Review: Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises #1
When Bruce Lee passed away in 1973 the world mourned his loss. The death of Lee has been a mysterious one, and his son’s death, Brandon, added to the mystery and has been the basis of several theories including one that the triads having a part in both their deaths.Another is that Bruce and Brandon were cursed by the dragon. None of these are based in fact, but that’s not stopping the theorists from trying.
But what if Bruce never died? What if he never aged? What if he came back? Wait, what?
This is the premise of Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises, brought to life by penciller / inker Brandon McKinney and writers Shannon Lee & Jeff Kline. If the name Shannon Lee sounds familiar, it should. Shannon Lee has intimate knowledge of Bruce Lee’s life, both private and public. Being his daughter, she should know.
The book is the time (harhar) old classic man out of time story. Bruce walks out of a bus, not having aged, not knowing the year and not knowing his name. What he does know is martial arts (even though he seems surprised at that) and knows how to be a nice guy. The comic itself is written well, some nice humor poking at the fact that Bruce has been gone for 40 years.
Does he team up? Yup. his old pal Joe Toomey drives by and recognizes Bruce. He and Bruce used to be good friends in the 70’s so he’s the perfect guy to catch Bruce up. Luckily for the comic that doesn’t all happen in one go or this would be a short ending to a promising series.
The art itself is lovely. McKinney has a style that works with real life people. Most artists tend to go as photorealistic as they can, making the main players look wooden, but that’s not what he goes for. Could I tell it was Bruce Lee? Not really. Do I mind? Not at all. I prefer good art over recognizable characters.
All in all, not too heavy script, not filling up the book with hints and references but keeping it somewhat light, solid artwork and a nice cliffhanger. Bring on the next issue!
Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises #1
Written by Shannon Lee & Jeff Kline
Pencils and Inks by Brandon McKinney
Colors by Zac Atkinson
Cover Art by Bernard Chang
Cover price: 3.99 $
On sale Wednesday, April 6th, 2016
About the Author
Ron van Rutten Smart ass, know-it-all, usually right, world traveller, photographer, down to earth. These are some of the words that can describe Ron. At least, after censoring all the naughty words from that list.
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