Cats!
How terrifying!
Let me just say I, The Undefined Gamer, have a soft spot for the
Warriors cats books. For those of you that don't have one flying f*ck
what that is, it's time for an education.
The Warriors books takes place in many different location,
focusing on groups of wild cats who have organized themselves into
four clans. These clans are as sophisticated as human civilizations in
the respect that there is a clear hierarchy, healer,
warriors, and nursery queens (they look after the young, and are unfit
for battle). These four clans tend to run into other groups of cats,
humans, even dogs. One particularly clan, Bloodclan, stands out.
Known for its harsh leader, Scourge (a tiny black cat), they are
so vicious they wear dog teeth that they have won from dogs they
murdered. Vicious as hell, it took all four clans to drive
off the Bloodclan menace.
Warriors cats books. For those of you that don't have one flying f*ck
what that is, it's time for an education.
The Warriors books takes place in many different location,
focusing on groups of wild cats who have organized themselves into
four clans. These clans are as sophisticated as human civilizations in
the respect that there is a clear hierarchy, healer,
warriors, and nursery queens (they look after the young, and are unfit
for battle). These four clans tend to run into other groups of cats,
humans, even dogs. One particularly clan, Bloodclan, stands out.
Known for its harsh leader, Scourge (a tiny black cat), they are
so vicious they wear dog teeth that they have won from dogs they
murdered. Vicious as hell, it took all four clans to drive
off the Bloodclan menace.
Well guess what? Some genius thought, "Oh let's turn this into a
Manga!" Because a book about fictitious superintelligent cats was
totally fit to be in a manga. And seeing as Scourge's backstory was
well... nonexistent, here's where this book comes in!
I honestly have no problem with the art. It certainly is
stylized, which isn't a bad thing, it's just some things American
audiences might not get, which although ironic because this book is
printed from left to right--- tailor made for American audiences
(traditionally Manga is printed in the way it originally was in, right
to left; only the dialogue is changed), these instances are few and
are easily skimmed over without affecting the story at all.
Manga!" Because a book about fictitious superintelligent cats was
totally fit to be in a manga. And seeing as Scourge's backstory was
well... nonexistent, here's where this book comes in!
I honestly have no problem with the art. It certainly is
stylized, which isn't a bad thing, it's just some things American
audiences might not get, which although ironic because this book is
printed from left to right--- tailor made for American audiences
(traditionally Manga is printed in the way it originally was in, right
to left; only the dialogue is changed), these instances are few and
are easily skimmed over without affecting the story at all.
As for the Origin story... groan. (Spoiler Warning) Scourge's
story is one of abandonment, neglect, and just cold blooded killing.
Scourge's age is also revealed. He is roughly a teenager, so unlike
what readers previously thought, he is not short, but merely young,
which makes his death later on all the more terrible.
Remember how I told you Scourge was supposed to be cold blooded?
Yeah, for the majority of the book, he's just an innocent kitten.
Boring. That's like making a book about Freddy Krueger and for 1/2 of
the book he's a baby (I.E. The Dream Child.- CW). Lame.
Honestly, most of this book tells how Scourge rose to power, and
has very little of the brutal, juicy stuff readers of the Warriors
series know and love about Scourge. Scourge is developed as an
a-hole, with forgettable family, forgettable minions, and all around
making this a forgettable book. Granted I should've seen this coming
as it is titled "The RISE of Scourge", but we still have yet to see
most of the conquests Scourge has done since rising to power, that
would essentially develop as the BloodClan we all know and love in the
original books. PLUS SCOURGE DOES NOT EVEN KILL ONE DOG AND HIS
FIGHTING SKILLS WHERE NEVER PROPERLY DEVELOPED.
story is one of abandonment, neglect, and just cold blooded killing.
Scourge's age is also revealed. He is roughly a teenager, so unlike
what readers previously thought, he is not short, but merely young,
which makes his death later on all the more terrible.
Remember how I told you Scourge was supposed to be cold blooded?
Yeah, for the majority of the book, he's just an innocent kitten.
Boring. That's like making a book about Freddy Krueger and for 1/2 of
the book he's a baby (I.E. The Dream Child.- CW). Lame.
Honestly, most of this book tells how Scourge rose to power, and
has very little of the brutal, juicy stuff readers of the Warriors
series know and love about Scourge. Scourge is developed as an
a-hole, with forgettable family, forgettable minions, and all around
making this a forgettable book. Granted I should've seen this coming
as it is titled "The RISE of Scourge", but we still have yet to see
most of the conquests Scourge has done since rising to power, that
would essentially develop as the BloodClan we all know and love in the
original books. PLUS SCOURGE DOES NOT EVEN KILL ONE DOG AND HIS
FIGHTING SKILLS WHERE NEVER PROPERLY DEVELOPED.
At the end of the day, The Rise Of Scourge is simply half a book.
It's supposed to be an origin story of how Scourge got from Point A to
Point B, but never gets to point B. Combined with forgettable
characters, this graphic novel's grade would suffer if it hadn't been
a graphic novel. Sorry to say this, but for once, the visuals actually
save this one. They are very well done for the most part, and although
the story is crap, they do paint a good picture of the Warriors world,
and just maybe, just maybe, might make the book worth a read. Borrow
this from a friend if you're into the series but by no means use this
as an introduction to the Warriors series. There are far more better
novels, not graphic novels, for that.
It's supposed to be an origin story of how Scourge got from Point A to
Point B, but never gets to point B. Combined with forgettable
characters, this graphic novel's grade would suffer if it hadn't been
a graphic novel. Sorry to say this, but for once, the visuals actually
save this one. They are very well done for the most part, and although
the story is crap, they do paint a good picture of the Warriors world,
and just maybe, just maybe, might make the book worth a read. Borrow
this from a friend if you're into the series but by no means use this
as an introduction to the Warriors series. There are far more better
novels, not graphic novels, for that.
Warriors: The Rise Of Scourge gets 3 stars out of 6
No comments:
Post a Comment