Lady of the Black Fan #1 is a comic written by Allen Dunford & Bill Stoddard with art by Cari Salviejo. A betrayal forces the Black Fan to mobilize and search for answers. This is a supernatural drama comic that takes place in Ancient Japan and features heavy combat, eroticism, political intrigue, and a main cast full of women. The leading lady here is the Madame of the Black Fan, she is a no-nonsense woman who is very perceptive with strong fighting skills and ruthlessness. Some of her similarly skilled subordinates are Rose, Lily, and Poppy. Some of the other beings present including Changelings(they look like anthropomorphic chameleons) and Dragons(they look like Killer Croc and Leatherhead with less visible scales. This story begins with Madame giving a tour of the Black Fan brothel/headquarters to Rose while reminding her of their necessary place in society. She also covers the history and current conflict between the Black Fan, the Changelings, and the Dragons; the question of who deserves blame for the death of a Great Dragon is the driving force behind this decades-long drama. This takes place in Ancient Japan in an unspecified year. The violence here is very gruesome with body parts all over the place. This moves at an overall steady pace with a number of fast action-heavy moments. There is a strong martial arts and supernatural mythology tone. The violence and drama spikes at multiple points and are usually intertwined. The dialogue here is proper and direct with frequent multi-person conversations. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is a thrilling opening issue that puts us in the middle of an ongoing violent conflict between powerful Japanese women and monstrous reptilian creatures.
The art is drawn in a smoothly detailed modern style with very strong lighting and shading. This comic is almost entirely in black-and-white except for things that would be red like blood and the eyes of non-human creatures; this is similar to works like Sin City. Outside of a cloudy, moonlit sky there isn’t any natural scenery here. There is only one location here and it is a Japanese estate/manor with many rooms that serves as both a brothel and the Black Fan headquarters. Backgrounds are either showing the actual surroundings like the ceilings and walls or just being solid white or cloudy. The expression level here is around average as these characters tend to sport hard looks regardless of the situation. Aggressive emotions are the most common though we will see some fear, pain, and confusion. Faces have a good amount of detail, especially in the eyes, and they usually show the different expressions clearly. The non-human creatures look reptilian and are very muscular. Weapons used here include swords and kunai with a lot of physicality as well. There are many gruesome attacks that result in blood all over the place and heavy gore from loose limbs to bisections. There is one lengthy action scene with a good panel count, changing perspectives, and a “big moment”-focused flow. Just about all of the women have large breasts and are wearing revealing clothes.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural dramas that take place in Ancient Japan and star multiple women while featuring heavy violence, political intrigue, eroticism and a bit of mystery then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore, nudity, sexual scenes.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
Physical Link: https://badbugmidnight.com/products/final-girl-next-door-2-cover-g-hot-david-lima?variant=46954777084125
Digital Link: https://badbugmidnight.com/products/lady-of-the-black-fan-1-digital?variant=46851970597085
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/973184785/lady-of-the-black-fan-1-a-nsfw-geisha-warrior-series/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 26
Violent Pages: 11, for 42% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 3, for 12% 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 – 5
“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 – 4
“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.”
