Customer Reviews

Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let's see: strong, sexy women, check. Funny, entertaining story, check. Witty dialog, check. Stunning, electric art, check. Very often, stories using relatively unknown characters (or unused characters) within the halls of Marvel or DC, the characters become stagnant and unentertaining. This trade collects the Daughters of the Dragon mini series by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Khari Evans. You'll hit the gas pedal on the story from page one taking "minor" characters within the Marvel universe and give them a brand new life. These women are smart, sexy and dangerous. If you've read stories by this writing team (and you should!!), you'll know that they handle strong willed women with great skill. This book really showcased their talents. By the end of the trade you'll realize that you took a fun ride with some exciting characters. Highly recommended.

It's a simple concept, cyborg cop Misty Knight and ninja girl Colleen Wing team up as super bounty hunters tracking down villains who skip bail. It's the delivery that really makes it work.

This whole book is like a super powered Tarantino movie with bullets, martial arts and car chases on every page. Obscure and famous Marvel characters pop up all the time as Misty and Colleen call in old markers from Iron Man, to the Mole Man and everyone in between. The Punisher gets a great and scary cameo.

Gray and Palmiotti's script is full of action and humor and quickly brings his characters to life. Khari Evans' art is a joy to see, he makes the girls strong and sexy and can draw everything from muscle cars to mole men and make them look very cool.

This limited series continued in Heroes for Hire and sets up a lot of that book's plot. It's worth picking up.

Gray and Palmiotti do a fine job here, as they bring back, and, of course, sex up a bit Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.

Some 70s homage action, and some pretty low rent superheroes and villains combine to make this a whole lot of fun.

A bit of a light spot in all that 90s scowling Civil War stuff.

In 1986, Marvel published a mini series called "Longshot" and introduced fandom to the incredible talents of a soon-to-be superstar artist, named Arthur Adams.

In 2006, history is repeated in "Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets" as Marvel showcases the incredible talent of artist Khari Evans, who is quickly becoming a fan favorite artist due to his devastatingly awesome drawing style and gorgeous ladies.

Don't miss out on this 5 star TPB!

glad to see it collected...and for all of you who enjoy these characters. hey, i think its fun. lol

JIMMY

In comic books, limbo doesn't exist anymore. Every character you can think of has been brought back. You don't have to know Spider-Man or The Avengers or The X-Men to be allowed in the Marvel Universe anymore. You just have to come back Cool. Like Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.
I had only recently probed the Daughters' origins as collected in The Essential Iron Fist, when the DOD mini-series--now collected as this Samurai Bullets graphic novel--came into existence. No longer are the duo in the capable hands of people like Chris Claremont, John Byrne, or the incomparable Marshall Rogers (hey, sue me, Rogers redesigned the coolest dude ever--Deadshot...but I digress into a Villains United review or a Batman: Strange Apparitions review. Sorry). But if Claremont has lost touch with Knight & Wing, that's okay, we've got Gray, Palmiotti and Evans making us say "move over, Elektra". And except for a few nitpicks, Samurai Bullets is terrific stuff.
Contrary to other opinion, no one steals the show--not from these ladies. Certainly not Freezer Burn (be serious!). Colleen is still as tough as ever; she used to slash up Angar, now she slashes up Razorfist (though even thirty years later the actual slash is still artfully concealed, out of concern for the faint-of-heart, I guess). Misty is still touchy about her missing arm (compensating, apparently, with Big Hair, which, ironically, was not present in the seventies!), and she still has a thing for Iron Fist, whose appearance in this story could have been dropped. But if Iron Fist is wasted here, shorter drop-bys by the likes of the Punisher, Tony Stark, Orka, the Rhino, the Trapster--and most especially the Mole Man, who gets the best line of the book--really make this an unpredictable romp. Where else do you see the Hand kill a cockroach, or the Jester keep his yap shut and just brawl, I ask you!
Hmmm. If there is a show stealer, she's Ricadonna, scheming, Daughter-smacking villainess extraordinaire. Hmmm, I'm thinking Rosamund Pike as Ricadonna for the film, so she can be breakout star of the year all over again. Speaking of breakout stars, Khari Evans's art is eye-snatching all through, but some of the fight scenes do appear a bit wonky or awkward, with combatants in motion (ie. flying through the air) in artful ways that don't always deliver a clear pay-off (ie. let's see more of someone actually klunking someone else, rather than just the acrobatics). Motion not always fluid enough, IMO. But that's okay!--Everyone looks great, especially the ladies!
Total fun, without Spider-Man. Though his name gets dropped a lot. So does Blizzard's, once, in a backhanded kind of way. (No more Freezer Burn, PLEASE!--give me back Blizzard. I liked Blizzard.)

What a great job Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have done in updating the near forgotten Marvel characters Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. It's a rip-roaring adventure with plenty of grit, action and adventure, all with tongue firmly placed in cheek. It's fun to see Misty and Colleen go up against an established Marvel villain such as Rhino, but Gray and Palmiotti really ratchet up the fun with the main villains Whirlwind, 8-Ball, Humbug and Freezer Burn. They practically steal the show.

For those who can remember and enjoy the great 70s exploitation films such as FOXXY BROWN and SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, you'll get a real kick out of this. Similar to what they did with JONAH HEX, Gray and Palmiotti have revived great characters from the past in a truly grand manner.

The art by Khari Evans is excellent and Christina Strain's colors are outstanding.

This book has something for everyone, and if you liked DANGER GIRL, you'll love this.

A fun mix of kung-fu movies, blaxploitation films, and super-hero comics! Definitely recommended for fans of these genres, as well as anyone who likes to see strong, sexy women kicking all kinds of booty. (And who doesn't?)