MEGA DRAGON & TIGER: Future Kung-Fu Action Volume 1

This captivating, strange book may be most readers' first look at Hong Kong manga. If they've watched any martial arts movies, they'll know what to expect: stunning action scenes that are a lot more important than the underlying plot (in fact, the action may even take the place of a plot). Wong's energetic pen and ink line drawings of colliding bodies are effective, complemented by the rather gaudy coloring. Readers who want stop-action pictures of martial arts combat can enjoy the book on that level, since they fill most of the pages. Beyond that, the story is simultaneously complicated and simpleminded. Although Earth has fallen into the hands of a dictator after meteorites hit the planet, converting most of the surface to molten lava and killing most of the population, the cities and landscapes of the future world look exactly like contemporary settings. The only real change is that the dictator has the power to stage extravagant gladiatorial tournaments to perfect his high-tech warriors. Those who resist the dictator fight with old-style, spiritual martial arts. Their champion is the teenaged Tiger. In this volume, the first of many to come, Tiger goes up against Single-Minded Arhat, Regent of Tibet. The combat is wild—"Titanium doors crumple like tissue paper"—when the two square off for 30 pages of tech-art–enhanced combat. If the final effect is less than thrilling, it may be because the text translation is stiff or that the storytelling conventions of a different culture are unfamiliar to U.S. readers. But comics fans can still enjoy this book by just looking at the pretty pictures. (Mar.)