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Rat Trap
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Way
of the Rat: The Walls of Zhumar
Chuck Dixon, Jeff Johnson
CrossGen, 2003
Rating: 3.0
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Posted:
May
5, 2003
By
Steve Wallace
From the first page of this ongoing series' initial collection, the
influences of The Way of the Rat's creators are immediately
apparent. There are martial arts flicks (the book has more flying fists,
feet, and bodies than a pre-teen gymnastics class), Chinese mythologies (a
Hell of Dragons and a talking monkey figure prominently), Asian history (A
conquering horde of barbaric Huns) and even lots of stage sets lifted from
old samurai films. But the book leans heaviest upon early Jackie Chan
movies; the bumbling, acrobatic protagonist (a thief named Boon Sai Hong,
aka the Jade Rat) and his two equally bumbling mentors are dead ringers
for the movie star and his legendary sidekicks Yuen Bao and Sammo Hung.
(Given that the title has been optioned by Dreamworks for a feature film,
it'll be interesting to see how a finished film version handles the
similarities.)
The plot, involving magical artifacts, a city under siege and multiple
conspiracies, is well-imagined, fast-paced and entertaining, but the
execution leans a bit too heavily on the title's cinematic roots. Too
often, we feel artist Jeff Johnson struggling to capture the rapid-fire
and incredibly athletic movements that make Chan's movies so popular. By
attempting a direct translation of every move of the action, he winds up
distorting the temporal continuity of the work, and too many of his fight
scenes play in slow motion.
While we're discussing Johnson's timing miscues, let's not forget
writer Chuck Dixon's gaffes. The action of the series is often inter-cut
between different storylines to increase dramatic tension, but the action
seldom appears to be occurring simultaneously. Events involving the
protracted siege of the city, for instance, get thrown in alongside with a
chase scene that seems to never end. Is Hong supposed to have been running
from the same pursuers for months on end without rest, food or shelter?
There's a lot the team does right, however, starting with a breezy,
Saturday matinee tone that contrasts nicely with the dense and foreboding
feel of CrossGen's The
Path, which takes place on the same world. Faceless goons, a beautiful
but deadly princess, a harsh winter siege that comes complete with a crazy
Russian and his anachronistic cannon, and a selfish and dangerous Fu
Manchu-like city ruler spark plenty of interest. Inconsistencies aside, if
light-hearted martial-arts amusement is your thing, there's plenty of good
stuff in Way of the Rat to keep you occupied for an afternoon.
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