Advance Review: X-Men Demon Days #1

X-Men Demon Days #1, written and drawn by Peach Momoko (Wynd, Vampirella) is a revelation. This is an X-Men tale in a new light, one that combines Japanese folklore, traditional Japanese art and modern comic book characters. It is incredibly innovative, brave and very successful.

The story of X-Men Demon Days #1 is straight forward in the same way that most folklore or mythology is. Momoko presents the reader with a hero, a ronin and her companion, and a village being tormented by the villain of the story. As I stated, the tale is one as old as time and shared across cultures. However, Momoko has brilliantly combined this tale with X-Men and presented it as a childhood tale for a character I choose not to reveal so as not to spoil this book or others in the series. Let’s go back to the various elements of the story.

The villain is an Orochi, a ravenous snake that terrorizes the Japanese village in this tale. The Orochi concept is brilliantly adapted to be Venom. Momoko’s art design is fantastic, making the character resemble a giant snake AND Venom at the same time. Time for a tangent for a moment. Not only is the artwork a brilliant fusion of traditional Japanese Art/Ukiyo-E and modern Marvel characters, it also uses the traditional color palette of Ukiyo-E as well. The colors are unsaturated but Momoko still manages to bring vibrant depth by using modern shading techniques that are cleverly blended into the art with seamless skill. Likewise, she uses modern inking techniques with a light touch so that the book, while retaining a dated look, still feels fresh and recognizable to the modern comic book fan. I can’t help but credit her work on Usagi Yojimbo for the incredible title we’ve received her. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, independent comics are the steel that are forging the iron-sharp artists and writers we will enjoy for decades to come. As these talented writers and artists make their way into more main-stream comics we’ll all be better for it. Momoko is a veteran now but you can see her indie roots.

I digress. The hero of the story is a young girl named Tsuki, armed with a bow and a defiant spirit. She combines elements of that traditional art and the princess from Wreck-It-Ralph (Vanellope). She is extremely cute and easy to root for. The foe turned friend in the story is an Oni, a Japanese ogre. Here, Momoko combines elements of the Red Oni from Japanese folklore with the Hulk. It is very well done and the only thing that seems slightly out of place is when the Oni yells out “Hulkmaru Smash!”. It’s a little on the nose but easy to overlook given the overall quality of the title. The town exorcist, or Jushi, is also an X character but one I could not definitely place to my chagrin. If you can identify her please message me and let me know who it is because it was driving me crazy as I wrote this review. Finally, we have the ronin and her faithful companion. The companion is a wolf named Logan who is ferocious and has the ability to heal quickly. Remind you of anyone? Our ronin has purple hair, carries a katana and wears a familiar blue unitard under her traditional Japanese kimono,. I’m talking about none other than Psylocke.

When you combine all these disparate elements you get something truly special. I recently reviewed another book that used art and color similar to this book’s but it did not work well at all. Here, Momoko has expertly woven together multiple art styles and manufactured something completely different that is engrossing and engaging. Not to be outdone, her story is enjoyable and well crafted. This is the first issue in a multi-part series and so story is usually lacking as we are in the building phase of a larger narrative. However, Momoke still provides the reader with a book worthy of standing on its own while beckoning the reader to come and read more. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Japanese folklore, Japanese art, or the X-Men.

Writing – 4.5 of 5 Stars
Art – 4.5 of 5 Stars
Ink – 4 of 5 Stars
Color – 4 of 5 Stars

Overall Score – 4.25 of 5 Stars

Story – Peach Momoko
Art – Peach Momoko
Color – Peach Momoko
Letters – Ariana Maher
English Language Translation – Zach Davisson
Published by Marvel Comics

Nemesis Ratings Explained

1 – Amateur
2 – Below average, seriously flawed
3 – Average
4 – Above Average, stands out
5 – Outstanding

Author Profile

Nemesis

Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.