A review by crookedtreehouse
Kim & Kim Vol. 1 by Imogen Binnie, Magdalene Visaggio, Eva Cabrera
4.0
There is a trend in modern comics to write young female characters with pop-culture drenched dialog and the sort of snappy patter that feel more at home in an episode of Will & Grace than a comic book. It wasn't until reading [a:Magdalene Visaggio|15401034|Magdalene Visaggio|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s Kim & Kim that I had the obvious realization that the problem was that the snappy pattering young women were all being written by men.
I'm not saying it can't be done successfully by men, [a:Kieron Gillen|439887|Kieron Gillen|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351308091p2/439887.jpg] and [a:Kurtis J. Wiebe|5737121|Kurtis J. Wiebe|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360711802p2/5737121.jpg] have some wonderful female character fronted comics but Vissagio's Kim & Kim feels more honest than either of them. This is not a writer putting on a voice, this is a writer who speaks within the same vernacular as their characters.
Kim & Kim is a grand bounty hunting adventure with fantastic characters who spout one-liners but are not defined by their one-liners. And while there are some genuine villains who put in appearances, this first volume is less a case of good vs. evil than the story of people coming from various sides of a situation, trying to do what's best but fucking up from time to time, as people tend to do.
Eva Cabrera's art and Claudia Aguirre's art and color blend harmoniously here. The panels are laid out fairly traditionally (they're not on a Watchmen grid or anything, but I don't remember any characters breaking out of a panel) and sometimes feel slightly cramped, but certainly less cramped than a lot of modern superhero comics.
This is a fun, and well-paced sci-fi adventure that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the offbeat action of [b:Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice|6839093|Chew, Vol. 1 Taster's Choice|John Layman|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1409985990s/6839093.jpg|7050578] or wish there were more buddy-cop style comics that featured two female characters.
I would also recommend it to the old dudes who come into stores and complain about how Marvel & DC keep "turning" classic characters female instead of inventing new and exciting female characters in comics. If you're one of those guys (you're probably not reading this), put your money where your dick is and buy this book. It's awesome.
I'm not saying it can't be done successfully by men, [a:Kieron Gillen|439887|Kieron Gillen|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351308091p2/439887.jpg] and [a:Kurtis J. Wiebe|5737121|Kurtis J. Wiebe|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360711802p2/5737121.jpg] have some wonderful female character fronted comics but Vissagio's Kim & Kim feels more honest than either of them. This is not a writer putting on a voice, this is a writer who speaks within the same vernacular as their characters.
Kim & Kim is a grand bounty hunting adventure with fantastic characters who spout one-liners but are not defined by their one-liners. And while there are some genuine villains who put in appearances, this first volume is less a case of good vs. evil than the story of people coming from various sides of a situation, trying to do what's best but fucking up from time to time, as people tend to do.
Eva Cabrera's art and Claudia Aguirre's art and color blend harmoniously here. The panels are laid out fairly traditionally (they're not on a Watchmen grid or anything, but I don't remember any characters breaking out of a panel) and sometimes feel slightly cramped, but certainly less cramped than a lot of modern superhero comics.
This is a fun, and well-paced sci-fi adventure that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the offbeat action of [b:Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice|6839093|Chew, Vol. 1 Taster's Choice|John Layman|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1409985990s/6839093.jpg|7050578] or wish there were more buddy-cop style comics that featured two female characters.
I would also recommend it to the old dudes who come into stores and complain about how Marvel & DC keep "turning" classic characters female instead of inventing new and exciting female characters in comics. If you're one of those guys (you're probably not reading this), put your money where your dick is and buy this book. It's awesome.