I have been looking forward to this issue since I saw it in Diamond Previews about two months ago, what I saw was well creepy. A guy in a horrible mask stands in the middle of the street, in the pouring rain watching some guys in a cafe. The art really affected me, every drop of rain was rendered so clearly that I could hear and feel it really vividly in my head, I was sucked right in. If a five page preview could be that immersive, I had to read the issue.
Daomu is based on one of China’s best-selling novel series, concerning secret societies of tomb robbers and hidden underworlds. The style alternates between horror, action and mystery, and mixes western sensibilities with Chinese culture and folklore. It’s a dark comic, but not overbearingly so.
The art is incredible, I usually stay away from art that uses too many computers as it usually looks really clinical, but Daomu looks great. It moves like nothing I’ve read before, almost like stop motion, but you know… not. In one instance the scary guy in the mask is moving closer to one of the characters, but the view is in the first person, so the guy is getting closer and closer to the panel, as if he’s gonna come out of the comic. Luckily he gets hit by a car, but the relief you feel for the character is somehow the relief that the guy didn’t get at you! It definitely gets your heart thumping above the normal rate for reading a comic.
The writing is good, but relies on a ‘thought panel’ narrative to guide you through the introduction to the world and its characters. I never like it when they do this, but I reckon it’s just for being a #1 issue. Once the series gets going they’ll hopefully stop holding our hand.
The mystery element to the story is nicely done, the main character knows as much as we do so his mystery is ours, and in the back there are these neat character profiles (like government files) with key words blackened out, some you can just make out, but some leave you wondering… You’ll definitely want to know more by the time you finish reading.
Daomu #1 is a great read, and covers a lot of bases. It’s been described as Indiana Jones meets Tomb Raider, which is an awful comparison… It’s more like The Ring meets The X-Files meets Indiana Jones in China, or The Chinese Indiana X-Files Ring. If you want to read a good comic, pick it up.
Joe Innes.
