Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Eric Powell
Artist: Brian Churilla
Release Date: 28th January, 2015

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If he is to become mortal and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh once more, Lo-Pan must make a blood sacrifice to Ching Dai and marry the beautiful Miao Yin. The prime candidate for said blood sacrifice is Egg Shen, recently delivered alongside Miao Yin into Lo-Pan’s domain by the Seven Faced Widow, who wishes a horrifying death for Jack Burton in return. In the back streets of Chinatown, Wang Chi, The Lords of Death, and the Chang Sengs have come together, intent on finding a way to destroying Lo-Pan and his minions once and for all, and it looks like Ol’ Jack has the plan all figured out…kinda.

After a strong opening the series has hit a few bumps in the (midnight) road recently, due in large part to the input of Eric Powell, whose influence appears to be waning with each passing issue. The refreshing character asides and backstories so prominent in earlier issues have more recently been eschewed in favour of a more action oriented narrative. This is not necessarily a criticism, as the faster pace and snappy dialogue does fit the overall tone, but those more insightful moments helped elevate the overall quality, and added another dimension to the series beyond the scope of the film, something I’m sure fans had hoped for given the near zero chance of a live action sequel.

In all honesty, it feels like the series is beginning to tread water, and the action in this latest issue follows the structure of the film’s third act almost exactly. The second half of the book features little to no dialogue, and is basically an extended action sequence, which to be fair is carried off in typically fine fashion by the ever impressive Brian Churilla, whose artwork has been the most consistent element of the series as a whole.

On a more positive note, this issue is perhaps Powell’s funniest to date, with some genuinely hilarious moments from Egg in particular, who has, somewhat surprisingly, become the most prominent source of comedy. It also features a pretty shocking conclusion, which itself turns out to be rather comical.

Whilst it’s a pity such a talented scribe is clearly writing far within his capabilities, Big Trouble in Little China continues to exhibit the same charm and bewitching sense of fun that made the movie so popular, and for a fan, it’s pretty hard not to love it.

Rating: 3/5.

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The Writer of this piece was: Martin Doyle
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You can check out more of Martins reviews and thoughts on random retro things over at Retromuse

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