Super Kaiju Rock-n-Roller Derby Fun Time Go!: Fuji-Tengu Flames is a comic written by David Hedgecock with art by Rolando Mukaiallada. A new kaiju makes an appearance while The Burnouts are touring in Japan. This is a supernatural music comic with some industry drama, monstrous destruction, and heavy influence from Japanese culture and history. 4/5ths of the leading ladies are all members of The Burnouts and they are: redhead Harmony on drums, dark-haired Melody on bass, blonde Cadence on lead, and the afro’d Lyra as the lead singer. They are all also part of a roller derby team which is where the fifth leading lady comes in, the blue-haired Viola. Harmony received an enchanted (kaiju-connected) snare drum a while back that eventually led to her meeting with a being who gave her the task of finding the rest of these instruments. This story begins with The Burnouts saying farewell to a roaring crowd before stepping off stage. Haruto congratulates Lyra on their performance and he tells her that he wants to make her (not the band) a star, but this conversation is interrupted by a sudden earthquake. This takes place in a world where supernatural happenings are very rare but not unheard of. The action is primarily destructive towards infrastructure. Pacing is a bit slower than steady as there can be a lot of talking with key information. This has the tone of disaster film combined with a musical. This is more dramatically intense than violent. The dialogue is straightforward with a lot of back-and-forth and a modern talking style. There are no word heavy pages here. This is an exciting issue that gives us a different look at a few members of The Burnouts while still providing that kaiju-style action. There is a bonus story “Obvious” that takes place in 1560’s Japan; this is very violent and quite lewd.
The art here is drawn in a sharply-detailed cartoonish style with thickish outlines and decent lighting and shading. This is very colorful and there appears to be a purple and orange haze/filter that persists throughout the comic. There isn’t much natural scenery on display as this takes place in and around downtown Tokyo but we will see some trees and mountains. Some of the different locations are an outdoor stage and different spots around the city that a tourist might visit. Backgrounds do a pretty good job of showing the actual surroundings but on occasion it’ll be a stylized gradient. The expression level here is above-average as these characters always have their emotions on their faces. We’ll see a lot of happiness, shock, and fear with anger and confusion being secondary. Faces have a good amount of detail and they can get animated which leads to just about every expression being clear. The hairstyles here are unique and eye-catching. Kaijus are very large and they tend to match their environment. Action is destructive to the buildings and terrain but there isn’t any visible violence against living beings; the few scenes tend to come in two-page bursts. All of the women here are built like models with large breasts with outfits that are a bit revealing. The bonus story has a significant amount of blood and has multiple full-bodied women in revealing clothes.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural stories starring five women who are in a band and play roller derby while frequently coming across kaiju and featuring some music industry drama and ancient history then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, lewdness, nudity.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I was only talking about you.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funtimego/super-kaiju-rock-n-roller-derby-fun-time-go-fuji-flames/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 40
Violent Pages: 16, for 40% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 3, for 8% 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 – 3
“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 – 3
“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.”
