Daomu

author: Colin Johnson

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.42

book published: 2011

rating: 3

read at: 2015/02/27

date added: 2015/02/27

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

'Daomu' is a graphic novel of a whole genre of tomb-raiding books in China. The word Daomu actually means 'Tomb Robber.' So, if you think Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, you might nail this, but only if you add in a really healthy dose of the weird supernatural stuff.



Sean Wu finds out his estranged father had some strange secrets. Now Sean has found out about them and is joining an elite group of treasure hunters. His first mission, which about kills him, is a "simple" initiation test: steal a skull from a tomb. He finds himself on this mission with his Uncle Tsai, his dad's star pupil Pan and a strange warrior known as Kilan. There is a rival corporation named Coral Knight also out to make things more interesting. Along the way, more people join the team like Gordo (who is only on the team for laughs as far as I can tell), and Lyn, a woman who works for Coral. Will they find the skull and what they need for their next adventure (which is also in the book)? Will Sean find out what happened to his father?



It's the kind of story that's right in my zone. I love this kind of thing. Creepy tombs, traps, and strange treasures, and I did like it, but I didn't totally love it. For one, there are these odd gaps in the story's timeline. Action takes place between frames and the story seems a bit jarring because of this. The art is really good most of the time, but sometimes, it's uneven and I had a hard time figuring out which character I was viewing. My review copy also made it hard to read some text. In some of the scenes the text is almost opaque, to simulate whispered conversations or distant dialogue, and it was tough to read. And the female character Lyn, while a capable enough character, seems to only be in the book to show off way too much cleavage in what should be a functional wetsuit. I liked it, but I wanted it to be just a bit more than I got.



I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Magnetic Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.





via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://ift.tt/1wuX2BE