ZOMBIEPOWDER.
a review by okeeeee
a review by okeeeee
Reviewed 12 April 2022
ZOMBIEPOWDER, at least as it currently exists, seems to have served it's purpose. A playpen for Kubo, as he works on the precursor to his critically acclaimed Bleach; a comic that is probably best described as his "take" on the concepts featured in Yasuhiro Nightow's 'Trigun'.
Putting it mildly, this comic is not that good. Not quite terrible but it can't really be said to be at the the level of your average shonen. And this is for a variety of reasons, as we shall explore.
But before that, it's really worth mentioning that this is a very short comic. It's 30 chapters long and has been collected into 4 volumes. This is fairly typical for an author's first serial, especially at a company as huge as Shonen Jump. But, as will be seen, the length of this comic lays a huge part in it's downfall.
Story
For starters, the story. It is practically nonexistent. Why? Because the entirety of this series is nothing more of an introduction into Gamma Akutabi and those surrounding him. There's nothing wrong with a series being nothing more than an introduction, especially if it's this short (although, those tend to function more as prequels, or as a basis for characters in the author's future work). What is a crime though,is how uninteresting it all is.
So, the premise of the story and the objective of our hero, as established in the first chapter, is to obtain the elixir of life or Zombie Powder. And to accomplish this, he must recover ten 'Rings of the Dead'. While this is a sub-standard premise, the failure of Kubo to properly build on this is what really drives the nail in the coffin. As the story progresses, we are confronted with nothing but cliched scenarios, each scenario being the introduction of a character.
This lack of a story is the main problem plaguing this comic. It's 30 chapters long, but because it's all still an introduction, there's nothing to keep me sticking around. Fighting gangs and searching for rings is cool and all, but there's just no excitement in it. At this stage, it's all so lifeless, all so robotic. The characters rarely diverge from the archetypes they're based on and everything said and done is all so predictable. This is a less than amateurish attempt at a story.
Art
The art is actually not too bad. It's difficult to ignore the unique sense of style instilled in the character design but the overall bit is just not magnetic. This comic is really at it's best during the battles, when there's minimal dialogue. The action shots are far from 'pin-up' status but are surprisingly decent. The low level of detail in the backgrounds and the lack of memorable shots though do not add to the minimal success that these moments bring.
As previously mentioned, the character design is also somewhat decent. The look of the characters pretty much the most interesting thing about the series, and what with the series length, there aren't a lot of moments for Kubo to simply let us appreciate this. This is also a huge part of what makes the battles a little decent to look at.
People will mostly come to this series because it is a comic by TIte Kubo, author of 'Bleach'. And that by itself is a testament to the quality of this comic. While the concept is terribly uninteresting, what really hurts it is it's insistence on being so bland and unoriginal in it's narrative choices. A terrifyingly unappealing choice.
PS
I should note that the reason for the short length of the series is it's unfortunate cancellation at the time, of which I'm fully aware. And be that as it may, I still feel it relevant to bring up the length in my review.
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