The Ghetto Dragon Book 1: No Good Deed… is a comic written by Julies Freeman with art by Alan Fletcher, Julio Falkenhagen, and Guadalupe Bustamente. A young man discovers that his good deed has put him in the crosshairs of a gang. This is a violent action-thriller comic that takes place in a Hispanic community on the coast. The main man for this story is Matt, he is a very good martial artist and he likes to wear a yellow jacket that is clearly inspired by Bruce Lee’s yellow jumpsuit. He has a couple of siblings and both his parents. This tale begins with Matt doing what appears to be his regular nightly run around the neighborhood when he comes across a crime in progress. The crime in question is the kidnapping of a young girl as she is being placed into a van by masked men. This takes place in a warm climate(as evidenced by the palm trees) which I’m assuming is either Florida or California. The violence here is brutal and hard hitting with gruesome injuries and blood. The pacing is steady for the most part with the violent parts moving faster. The tone is serious with an overall high intensity as the danger is ever-present. The dialogue is mainly conversational with Spanish words thrown in on occasion. There is some narration here and only one word-heavy page. This is an action-heavy comic with a lead who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty as he goes up against a violent gang.

            The art here is detailed with a somewhat gritty look and notable shading. The colors here are primarily towards the darker end of the spectrum as this story mainly takes place at night. This takes place in the inner city so besides a few palm trees and some lawns there isn’t much scenery here. The primary locations are the outdoors, usually on a sidewalk next to stores and homes but we will visit a hospital, gang headquarters, and a school. The backgrounds usually show the surroundings of the scene and when they don’t it is a gradient color that is occasionally cloudy. The expression level here is around average and looks can change form panel-to-panel. The emotional range is primarily anger and fear with some terror thrown in. The faces are have a good amount of detail from the smaller to the larger features so every expression comes across clearly. The violence looks like something from a martial arts movie with punches, kicks, broken bones, blood, gruesome attacks, and many against one. The action scenes tend to have a large amount of panels which help the scene flow smoothly with little-to-no confusion.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like action-filled thriller stories starring a young Hispanic man who uses violence to protect himself and others then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Los Valientes want you to send him a message.”

 

Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-ghetto-dragon-book-i-no-good-deed/x/26236710#/

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 10, for 50% 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 – 5

“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 – 1

“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.”