A Familiar First Step: A review of Dragon Kid #1

While there are those who still rail against the influence of Japanese manga and anime on the style of young Filipino artists, I've always seen the style as simply that—a style of artwork, one which lends itself well to particular kinds of stories (and particular manners of telling them) while being ill-suited to others. Dragon Kid, written and illustrated by Lady Storykeeper (Kimberly Dy Buncio) is an example of the type of story which I could not imagine rendered in any other artistic style but manga. While not the most unique indie offering, Dragon Kid #1 is one of the better constructed first issues I've seen, especially when compared with those of other manga-style komiks.

Image source: Komiklopedia entry: http://komiklopedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/dragon-kid

(Warning: Spoiler alert)

While the art and the overall tenor of the story can be traced to Japan, the structure of the story itself is more universal, familiar to anyone who has ever heard a tale based on the Hero's Journey. Young Keiko, our titular Dragon Kid (although she is not unique in that description), and her friends are playing in a field when Keiko suggests that they enter a forbidden area where an ancient evil is sealed, with the expected results. It's a classic "Call to Adventure" beginning, and the first issue takes us all the way to a literal Crossing of the First Threshold, to again use the terminology of the Hero's Journey. By the fourth page, a manga veteran will have a pretty fair grasp of where this is all going. However, the fact that the story runs true to a formula should not, I think, be taken against it, as the Monomyth is an underlying structure that has resonated with audiences since the very first oral traditions, but those looking for a non-conventional narrative would be advised to search elsewhere. What Dragon Kid sets out to do is lay the foundation for an adventure-comedy-romance hybrid typical of young adult oriented anime and manga.

When the story of a comic is familiar, there are three aspects left by which it can distinguish itself: the art, the characters, the setting and the execution. While the setting is somewhat generic (a floating island, Chinese-style architecture), the art is clean and generally consistent (there are few panels where the artist seems to have "winged it"), and manages to convey action and emotion adequately. While the common shortcomings of manga-style artwork are still in evidence on occasion--somewhat bland backgrounds (or none at all), confusing similarity in the facial features of the characters--Storykeeper makes an effort to address these issues: there is more detail in the clothing of the characters than I've come to expect, and the decorative patterns in the palace throne room could easily have been dispensed with by a more lazy artist. Storykeeper also makes sure to vary the panel layout, which shows that thought went into each page. The manga-style also allows Storykeeper to make use of standard manga techniques such as super deformed characters, sweatdrops and other effects that act as a storytelling shorthand, and keep the tone of the story light. This allows for the introduction of humorous elements into serious scenes which--in any other style--would seem off, but which a manga reader would treat as expected.

The characters at this point are fairly standard anime/manga archetypes: you have the earnest but slightly air-headed lead (with hidden powers and a special destiny, naturally), the short-tempered friend, the rational friend, the magnificent elder brother (several variations of this in fact--Keiko has a large family) and so on… The komik does not, however, fall into the trap which snares many other indie komiks (notably the manga influenced ones) where the first installment is overloaded with so many characters that there isn't enough room to tell a complete story/episode before the issue ends. While Dragon Kid #1 does have a large cast of characters, the focus is kept squarely on Keiko. While this is clearly only the beginning of the story, it is at least a complete beginning, and for that Storykeeper is to be lauded. Here we enter a discussion of the execution of the story, and for the most part Storykeeper does a good job--there is a flow and logic (well, maybe except for that last "leap" towards the end) to the story that bodes well for its future; the explanation given for Keiko's punishment makes sense, and the fact that an explanation was given at all places the komiks plot coherence above many others. There is a certain lack of polish however, understandable in a first issue indie, in little things such as the font/lettering, use of exclamation marks/punctuation, grammar issues, and the like.

Still, polish can come with time and experience, and as a first offering, Dragon Kid #1 does its job. If future issues move the characters and plot away and beyond the traditional genre tropes (or executes these tropes in a novel manner), Keiko's adventure could become a journey worth witnessing.

Dragon Kid #1 is available at Comic Oddesy in Robinson Galleria. You can find Lady Storykeeper at the following sites:

(Image source: Komiklopedia entry: http://komiklopedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/dragon-kid/)

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