[url]http://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-preview-explore-the-mythos-and-mystique-in-crimson-lotus-1/[/url]
I'm digging the art, loving the story from that preview!
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[url]http://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-preview-explore-the-mythos-and-mystique-in-crimson-lotus-1/[/url]
I'm digging the art, loving the story from that preview!
I'm really undecided about this.
Do I want to buy the individual issues, or am I better off waiting for a tpb collection and any extra material that may also have? (Buy the way, "Buy both!" is not an option; it's an "either/or" choice.)
I am warming up to the art, which isn't bad, just very stylized. The story is very creepy, in a good way.
This was so much different than anything that's come before, it feels more like a Le Carr spy novel than a horror book. I don't know where it'll go from here but I'm locked in.
Wound up buying issue #1 since it was in my "pull" folder when I stopped off to buy my comic books on Saturday.[SIZE=1]
(Too soon for me to get a feel on where exactly this story will go.)[/SIZE]
This issue felt really disjointed...I even tried reading it directly reading the first again to see if that helped but it still felt like I was missing pretty large swaths of the story.
[QUOTE=thwhtGuardian;4091733]This issue felt really disjointed...I even tried reading it directly reading the first again to see if that helped but it still felt like I was missing pretty large swaths of the story.[/QUOTE]
I feel the same way, I'm having a hard time following the story and keeping track of who the characters are. I figured it was just me. :)
Read issue #1 again before reading issue #2, and while there's still a lot of story not yet told, it did make some sort of sense in what happened (though not necessarily [FONT=Comic Sans MS]why[/FONT] things happened).
The problems between China and Japan in the 1930s, with Japan's invasions into / controlling China, also seem to be playing a part in this issue. A text / letters page with brief references on the real-life historical situations that are playing out in the story might have been helpful.
I am glad i was not the only one lost with this issue. It is seriously creepy, but I couldn't figure out the underlying threads. Maybe the whole thing needs to be read in one sitting.
[QUOTE=Kirby101;4097230]I am glad i was not the only one lost with this issue. It is seriously creepy, but I couldn't figure out the underlying threads. Maybe the whole thing needs to be read in one sitting.[/QUOTE]From what I can figure out, the little girl in issue #1 (Miryoku) whose father was killed and mangled by Rasputin in the church/temple (and she was given her father's military armband by Rasputin as he was leaving) was the same figure standing outside the Colonel's house in China (wearing that armband) the night in 1932 before everyone disappeared.
The Colonel himself was the same person (but older) as the Lieutenant who was with Rasputin on Meishin Island in 1904 when Miryoku's father was killed. And when the Chinese were searching the Colonel's house after everybody in the household disappeared, it was Miryoku's father's mangled corpse discovered in the dumbwaiter at the end, [B]but now wearing the armband again[/B].
In issue #2, the man on the train wearing the checked coat and brown cap (Baolu) had been the same agent who had been the doorman at the Colonel's house prior to the members of the household all disappearing. Baolu was the one who left the train in issue #2 and found an alternate hotel room in Harbin where he was captured by Miryoku's masked monkey and the other creature (whatever/whoever "she" may be). Miryoku's interest in Baolu is probably related to his part in watching over the Colonel, so Miryoku plucks out Baolu's eye to cast a spell and "see" what Baolu has seen.
There's still much to be revealed, like what Miryoku's life was like between 1904 and 1932 and where she learned whatever mystical arts she learned to become what she is now. But we're only two issues in, and maybe more of that will be revealed in the remaining three issues.
Thanks Major, big help. I realised she was the little girl, but didn't see why she ws going after everyone.
[QUOTE=Kirby101;4098071]Thanks Major, big help. I realised she was the little girl, but didn't see why she ws going after everyone.[/QUOTE]One other thing: she's Japanese, and back then Japan wasn't exactly a friend of China (and Baolu was a Chinese agent).
Well, issue #3 was fun, still not sure where this story is going, but the action was good.
Wow things really escalated and came together at the same time for me in that last issue, well done. I have a much better grip on the story now and can't wait to see how the big fight in the next issue wraps up. It generally made me feel a bit creeped out by the Crimson Lotus, like there is no escape from her.
Okay, I did not expect that. [spoil]A Devil Ex Machina to stop the powerful, but not too powerful Lotus.[/spoil]