Kabuki (comics)
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Kabuki is a comic book series by artist and writer David Mack, first published in 1994 by Caliber Press and later by Image Comics. The current miniseries, Kabuki: The Alchemy, is being published by Marvel Comics under its imprint Icon Comics. The series concerns an assassin belonging to a special, government-backed circle of masked and costumed female enforcers called the Noh in near-future Japan and her struggle for her identity.
The series has been collected into several trade paperbacks, which include several one-shots and spin-off limited series.
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[edit] Style and popularity
Unlike most comic series, the plot of Kabuki moves very little over the course of the volumes. Most of the focus is on memories, dreams, thoughts and philosophy. Mack's characters, especially Kabuki herself, revisit the same scenes and memories many times, rethinking them and their significance.
Mack uses a myriad of art styles, not only with pencil, ink, and color, but with paint, magazine clippings, manga scans, and crayons. In Kabuki: The Alchemy especially, many of the pages are photos (or color scans) of collages, using a variety of materials; for example, the fingers of Japanese sandalwood fans become the borders of the comic panels. One technique he uses often is reusing the same artwork, the same scenes, to represent a characters' memories, or simply to shift scene back to something the reader has already seen. Imagery is very important and prominent in the series; Mack reuses the same images, often changing them slightly, and focusing on the emotional content of images and the power of memories.
Mack does not always do the art for these comics alone. In "Kabuki: Masks of the Noh" a different artist was assigned to each agent as a way of visually representing their personalities. In "Kabuki: Scarab" Rick Mays was the artist while Mack did the writing. In fact, Rick Mays was the artist who drew Scarab in "Masks of the Noh." It is possible that Mack will continue this trend in future volumes concerning the other agents of the Noh.
[edit] Core plot
The character, codenamed Kabuki, is the granddaughter of a former World War II Japanese military man known as "the General" and an Ainu comfort woman, and much of the conflict is her identity between these two worlds.
In the beginning, Kabuki and the Noh are controlled by two masked men, known as the Devil, who wears an oni noh mask, and Dove, who wears an old man noh mask, although the group serves the Company, lead by the General. The Noh is charged with the control and elimination of various yakuza groups in Japan, especially the yakuza organization of the General's prodigal son (and the real father of Kabuki, who raped her mother), Ryuichi Kai.
However, Kai is powerful politically, and important to the Noh to keep alive for the time being. For her own personal reasons, and at the request of Dove, Kabuki goes against the General's orders and kills Kai and his gang. The Board of Directors of the Noh demand she be punished for her disobedience, and she massacres them before dying herself. She is revived, and brought to a facility run by the Control Corps, a combination prison and mental hospital where rogue agents can be reprogrammed. Her former associates, the Masks of the Noh, are sent to eliminate her, but she escapes, and takes on a new identity.
Some fans have noted the strong similarity this series has towards Shi, another comic about a half-Japanese with a Japanese father who is torn between the two cultures of her parents leading to betrayal to her clan. Both characters also have white faces (though Shi's is from make-up, not a mask), with straight black hair and generic asian features. However, Ukiko's (Kabuki's given name) hideous facial scar and the depth of her backstory are more than enough to refute these claims. Any other similarity is merely coincidence. David Mack's knowledge of the subject matter, coupled with the incredible character arcs ensure Kabuki's story remains unique.
[edit] Volumes
- Kabuki: Circle of Blood (collects Kabuki: Fear the Reaper and Circle of Blood 1-6)
- Kabuki: Dreams (collects Kabuki Color Special, Kabuki: Dreams of the Dead, Kabuki #1/2, and The Ghost Play)
- Kabuki: Masks of Noh (collects Masks of the Noh 1-4)
- Kabuki: Skin Deep (collects Kabuki: Skin Deep 1-3)
- Kabuki: Metamorphosis (collects Kabuki 1-9)
- Kabuki: Scarab (collects Kabuki: Scarab 1-8)
- Kabuki: The Alchemy (limited series - 8-9 issues)
Not Collected:
- Kabuki: Dance of Death
- Kabuki: Reflections 1-7 - non-narrative collections of Kabuki-related art
[edit] Toys
A Minimate figure of Kabuki was available in an Indie Comics boxset.
Kabuki will be made as an action figure in Series 1 of the new toy line Indie Spotlight by Shocker Toys.
