You should never judge a book by its cover, especially if that cover is part of tweets. Still, what could go wrong? This is a Vault Comics book and of all the recent indie publishers who have thrived in recent years, they have probably been the most consistent in terms of quality, if not in diversity.
Mazu Bay is a dangerous place where kids are left as orphans, where crime syndicates rule with an iron fist. When a young data coder (hacker to you and me), steals the plans of the Death Star, the evil Empire wants them back. Not really but there is a theft of data and there is a corporation out for hr blood and their data. Only the most feared mercenaries in the city, the titular Fox and hare can save her!
Co-creator and writer Jon Tsuei uses the ideal futuristic neo-Tokoyo as his setting, though truth be told, its the relationship forged in shared pain between Fox and Hare from which this particular petard is hung. Tsuei spends time interspersing the past with the pairs current adventure. We get to see how their loss forged a partnership that still exists today. Dialogue is sparse which may account for the confusion regarding the characters names, which seem unintentionally interchangeable. The action scenes are pacy, as you would expect from a partly manga inspired book. Aurora Yi, the coder / hacker, is annoying which fits the trope whilst also making it hard for me to care what happens to her.
The art is supplied by co-creator Stacey Lee who mixes up traditional inspired Japan to contrast the futuristic element. Lee really dives into the manga influences, rounded faces, big eyes, you get the picture. Lee’s work allows for the emotions of the characters, when they are younger, but not so much as they get older. Maybe adults don’t have feelings? The other mix or contrast is that at times Lee’s panels are well detailed, other times there is just one color. I guess that colorist Raul Angulo was going for the using color to show movement and dynamism. Letters are provided by Jim Campbell who uses an odd style where the balloons seem a lot bigger than they need to be for the font used. This, of course, is just an observation.
I really wanted to like this book; the tweets piqued my interest and as I said, Vault have a great track record. So I am a tad disappointed that things like the name mix-up occurred. There is question of what is so special about the data. Hopefully this will have a big impact giving some much needed weight to the story.
Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars
Overall – 3 Stars
Written by; Jon Tsuei
Art by; Stacey Lee
Colors by; Raul Angulo
Letters by; Jim Campbell
Published by; Vault Comics
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