Hitomi TP
Writer: HS Tak
Art: Isabella Mazzanti
Layouts: Nicoletta Bea
Colors: Valentina Napolitano
Letters: Rob Jones
Publisher: Image Comics
With the brand new Hitomi TP — which collects Hitomi #1 – #5 — the creators mix a barely different samurai story with a barely different sort of revenge story, mixing them in a method that produces one thing that feels attention-grabbing and new.
The tackle the samurai story in Hitomi may have some acquainted parts: a veteran samurai takes on a younger pupil. It’s a tried and true method as a result of it really works, and it grounds the narrative on this e book, which has an episodic story construction that is tied collectively by an overarching narrative (my favourite construction for periodical comics). Where the creators make it distinctive is by way of the characters. The veteran samurai on this e book has come to Japan from Africa (by method of Italy after which Portugal after which India). He needs to return house, to the extent that he feels he has a house in any respect.
The selections made with that character are attention-grabbing, sufficient to distinguish him from different Ronin in different tales which have taken a brash teen underneath their tutelage or safety. But it’s really the character of the revenge narrative that I discovered much more compelling. Stop right here if you wish to keep away from spoilers (though this level is established early), however in Hitomi, the youth seeks out the older samurai, as a result of years in the past he slaughtered her household, leaving her as the only real survivor. The causes she is drawn to him really feel complicated on this e book, one half eager to know her enemy, one other half trauma bondage, and nonetheless one other half that she actually has no robust connection to anybody else left.
This is all a nice basis for comics storytelling, and the creators concerned make nice use of it. There are a lot of artists on this e book, with Nicoletta Bea doing the layouts for Isabella Mazzanti’s finishes and Valentina Napolitano’s colours. Their work coheres properly, giving the world a conventional, brushed feeling that matches its themes and settings. The web page layouts are additionally very effectively achieved, delivering a sense of nice pacing that lingers in highly effective moments and is not afraid to decompress when it needs to make a level or emphasize one thing.
But once more, when eager about this e book it’s the episodic construction I hold coming again to. There are particular person adventures on this comic which might be simply wonderful, most of them with intriguing and surprising twists, together with a sheep stealer who clothes as a wolf, a band of girls samurai who’ve been abused by the lads of a city, and a two-part finale that entails a gorgeous dream sequence of kinds. The e book is additionally comparatively affected person in doling out at the least some of its backstory, and it builds to an ending that undoubtedly leaves open the chance of extra tales with these characters.
There is a tendency, I feel, to take a look at a samurai comic that pairs an older Ronin with a younger particular person and assume Lone Wolf & Cub. It’s solely pure, even when this makes use of a younger, formidable girl relatively than a child. Still, it’s onerous to work on this area with out drawing a comparability to the all-time basic. But for me Hitomi feels prefer it does greater than sufficient to carve out its personal place and provide readers one thing new and attention-grabbing. I extremely suggest it.
Verdict: BUY
The Hitomi TP is accessible to order now.
Read a new entry within the Trade Rating collection each Thursday at The Beat.
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