MattGrant
Friday, April 25, 2008, 06:23 AM
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Title: Sheena: Trail of the Mapinguari One-Shot
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing (http://devilsdue.net/)
Author: Steven E. De Souza
Art: Vincenç Villagrasa
48 pages, full color
Cover A - $5.50, Cover B - $9.50 (Premium Collectors Cover)
Safety Content Label: T+ Teens and up. (Some violence)
Publishers Blurb:
None.
Reviewer Comments:
One of the cool things about being a reviewer is that I read books that I wouldn't ordinarily pick up. There's a lot of stuff out there, and, let's face it, comics aren't cheap enough that you can just try a little of everything willy nilly. That said, Sheena is one of those books that I've seen on the racks, maybe even flipped through but haven't been enticed enough to actually purchase. If this one-shot is any indication, I've been missing out.
One of the big pushes for the Sheena books is that Steven E. De Souza, who wrote the first two Die Hard films among many other films, is writing it and, of course, Sheena who has all the appeal a jungle girl can have to a certain large demographic of comics buyers. But can a big movie writer and a sexy jungle girl mix into a comic thats worth your while? In this case, yes!
This 48 page one-shot has everything you need: action, humor, a sexy girl, a monster, and lots of low down dirty double crossers! The story starts when the legend of the Mapinguari, kinda like a giant one-eyed chupacabra that likes to eat brains, is revealed. True to form, right after that there are sudden Mapinguari strikes! Naturally, a group of military people, research people (including, Bob, Sheena's pal), and the man being blamed for one of the Mapinguari murders, go on an expedition to hunt down the Mapinguari, or at least discover the truth. Sheena lends a hand by being their guide in the uncharted jungle that they must navigate, while dealing with the constant dangers of unfriendly indigenous people (that's PC for "natives"), wild animals, and each other!
I found this book to be well written and a fun read. A lot of times 48 page one-shots like these can either be too short a story dragged out, or a long story crammed in, but this yarn fit well within these pages, with the story moving along at a steady pace, and plenty of time for fun, and often humorous detractions. The latter, I think, is the charm of this book. I'll be honest, when I was passing this book up on the racks, it was mainly because I got the impression that they were selling the book on Sheena's sex appeal, and not really any substance, but I was wrong. Yes they do take advantage of the fact that this is a jungle girl book (I mean, it is what it is), but I was blown away by the quality of the story, characterization, and really Souza and Villagrasa's pacing beats. By the way, Vincenç Villagrasa's artwork is beautiful, and at times has a very cinematic feel to it.
If I had to find a problem with this book, I think that the only one would be that, being a one-shot, I felt that they needed to introduce the characters a bit more. There was a lot of background information for the set-up of this story, particularly with the characters and their relationships to one another, that they pretty much expected you to already know. In a series that might fly, but as a one-shot, being an opportunity to pick up new readers for the line, I think they could have done a little more to elaborate on this.
Overall, the one-shot was totally enjoyable. I think the biggest thing coming away from this, is that I think anyone who's had some curiosities about Sheena in general would to well to satisfy those curiosities by going out and picking up some Sheena books, including this one. Yippie-ki-yay!
Title: Sheena: Trail of the Mapinguari One-Shot
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing (http://devilsdue.net/)
Author: Steven E. De Souza
Art: Vincenç Villagrasa
48 pages, full color
Cover A - $5.50, Cover B - $9.50 (Premium Collectors Cover)
Safety Content Label: T+ Teens and up. (Some violence)
Publishers Blurb:
None.
Reviewer Comments:
One of the cool things about being a reviewer is that I read books that I wouldn't ordinarily pick up. There's a lot of stuff out there, and, let's face it, comics aren't cheap enough that you can just try a little of everything willy nilly. That said, Sheena is one of those books that I've seen on the racks, maybe even flipped through but haven't been enticed enough to actually purchase. If this one-shot is any indication, I've been missing out.
One of the big pushes for the Sheena books is that Steven E. De Souza, who wrote the first two Die Hard films among many other films, is writing it and, of course, Sheena who has all the appeal a jungle girl can have to a certain large demographic of comics buyers. But can a big movie writer and a sexy jungle girl mix into a comic thats worth your while? In this case, yes!
This 48 page one-shot has everything you need: action, humor, a sexy girl, a monster, and lots of low down dirty double crossers! The story starts when the legend of the Mapinguari, kinda like a giant one-eyed chupacabra that likes to eat brains, is revealed. True to form, right after that there are sudden Mapinguari strikes! Naturally, a group of military people, research people (including, Bob, Sheena's pal), and the man being blamed for one of the Mapinguari murders, go on an expedition to hunt down the Mapinguari, or at least discover the truth. Sheena lends a hand by being their guide in the uncharted jungle that they must navigate, while dealing with the constant dangers of unfriendly indigenous people (that's PC for "natives"), wild animals, and each other!
I found this book to be well written and a fun read. A lot of times 48 page one-shots like these can either be too short a story dragged out, or a long story crammed in, but this yarn fit well within these pages, with the story moving along at a steady pace, and plenty of time for fun, and often humorous detractions. The latter, I think, is the charm of this book. I'll be honest, when I was passing this book up on the racks, it was mainly because I got the impression that they were selling the book on Sheena's sex appeal, and not really any substance, but I was wrong. Yes they do take advantage of the fact that this is a jungle girl book (I mean, it is what it is), but I was blown away by the quality of the story, characterization, and really Souza and Villagrasa's pacing beats. By the way, Vincenç Villagrasa's artwork is beautiful, and at times has a very cinematic feel to it.
If I had to find a problem with this book, I think that the only one would be that, being a one-shot, I felt that they needed to introduce the characters a bit more. There was a lot of background information for the set-up of this story, particularly with the characters and their relationships to one another, that they pretty much expected you to already know. In a series that might fly, but as a one-shot, being an opportunity to pick up new readers for the line, I think they could have done a little more to elaborate on this.
Overall, the one-shot was totally enjoyable. I think the biggest thing coming away from this, is that I think anyone who's had some curiosities about Sheena in general would to well to satisfy those curiosities by going out and picking up some Sheena books, including this one. Yippie-ki-yay!