Minx Comics - Double Review!

The Re-Gifters
Mike Carey
Sonny Liew
Marc Hempel
Released: 06-13-07

Clubbing
Andi Watson
Josh Howard
Released: 7-11-07

I finally got around to reading the next two installments in DC's Minx line So let's get cracking!

Re-Gifters: This is definitely a book you don't want to guess the moral lesson by the cover or title. In fact the title is mostly just cleaver and has little to do with the main character and the life lesson's shes going to learn throughout the course of the book. Some times I wonder if Mike Carey is just toying with comic book readers and is actually better than he's coming off as. This book was good, it was not great and it was no P.L.A.I.N. Janes but it was still rather enjoyable. It's about Dixie a Korean American who is basically competing in a Hapkido (Korean Martial Arts) Tournament and her journey to get there. She's dealing with emotions of love, anger and fear as she tries to find her Ki (Soul) and win the tournament. The art is good and actually works really well for the story, due to the inking some of the characters become unrecognizable if they don't make another appearance until some pages later. My main grip with this book is that yes I know it's for a young girl but that doesn't mean you write down to your audience. Look at Harry Potter, it's written for children but she never writes down to their intellect. I think the editors probably got a hold of the script and said no dumb it down they'll never get what you're talking about and so we got a mediocre story trying to teach way to many lessons and no surprises because they had to be hinted upon so heavily that literally they took up several pages. Worth a read and for 9.99 it's still worth the buy if you're looking for a quirky love story with martial arts at the center. Score 8.0

Clubbing: Being a fan of not only Andi Watson but also of Josh Howard I became very interested in how this book was going to turn out... until I read it. The team up was great, the art and story complimented each other perfectly and I would love to see what they could do on a creator owned project rather than this heavily editor interfered project. The beginning was useless and by the way it's the catalyst to get us where we were going. Also the title is mis-leading since it's referring to a golf "club" owned by Lottie's (The Main Character) Grandparents. At the start of the story Lottie gets rejected from a club for using a fake ID and for some reason this gets her picked up by the cops, it's not really explained because I'm sure the actual story was way to long for the format the books are in and so we get a half ass beginning, good middle and way to short end. Basically Lottie has to stay the summer working with her Grandparents and mystery ensues. Also I don't think mystery books for young girls is Andi's cup of tea (There's a pun there since the book takes place in England) it really didn't take Nancy Drew to figure out this mystery since he practically tells you right off the bat. It was another prime example of writing down to the audience rather than just writing a good story that everyone could take something from. Some plus to the writing were the narration and dialog, and the Art was top notch Howard is really coming into his own and should be picked up by one of the big 2 or at least let loose over at Image. Overall I'd give this book a 6.9; it's in the parking lot, its just driving past a lot of good spaces.