A character that only a fraction of the current comic-reading audience has heard of -- and an even smaller fraction cares about -- returns, and the question on my mind is "Why?" Maybe this is DC's reaction to the moderate success of Udon Studio's revival of the Street Fighter property, or the growing number of moviegoers in the Western world who enjoy Jackie Chan movies, I don't know. The thing is there's an inherent goofiness in Jackie Chan flicks and Street Fighter stories that's lacking in this martial-arts book. Dixon and McDaniel offer up a dark story that comes off as rather cliched. But where the script really misses the mark is in its failure to give the reader a reason to care about the title character.
Richard Dragon is, among certain circles, known the world over as the greatest martial artist the world has ever seen. He's trained the Bronze Tiger and the Question, but lately, he's fallen from grace. Rather than the serene force for good that he once was, he is now a brawler, using his skills to fight death matches for money. He's wasting his talent because he's haunting by a single defeat. One of his students tracks him down and offers him a chance to redeem himself... and it put a stop to a burgeoning criminal alliance.
McDaniel's inky, exaggerated art suits this series quite well, as his style -- always effective at conveying movement -- captures the martial-arts action well. And after all, the action is what this book is all about. His portrayal of the Bronze Tiger strikes me as being too bulky, though. I would imagine he's meant to be seen as quick and lithe as a cat, as per his codename. The designs for the villains are rather generic, though. Avina's color palette is appropriately dark, and the small little bloodstains he adds to the characters' hands reinforces the intensity of the violence that's being unleashed.
Though the characters here are rather obscure ones from DC's history, Dixon does provide the reader with enough information so as to follow the plot. No, he doesn't get into the Bronze Tiger's days with the Suicide Squad or details such as that, but he does tell us why Richard Dragon has lost his way and he shows us the path he'll take toward redemption. The setting here leaves a lot to be desired. An underworld death arena comes off as rather played out, and there's no real tension here. We never get the sense Dragon's in danger, even on the first page, as it's clear that nothing can touch him. The conflict is non-existent, since there's no real chance for opposition. Furthermore, the inner conflict later in the book -- will Dragon choose to kill the vision from his past -- falls flat as well, as we know he won't so the plot can move forward.
The biggest problem here, though, is that Dixon doesn't give the reader a reason to care about the title character. We can relate to the dishonor that haunts him. His willingness to kill, even though he acknowledges he doesn't need to do so, makes him unlikable. There's nothing in his life -- past or present -- that's grounded on the reader's level, nothing to serve as a doorway into his head or heart.
