Surf’s up as we review Sistah Shark #1
Disclaimer: My rating for this comic is based on this comic alone. As it is a spin-off of Mana Comics main title, Aumakua Guardians of Hawai’i, there is a lot of character interactions as well as background information I just was not aware of when reading. As such Im strictly going to go by the comic’s story as is.
The tale of Sistah Shark is as old as time itself with one of the most reliable staples in storytelling:
Boy (eventually) meets Girl
It just so happens that the boy is an escaped prisoner on the run from the Yakuza:
…while she is a shapeshifter turning from a normal human girl to a shark humanoid:
You know, standard stuff.
I’ll be upfront, I had zero idea what to expect from this comic based on the cover. I was sure that there was going to be some kind of power involved. What I wasn’t expecting was the entire comic is based around a society of shifters that seem to be entirely aquatic based. But rather than continue to talk about the things I didn’t expect, what did the comic actually show us?
Trouble in Paradise
A lot of the comic followed along with our hero, Sistah Shark, as she was beat to crap by the other aquatic shifter known as Nohu. There is a bit of a back and forth over Sistah Shark being prepared for some combat ceremony, but it quickly gets sidelined for the comics main storyline involving the young man from above (named Puka) and this young woman:
No your eyes do not deceive you. That is in fact a kunoichi (female ninja) with octopus tentacles coming out of her back. Her name is later revealed to be Namiko whose mission is recapturing Puka. The why is never revealed, but apparently it has something to do with the Yakuza (or some Japanese based organization) researching these beings for some unknown purpose. By the end Puka is in fact recaptured with the comic ending on quite the cliffhanger.
Yikes.
Yowzah. How they plan on writing that back will be very interesting.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I thought the comic was pretty good. It wasn’t boring that’s for sure, and the art is damn gorgeous. However the main detraction I have for the comic is that, to me, there is a lot about everything involved with Sistah Shark that wasn’t really explained. Perhaps this is because it is already explained in the main comic which, if so, means that they were hoping the reader was already in the know. If not, well, the comic does a terrible job of bringing people new to the series up to speed.
If you want to read this yourself, I would highly recommend instead to start with Aumakua Issue #1 and working your way forward. No doubt that would make reading this issue a much more complete and interesting package.
3.5 Sodas!