Review by C.J. Bunce
Six have been chosen by their clans. New dangers have arisen, and they must work together and learn to fight for each other to achieve their mission, ridding the land of new threats. Unfortunately none of these chosen warriors trust each other. We meet the cast of characters in the first chapter of Rising Sun, a new comic book series from IDW Publishing set in 12th century Japan, based on the 2017 CMON Limited tabletop board game Rising Sun, where clans must use politics, strength, and honor to rule the land. The story was created by Skylanders writers Ron Marz and David Rodriguez.
Readers follow Chiyoku of the Koi Clan as she confronts a dragon who fells a fellow warrior. The introductory issue paints Chiyoku like a cross between the DC Comics character Katana, Disney’s Mulan, or China’s Lotus Rong on a journey Red Sonja might take–It’s drawn in the style we’ve seen of Red Sonja on her bloody adventures with similar sweeping action. Artist Martin Coccolo (Star Trek: Year Five) renders characters that are lifelike and recognizable from panel to panel. The costumes and vibrant color work by Katrina Mae Hao bring along a realistic, historical vibe to the world of the game (check out the core Rising Sun game and expansion packs here at Amazon).
Readers encounter a similar pantheon of color-styled clans as we met in the movie The Great Wall, this time the red Koi clan, the orange Fox clan, the purple Lotus clan, the gold Bonsai clan, the blue Dragonfly clan, and the green Turtle clan. As a bonus for gamers, the first issue includes an appendix with suggested game modifications.
It has vivid action and beautiful characters, presenting a good beginning for the series. Here is a preview of the first issue of Rising Sun, plus some cover art (above) for the first three issues, courtesy of IDW Publishing:
by Craig Shirley and read all of the vitriol directed against Japanese people in the days after Pearl Harbor in the summations of newspaper accounts. I know that not using derogative terms to talk about groups of people is a relatively new concept, but looking at the headlines and words used in newspapers still gave me pause. (The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the chapter I just read mentioned Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Redskins.)
