Dark Angel (small version) Vol.#03

By: Mike Dungan
Review Date: Friday, August 13, 2004
Release Date: Thursday, July 01, 2004



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Kia Asamiya
Translated by:Mutsumi Masuda, C.B. Cebulski, Kia Asamiya
Adapted by:

What They Say
The gorgeous and deadly Black Dragon is consumed with jealousy and filled with hatred towards her rival, the Phantom Saint of the Blue Dragon. She now conspires to murder her enemy and seize her kingdom! Battle lines are drawn as two beautiful and powerful women wage war against one another.

The Review
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Leen, the Phantom Saint of the Blue Dragon, finally has a clue as to the location of the Golden Orb that she requires. She, her tiny dragon spirit Shiki, and Ran, one of the 12 dragon gods serving Leen, take of on a journey to retrieve it. The journey is almost immediately ended when the ship they are on is hit and sunk by an unseen force. That force doesn't stay hidden for long. It's Nie, the Black Dragon. She bears a powerful grudge against Leen. Nie and Leen were both in line for succession to the Phantom Saint of the Blue Dragon, and despite Nie's superior power, Leen was chosen. Nie has turned almost all of the 12 dragon gods to her side in her attempt to kill Leen and take over the as Phantom Saint of the Blue Dragon. A battle of tremendous power is waged between them, with deceptions and surprises turning the tide of the battle in both directions. When Delphina, a Greek goddess joins the battle, it looks bad for all concerned.


Comments
Kia Asamiya's Dark Angel is one of the most difficult series of his to follow. An enormous cast of characters and a dizzying array of relationships keep the reader busy trying to keep everything straight. A translation and adaptation that includes Kia Asamiya himself still reads rather melodramatically. The cover is a beautiful image of Leen in a water grotto, surrounded by falling water. The back image is a powerful image of Nie in full battle armor, rising out of the sea.

The art is clearly Kia Asamiya's, a highly individual style full of sharp, angular eyes, tons of screentone, and dynamic compositions. It's a style that people either love or hate, and I'm fully in the camp of those that love his art. Dark Angel was originally published by CPM as a series of single chapter comics around 1999, and as such, the art is flipped and all sound effects are translated and retouched into English. Unfortunately, the very poor art reproduction which CPM was known for at the time is also retained. The heavy use of screentones that is a hallmark of Asamiya's style is marred by excessive moiring and patterning. Blacks become muddy, and delicate linework is lost. Dark Angel was collected and published in larger format books, and there is no advantage to repurchasing if you already have the books. Because no effort has been made to improve the art reproduction or unflip the art, I cannot recommend these new format books to anyone other than Kia Asamiya collectors.