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A review by captwinghead
Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte by Joe Benítez
4.0
*** Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
The art in this book is phenomenal! Seriously, I know there's a coloring book for this series and I really want to buy it now because the art is breathtaking! The lines and the colors give it such a distinct tone that is such a cool blend of the themes of Dia de Los Muertos and steampunk. I usually want every comic to be a live-action TV show but unless we're talking some Bryan Fuller realness, I don't even know if we could capture this type of feel with live-action television.
So, I've gushed quite a bit about the art - now on to the story.
Unfortunately, this is the first Lady Mechanika story I've read. Whenever me and my friends pass it in our comic book store, the first volume is always sold out. So, I thought this read just fine as a solo, oneshot story but I could be wrong. I didn't feel that lost (barring the bits about Dallas) because Lady Mechanika gives Lucito and Zita some of her story.
This begins with Lady Mechanika having gone off on her own for the first time (?). She comes to a small town, Santa Catrina, the day before they were to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. This appears to be a foreign custom to Lady Mechanika but she participates because the villagers really sell it to her. She becomes quite taken with a little girl, Zita, and gets into the spirit of things. As this is happening, a mutilated boy comes into town and collapses. He's the latest punishment of the Jinetes. These are the "gods" that require tithes every year. If villages don't have enough to give, or if the leader feels like it, they torture people, usually children, and send them as warnings. Lady Mechanika takes it upon herself to stop them.
The story is fairly simple. She's on a quest to rid these people of the Jinetes for good. I really enjoyed this story because I quite like Lady Mechanika as a character, there's a compelling reason for her quest and the art was beautiful. I won't spoil any of the events but I'll just say, I felt no remorse for the Jinetes. They got what they had coming to them.
So, this was a perfectly enjoyable reading experience. I'm definitely going to check out more of the Lady Mechanika series.
The art in this book is phenomenal! Seriously, I know there's a coloring book for this series and I really want to buy it now because the art is breathtaking! The lines and the colors give it such a distinct tone that is such a cool blend of the themes of Dia de Los Muertos and steampunk. I usually want every comic to be a live-action TV show but unless we're talking some Bryan Fuller realness, I don't even know if we could capture this type of feel with live-action television.
So, I've gushed quite a bit about the art - now on to the story.
Unfortunately, this is the first Lady Mechanika story I've read. Whenever me and my friends pass it in our comic book store, the first volume is always sold out. So, I thought this read just fine as a solo, oneshot story but I could be wrong. I didn't feel that lost (barring the bits about Dallas) because Lady Mechanika gives Lucito and Zita some of her story.
This begins with Lady Mechanika having gone off on her own for the first time (?). She comes to a small town, Santa Catrina, the day before they were to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. This appears to be a foreign custom to Lady Mechanika but she participates because the villagers really sell it to her. She becomes quite taken with a little girl, Zita, and gets into the spirit of things. As this is happening, a mutilated boy comes into town and collapses. He's the latest punishment of the Jinetes. These are the "gods" that require tithes every year. If villages don't have enough to give, or if the leader feels like it, they torture people, usually children, and send them as warnings. Lady Mechanika takes it upon herself to stop them.
The story is fairly simple. She's on a quest to rid these people of the Jinetes for good. I really enjoyed this story because I quite like Lady Mechanika as a character, there's a compelling reason for her quest and the art was beautiful. I won't spoil any of the events but I'll just say, I felt no remorse for the Jinetes. They got what they had coming to them.
So, this was a perfectly enjoyable reading experience. I'm definitely going to check out more of the Lady Mechanika series.