Oni Press 2016
Written by J. Torres
Illustrated by Corin Howell
Coloured by Maarta Laiho
Lettered by Warren Wucinich
As the entire clan gathers at Twilight's Bastion, Master Long is ready to make the ultimate sacrifice—but does he have all the stars that he needs? Does he still need to send The Mighty Zodiac after the other stars? Meanwhile, the Moon Rabbit Army approaches while the fate of Great Tiger Ho hangs in the balance!
Every time I see this I think of those placemats I used to see at the Chinese Restaurant that had the Chinese Zodiac and what each animal represented and the years that correspond to those signs. Ah simpler times and so much kitsch but ya know that this evokes those memories makes me happy and that’s always a good thing. I love that this is what the book is all about, a great conflict is brewing the Zodiac must band together, overcome differences and come out triumphant.
Diversity and oneness all at the same time it’s something that can be achieved with hard work and discipline, something that is sorely lacking from today’s world I might add.
I like seeing how Ko was chosen to train for the Zodiac. A bright ambitious girl with a lot of potential and a lot yet still to learn. Of course this leads into seeing her and her three other trainee’s going about their lessons. It’s actually kind of nice to see their own distinct personalities here that meld nicely with what you think of personality traits for those animals should be.
I’m also a fan of how their training is worked into the bigger picture and the whole star search that’s going on for Master Long to fight his infection and to grow into the Dragon he’s supposed to be. I’m not sure but if feels like the search for the stars to help Master Long isn’t the only search that should be going on, how many dragons are there in this world and if one of the Zodiac is replaced by another shouldn’t there be a replacement for him out there as well? Someone to pass on the mantle to?
The way the all-ages interior artwork is able to give each character their animal feel and likeness from Corin is really well done. There’s the right amount of detail in them to make them unique and still keep it from that unrealistic animals as fighters and people aspect to it. Would I like more use of backgrounds, yes I think they do wonders in fleshing out the world, tone, mood and feelings of what’s going on around them but for this it’s okay since these characters are the main focus of the story.
As the search for more stars continues and our characters continue to grow, mature and realize their potential i’m reminded that each and everyone of us is on a similar journey throughout our lives. What a great story to bring to people and a great way to tie in a culture that isn’t the norm to tell it.