Chad Jordahl reviewed The Good Asian Vol. 1 by Lee Loughridge
Good noir historical fiction set in San Francisco in the 1930s
4 stars
Cool book, I liked it a lot. Interesting story and setting, good noir mystery. I had to read it closely sometimes, to slow down a bit, which I (usually) like. Good art, primarily Western style but with some manga-influenced details, especially for example the last panel of the first issue/chapter. There are some minor problems in both the writing and the art. In a few spots the characters are too quick to anger and insults, unbelievably so. And at least once it was obvious that the writer, Pornsak Pichetshote, had a morsel from his research that he really wanted to include and it didn't come off as seamlessly as he probably hoped. I liked most of the art but there was one detail that bothered me: the artist drew a hatch in a sidewalk with rigid handles sticking up from the doors, creating an obvious significant tripping hazard. I don't …
Cool book, I liked it a lot. Interesting story and setting, good noir mystery. I had to read it closely sometimes, to slow down a bit, which I (usually) like. Good art, primarily Western style but with some manga-influenced details, especially for example the last panel of the first issue/chapter. There are some minor problems in both the writing and the art. In a few spots the characters are too quick to anger and insults, unbelievably so. And at least once it was obvious that the writer, Pornsak Pichetshote, had a morsel from his research that he really wanted to include and it didn't come off as seamlessly as he probably hoped. I liked most of the art but there was one detail that bothered me: the artist drew a hatch in a sidewalk with rigid handles sticking up from the doors, creating an obvious significant tripping hazard. I don't understand why an artist would draw something like that. And then a few pages later the artist drew the same hatches with the handles at least twice as big as in the first drawings. Sure, overall quite minor, but I found it distracting.
I appreciated the pages of immigration history added at the end.