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I have little motivation, other than fear of the editor, to write a review this month. Once again, I was too busy to get to the comic shop until the end of the month. Then I just sent my husband to the shop and told him to bring me back something to review. Unfortunately, the comic shipment was delayed by the Easter Holiday (or something?), and the shelves were bare. So I'm reviewing Neon Cyber #6, because Neon Cyber was all he came home with.
It's not that the comic was that bad. Actually, my opinion of it is painfully neutral and that makes it really, really hard to enjoy writing a review. Reviewing is a lot more fun when I'm praising a particular enjoyable comic, or ripping one that I consider to be a waste of paper.
The main reason that we picked up Neon Cyber in the first place is that it's by Dreamwave, the same people who brought us Warlands, currently the only monthly comic I read. The two comics were both created by Pat Lee and Adrian Tsang, and are both written by Adrian Tsang. Unfortunately, the writing in Neon Cyber isn't as good as it is in Warlands. Of course, the main reason I feel that way may be because I greatly prefer the subject matter of Warlands.
Neon Cyber, it turns out, is something of a prequel to another of Dreamwave's comics, Dark Minds. It's set in the same place and involves at least some of the same characters. Unfortunately, I've never read Dark Minds, so I can't compare them too well. Perhaps if I had, I would have a better appreciation of Neon Cyber. It certainly would help to have a better forehand knowledge of the setting. It feels like I'm supposed to have come into the comic knowing a bit more about the city, the characters, their relationships with each other, and the situation, than I already do. This could be bad, vague writing, or it could simply be because readers of Dark Minds would know this stuff. I may never know...
The story centers around a young man named Neon. He's a member of a motorcycle gang called the Neon Dragons. You would think that with the gang's name, Neon might be their leader... In actuality, his brother Takeo is. Or was, up until issue 5 when he was killed. By glancing at the letter's column (my favorite source of information for any comic), I learn that in Dark Minds Neon IS leader of the Neon Dragons. Neon Cyber pretty much tells the story of how this came to be, and assumably gives readers of Dark Minds a good bit of background information.
While the writing isn't as great as I would expect, there are some likable characters in the book. Despite not having much background on them, the main characters do feel like real people. But some of the secondary and even less minor characters feel undeveloped, like half-people. Of course, the series is supposed to be only 8 issues, which doesn't leave a lot of room for delving into the personalities of lesser characters. At the very least, we have likable heroes, and very nasty bad guys with mohawks.
In fact, there's a whole gang (the Neon Dragons' main rival, it seems) called the Mohawks. They're mean. They're nasty. They have mohawks. The artist really likes drawing them. Hey, drawing mohawks is probably pretty fun.
Lou Kang's (yes, that IS his name) art is good. Dreamwave seems to have a staff of very talented artists. The characters have realistic figures, their emotions show up well on their faces, their poses feel natural. Fight scenes move smoothly. The high-tech motorcycles (this is a futuristic story) are sleek and fast looking. And Lou Kang came up with an incredible fun variety of mohawks! Short ones, long ones, double ones, even a braided one on a very Goth looking woman.
Another thing that deserves mentioning is the color palette... Much of the comic takes place at night, or in dim places... As such, everything is in blue tones... There's something appealing about it, setting a dark, sad mood for the seriousness of the story.
While the story didn't appeal much to me, I suspect that fans of futuristic stories might enjoy Neon Cyber. While there are only two issues left in the series, Dark Minds seems to be an ongoing series with a similar feel to it. As a fan of Dreamwave, I recommend checking either series out if the future genre appeals to you.
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