Reviews

Shang-Chi by Gene Luen Yang Vol. 1: Brothers & Sisters by Gene Luen Yang

saviorcomplexdiehard's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

iffer's review

3.0

I didn't fall in love with this, like I had, but I liked it. I think Gene Luen Yang has done a solid job with the reboot, eliminating Orientalism, adding some Chinese traditions/culture/history in a way that adds to the story but is none in a NBD way, and building the groundwork for likeable (side) characters. The art feels a little bit 90s to me, which I don't love but it's not a deal-breaker.

coconutesz's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

mindfulnessmagpie's review

3.0

I was torn between two and three for this. It's an average read, but weighed down by a lot of plot fixing and things that came in series before. It doesn't feel like a good jumping on point, but it does feel like it creates a bit of a blank slate before the ongoing.

dangerpronedaphne's review

adventurous hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

librarycobwebs's review

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

jadejade's review

4.0

Okay for some reason I just had no idea who this character was? I guess I live under a rock. My local comic book store knew exactly which comic volume I was referring to and just popped it straight off the shelf.

Stuff I really liked:
*Sister Hammer's hammer makes a KRUSH sound lol
* Serious stuff regularly undercut by jokey dialogue: "I was really looking forward to that last bite!".
* The playing around with expectations like, is Sister Hammer going to kill him? oh I guess she's not they're hugging and eating cake, oh poison ...
*The tomb sweeping ritual and the uncle eating restoring him somewhat.
*Shang-Chi turning slowing into a Jiangshi and the effect on him.
*Leiko Wu's hair is always billowing and epic.
*The ominous foreshadowing about Shang-Chi's future.
*The role reversal with how Sister Dagger is won over by the end but now Brother Sabre is a bit wary.

For me this series is like the kind I'm happy to enjoy with friends but I'm not sure how likely I'll pick up the next book by myself? There's just a little bit too much gore for my delicate stomach (there was a torso on a spike on one page) but I thought the interior art really matched the tone for me and made it easy to see what was going on. I did not like the cover art though - too serious!

Overall - I enjoyed reading this.

alexa06's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

maisiemcauley's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Loved it!

yuri_neri's review

4.0

it's a fun mini-series, the art, and the story aren't fantastic but they are good, I might have been expecting a bit too much since the writer ( Gene Luen Yang ) also wrote one of my favorite superman stories, which is unfair since no matter how good a writer is they can't always put out masterpieces, however, it's not like I didn't enjoy this mini-series, it was overall a good read and I am looking forward to their new run with the character.