Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Michael Gaydos
Published by DC Comics
This issue opens up with our lead character, Pearl, arriving in San Francisco for the first time.
At this point in the story, it’s very fitting and Bendis gives us a nice set up for the rest of the issue. It’s also a nice place in the overall story to show this as San Francisco plays such an integral part of the comic.
From there we see Pearl giving someone a tattoo. The writing and art make you laugh a little just because they show how painful it is.
They also make it abundantly clear that this scene is a rite of passage for the character of Pearl. They show this is who she is and this is what she does very simply.
And then from here, things just go incredibly badly.
Pearl has just about had it with the current circumstances in her life. So she went and started a fight with the Yakuza. And the Yakuza aren’t to be trifled with. We see the ramifications of that here.
Things starts to go really dark in this issue. And they don’t seem to be getting lighter any time soon.
This issue doesn’t have a lot of action on the surface of it. Yet, Bendis keeps the dialogue crackling. It moves the story fairly quickly. This is also the setup issue for the rest of the series.
There is a cool cliffhanger about who Pearl’s mother may be. It looks to change her entire life. The last scene is done very well on this point and offers a strange ending. It’s super intriguing.
The art by Gaydos is perfect. He’s got this character down and the culture of the San Francisco scene. He and Bendis are making a classic book. It’s also a book that’s unlike anything that either have ever worked on before.
RATING: A-
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