Queen Regina Victoria Dore has had to abdicate her throne following her inability to sire a child to further the royal lineage. The society of the Gilmoran Empire has a back-up plan. The plan is quite simple; ten women of royal and common blood will race around four dangerous environs, with the winner being crowned Queen. Simple? It may well be if it wasn’t for the swathe of killer monsters along the various routes and of course where this is politics involved, there is also shenanigans and shady dealing abound.
The series is the creation of Frank Cho, pulling double duty as writer and artist. Taking the writing first, Cho spends some time trying to differentiate the various girls from each other personality wise, though with ten to cater for, it is inevitable that a couple of the girls comes across as ciphers; good thing there are plenty of monsters to cut the wheat from the chaff. Dialogue wise, there are elements of that feel a little tongue-in-cheek, bordering on cliché. I don’t mind that in this case, to be honest. This isn’t a highbrow book within hidden societal messages, at least not quite yet possibly. The leader of the group is as you would expect, right up to the point where you almost cheer when matters are taken out of her hands. The action is pacy and frenetic; it will be interesting to see how that pace is maintained.
Cho, for me, has always been a top tier artist regardless of what Greh Rucka allegedly stated back when Cho was working on Wonder Woman covers. I really enjoyed Cho’s Skybourne book and to some extent, those elements are mined here. The girls are in a race so are wearing racing attire, which is wholly logical. Their poses and positions are also not overly sexualised and in fact remind me of art from books such as Misty and its ilk. Strong line work leads to strong character bodies and faces. Equally impressive are the monsters and the heavily detailed backgrounds, creating a viable environment that colorist Sabine Rich breathes life into with her almost high definition. manner. Finally, letterer Sal Cipriano gets to have fun with the different vocal elements on show, delivering a crisp classic font that supports the strong lines.
As it is, one book down and one race down, this is a fun pacy book aimed at not being too serious. As such, the energy and detail from both Cho and Rich is almost palpable; there are favourites within the girls, I would have preferred to see a more equitable panel time for all the contestants, though I do appreciate that this may have impacted the pace of the book overall.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
Overall – 4.5 Stars
Created, Written & Art by; Frank Cho
Colors by; Sabine Rich
Letters by; Sal Cipriano
Published by; Artists, Writes & Artisans (AWA)
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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