Surfing and extreme sports were all the rage in film the last couple of summers, from the successful (XXX, Blue Crush) to the not-so-successful (anyone remember Extreme Ops?) For comics, extreme sports is something very different, and I was intrigued by Kamikaze because it tackles subject matter that's part of a youth culture without the super-hero trappings, and it just seemed like a different kind of idea. Unfortunately, good ideas doesn't automatically equal good execution, and the creative team of Ramos, Rubio, Herrera and the rest have created a story that is full of ideas but lacks any kind of focus, and too often falls into the realm of cliche.
Our story focuses in on a young rebel who is a championship surfer, the son of an escape artist, an escapee from prison, a zen guru, a celebrity and probably the heir to some kind of destiny as well. At least, the latter part seems likely, since the creators have seen fit to attach every other cliche to the character. As with much of the story, there's just too much going on with our lead, and it not only stretches credibility, it muddies the issue of who he is to the point where he doesn't feel real enough to latch onto. There's goofy cliche, like the extreme sports guy turned secret agent of XXX, and then there's overloading the plate, which is what I get out of the lead character in Kamikaze.
The main problem is that this also overloads the story a bit. A story about an extreme athlete at the top of his game seeking a higher thrill, a legendary extreme sport named Kamikaze, is certainly an interesting idea, but when you add in a mysterious death involving his father, a zen master/prisoner in his past and a murder that ties into his brother, what you've got is a story that doesn't know what it wants to be. Murder mystery, conspiracy, action-adventure? Not to say that a story can't be all of these, but it takes exceptionally strong writing skills, and the writers of Kamikaze don't seem up to it thus far.
Honestly, I haven't been much of a fan of Herrera's art elsewhere, but his work here is the only pleasant surprise of Kamikaze for me. The stylistic tics that seemed so out of place on Venom and Peter Parker: Spider-Man seem just right on the outrageous, rave and surfer style of Kamikaze, and I'm reminded as much of the unusual, trippy artwork of Sam Kieth as I am the obvious influence of Humberto Ramos. Herrera and Cuevas have a great energy, and their cartoonish approach seems fitting to the more light-hearted and action-oriented elements of the script.
To be fair, I should note that I have about as much in common with your average surfer or raver as I do with a superspy. However, Kamikaze doesn't fail to me because I can't relate to the adrenaline chase of these youthful characters, but because the creators get away from the chase of the thrill or the excitement of the sports and into too many other disparate elements, and in so doing they give us a book that isn't as fun or exciting as something about this subject matter should be.
