged heroine from any seventies blacksploitation film. She speaks in way outdated slang, wears an afro and a jumpsuit, and is all about dominating men--in the bedroom or in battle.

Colleen Wing, on the other hand, is the international model trained to be the last American Samurai. She's fond of wearing bondage and fetish gear while fighting, and keeps her hair long and loose, which makes no sense for someone who does whats she does. She's quick with a sword, but seems to be the "submissive" in her relationship with Misty.

This book isn't the worst thing I've read this year, but it's pretty much the comic equivalent of an oatmeal patty. It sounds good, and even tastes a little sweet going down. But it doesn't quite fill you up, and leaves you with a sickening aftertaste. At least, that's how oatmeal patties are for me. Anyway, the story is supposed to be, according to Marvel's promotional language, an "action comedy," but while it's full of the former, it definitely lacks the latter. Throwing in bumbling, has-been villains did get my interest, but the villains didn't possess enough to make me laugh or keep me amused. And if the humor was supposed to come from Misty's seventies attitudes and language, that went right past me, as well. Heck, maybe the laughs were supposed to come from the villain, a rich lady named "Ricadonna" (literal translation: "Rich Lady"). But Ricadonna was a cliche without any actual parody to make it look like an intentional mockery of other villains.

As for the art by Khari Evans, at first glance, it looks stylish, curvy, and exaggerated to fit the fun, throwback feel of the story. But when you look at it a little closer, you quickly begin to notice that it focuses little too much on T & A, and it isn't "exaggerated" as much as it's "anatomically impossible." You may also notice that Khari Evans is a sloppy artist. While there are a few pin-up quality images in this title, there are twice as many pages in which the characters look unfinished and the artwork is horrid. Khari definitely comes from the Rob Liefeld school of art, in that both artists have trouble with realistic hands, feet, noses and hair.

Of course, Evans' approach may be intentionally over-the-top on this title. I'd like to see this artist's work on another book before I completely pass judgement. I doubt I'd buy another series drawn by the artist until I see something different, though.

While the concept of this book was semi-interesting to me, I really couldn't figure out why they were reviving this ancient title. And upon reading it, I really wasn't sure why they thought this book needed to be made. A few weeks ago, however, I picked up the first issue of the Civil War-spawned Heroes for Hire starring, of course, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. So, like the last book I reviewed (Ares), it looks like Marvel was just using this miniseries as a launchpad for the next book starring these same characters. In other words, I paid for a miniseries that was really just a trailer for an upcoming series.

Even worse, I hear there's a Daughters of the Dragon television pilot in production. Does that mean I bought a commercial for a bad TV series?