Immortal #1 is a comic written and drawn by CY Huang with colors by Brian Paulo Simplina. Unexpected danger seeks to end a peace that has been upheld for hundreds of years. This comic places us in the aftermath of a great event and gives us a look at how the survivors are doing now. Our lead for this story is Sandy, otherwise known as the River Ogre. Things really kick off when he arrives to the celebration. We’ll meet many other key players such as the Boar Demon Pigsy, the Dragon Prince Horsey, and White Skeleton Banshee. As evidenced by those characters you’ll be correct in assuming that this story is inspired by Journey to the West. Having not read that classic novel I can’t tell you how close this plot is to the original or the references but I will say it does a good job of building the world before moving further. The action here is flashy and destructive but there is no bloodshed. The pace is a slow at first but it speeds up during intense moments. The dialogue is partly modern and partly formal depending on the conversation participants. There are only a couple of word heavy pages but those are during the slower moments. This is an interesting debut comic for a series inspired by a classic that attempts to balance character introductions and worldbuilding with excitement and plot progression.
Most of the art here seems to be done using watercolors with lots of soft-looking colors. Something you will notice is that the art will look very sharp on one page then very blurry on the other. The expression level here is somewhere around average as we’ll see a nice range of emotions form the various characters. Some faces have better/stronger presented features than others so the emotions are easier to see than others. The creatures here range from anthropomorphic animals to very large beasts. The weapons we’ll see are traditionally Chinese and the magical effects have a shine and brightness on the page that makes them stand out. The action scenes are easy to follow and can get nasty while still not showing any blood or guts. A lot of destruction happens.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like comics based on Journey to the West starring multiple characters and dealing with unexpected circumstances this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
PG-13. Violence.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“What does our greatest threat have to say to me?”
Purchase Link: https://grumpyducky.gumroad.com/l/immortal01
Comic Site: https://grumpyducky.com/index.php/immortal/
***** I received this review copy for free. *****
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 36
Violent Pages: 14, for 39% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 1
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 3
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
