Oni Press 2018
Written by Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Alessandro Micelli
Coloured by Shari Chankhamma
Lettered by Crank!
Kidnapped off the streets of the Philippines as an infant and trained as a child assassin, Sang has never had a childhood. All he's ever known is killing and the kindness of his master, Chen, the closest thing Sang has to a father. When Sang's enthusiasm botches a job, it brings the wrath of Don Minchella down on the pair, resulting in Chen's murder. Barely escaping with his own life--and with Minchella's severed arm in tow--Sang swears revenge, while every gang in the city mobilizes to return him to Minchella, dead or alive.
Oni Press is home to some of the most unexpected and delightful stories on stands today. Letter 44 for example is one I now consider a classic must own series and if my opinion is worth anything this one is starting off to be one too. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this but it sure as heck wasn’t this. That Sang is a young man who cannot speak, of that we are privy to if it’s a birth thing or injury, and has been a trained assassin well it’s kind of scary.
Ed does an amazing job here with how the book is structured. The opening is definitely a chance to see the boy in action as well as kind of learn how things work in this part of the world. Upon his arrival home his sensei, for lack of a better word, thinks that what has been done as far as he can tell is something to be proud of. Things however are never what they seem and in this world that remains true because the actions of a young boy able to dispatch grown men Yakuza, allegedly, well he isn’t going to be too discerning like an adult would.
The little opportunities we get to see the characterisation in play here is definitely worth it. Yes Sang knows sign language to communicate and his words well they are that of a grown up. In that I feel there’s plenty of opportunities to really flesh him out and showcase how a child in a grown up world is going to have problems the rest of us can never dream of. I mean to never have a proper childhood and raised to be a psychotic killer well that’s gotta mess with the mind in ways that scream out for attention and I’m hoping that Ed has the same train of thought.
Alessandro does some interesting work on the interiors here. Yes the action is well done and demonstrated but he’s missing a great opportunity in the missing backgrounds. Those can expand a story in so many ways and make their location a part of the story. The way page layouts are used with how we see the angles and perspective in the panels is nicely done and shows a good eye for storytelling. His own unique style brings an aspect that is nice to see as well and the depiction of Sang leaves the reader wondering more about him and his short past.
There is a lot going on here and it really exposes us to the life this young man has. In what would be construed as his bedroom which is so sparse and well appears to be in the bad part of town and to watch him play with his toys and read a comic it just makes you wonder. How much is this boy able to process and comprehend what he’s doing? Is his relationship with mentor one of gain or genuine and we’ll never really have the chance to find out will we?
This off to a strong, amazing start and it does what a first issue should do in that it introduced us to these characters what the whole premise appears to be and what’s still to come. It does it all in style and with a nice panache. I am going to enjoy this one for what it is that’s for sure.