The times that a book makes me laugh out loud are few and far between, so it’s an impressive feat when Big Trouble In Little China #1 manages to do it several times. It’s the kind of book that when you finish reading, you want to share it with all your friends and telling them to buy copies themselves. We aren’t talking about highbrow comedy here, but it fits the story and is a whole lot of unabashed fun.
Big Trouble In Little China #1 picks up directly after the movie of the same name left off. Writer Eric Powell nails the subtle, and not so subtle, comedy that permeated the film. There is not only a lot of comedy in the writing, but also in the art work of Brain Churilla. Little touches throughout the story help the writing standout, like having the credit page recreate a Chinese takeout menu.
The story picks up right after the film with a narration ripped straight out of a back children’s horror story. As it turns out this isn’t the book narrating anything, instead we find our hero, Burton waxing poetic over the CB about himself. Churilla gives the entire book this cartoonish, over-stylized look while keeping the movie’s characters still looking as they should. It works well as Big Trouble In Little China deals with a lot of over the top magic and set pieces and the art lends well to the comic format.
The bulk of this new adventure sees Burton dealing with the direct aftermath of the death of the evil Lo Pan and the consequences that brings. It’s a great road to take and leaves a lot of room for character development in the future for our heroes, as well as the fallen Lo Pan.
In a move right out of Star Wars, Lo Pan had an apprentice who is now back to take revenge on the people who killed his master. As tends to be the case, this new baddie by the name of, Quiang Wu is even more crazy and dangerous than Lo Pan. He manages to capture some of Burton’s friends and demands him to travel the Black Road to retrieve some ancient and powerful relics for him in return for his friends.
It’s a clean and simple setup for a larger tale and does just enough within the issue to keep the reader wanting more. If you are a fan of Big Trouble In Little China, then you are going to absolutely love everything going on here. BOOM, and the team behind the book, have done a fantastic job with resurrecting a much-loved classic. If on the other had you haven’t seen the film (do yourself a favor and remedy that ASAP) you may miss out on some of the interpersonal relationships that are going on. The book passes on the formalities of cast introductions banking on the fact that you’ve already seen the film, and chances are if you picked up the book you have.
For everything that is going on in the story, there isn’t a whole lot of action packed scenes. Only a handful of panels feature any real fighting between the forces of good and evil. I actually didn’t even really notice this until I went back through the book a second time picking out details for this review. The art and writing are so spot on that you don’t even notice how little action is going on.
On top of everything we also see Burton get a new companion in the form of a demon and a flash back scene that helps us learn a little more about Burton in his younger days. All of these things could have been killers if done in other books, but I think here, knowing the source material, they only serve to help the story.
If you are a fan of Big Trouble In Little China then this is a must have. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a movie to re-watch.
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