Chinese Hero: Legend of the Blood Sword Volume 4 Review

Chinese Hero: Legend of the Blood Sword Volume 4

Written by: Wing Shing Ma
Art by: Wing Shing Ma

Here in the hallowed halls of IGN, we try and cover manga series throughout their run. Sure, it's always exciting to open that first volume and dig into a new series, and to let you guys know whether we think it's worth your time and money to join us on the journey, but it's equally important for us to let you know whether any series have dropped the ball along the way, or perhaps magically gotten better over time, compelling you to go back and pick up early issues to catch up to when the good stuff happens.

Then there's Chinese Hero. I've been "treated" to every volume of this series, and each time it shows up, I cringe a little inwardly. One, I know I'm in for a long read. At $20 a pop, on your standard trade paperback-sized paper, it takes a long time to get through a volume of this series. Two, the artwork - which would arguably kick the butt of 80% of current working Western comic artists - is still not my cup of tea. It's absolutely gorgeous at times, particularly during an action-packed splash page, but all too often it seems rushed and I found myself wishing the artist could slow down a bit and really deliver the goods. Three, there's about three or four storylines going on at once in this series, and it can be difficult to keep track of who's fighting who without a scorecard and an abacus. I never look forward to seeing the book on the review stack, because I know I'm in for it when it arrives.

That said, volume four actually won me over a little bit. Whether intentionally or accidentally, creator Wing Shing Ma seems to have pulled in the reins a bit and kept the multiple storylines in check, and as a result I was actually able to follow what was happening. Yin Yang Emissary, who looks disturbingly like Boy George, has become embroiled in a plot to poison most of the good guys, but is also involved in finding "worthy fighters" for the blind warrior known only as "Invincible" to face. Up to this point, it would seem Invincible truly lives up to his name, as several of the best fighters we've seen in this series are barely able to lay a hand on the man. It's only natural, then, to expect Hero to eventually show up and give us a fight for the ages, but even that has complications. With this volume Chinese Hero begins to take a step in the right direction – I can actually follow what's going on.

This isn't to say the book still doesn't fall into a lot of the same problems I've always had with it. The artwork at times is gorgeous, but a lot of the time it's very plain and seems even more the worse because we have those wonderful splash panels to compare it against. As previously mentioned, some of Wing Shing Ma's worst artwork can stand up against some of the best that the comics world can offer today, but when you've set the bar that high, it's only fair for your audience to expect you to live up to it, right?

Chinese Hero: Legend of the Blood Sword is a tough sell, despite the colored, glossy pages and solid production value. $20 will get you two regular manga, as opposed to just one book, after all. I will say this – you do get plenty of bang for your buck. You won't get through a volume of this book in a sitting (unless you have a long time to sit!), and that can be a very valuable thing these days when your dollar will only go so far. The story is certainly interesting, despite its Byzantine structure, and will definitely keep you scratching your head trying to figure out where it could possibly go next.

Chinese Hero: Legend of the Blood Sword Volume 4 Review

I am now addicted to the things I hate.

In This Article