Inspector Oh #1 Review

Inspector Oh #1 - From Devil's Due / 1First Comics -

     

      Inspector Oh is a supernatural detective...A detective who has been missing for eight years. Why? Apparently, on his first case, he went and got himself trapped in one of the several Chinese hells. Now running for his very soul, Oh has been separated from his body and seemingly has lost all of his memories. And he's going a little mad. But not to worry, his faithful niece, Ziyi, has come to save him, and along with her biting wit and her dazzling martial arts skills, she's brought a resurrection pearl, the only thing that can save Detective Oh and bring him back to life. Will Oh consume the pearl and return to life, or will his madness trap him and Ziyi in the Chinese hells forever?

    Just when you thought the all-ages comic was dead, the Yuan Twins, Matt and John, score a slam dunk with "Detective Oh" #1! Full of Chinese mythology, comedy, and martial arts mayhem, "Detective Oh" #1 is a really fun comic that can be just as easily read by kids as by adults. I REALLY dig that. Mixing Chinese mythology, with a pulp-style Chinese hero that has shades of the wildly popular character, Detective Dee (based on the real historical figure, Di Renjie), the Yuan Twins create a fantastic world of supernatural adventure for the entire family. Matt Yuen does triple duty, not only co-writing the comic, but he also lays down the pencils and the colors - and he does it well. His simplistic, straight-forward, cartoony approach to illustrating this story is absolutely perfect for a story of this genre and reminds me a lot of the style you'd find in classic Chinese animation, like the classic cartoon, The Chinese Gods (Feng shen bang) from the 1970s. In fact, I think that this story would make a great cartoon...If kids had time to watch them anymore. I think I'll be keeping "Detective Oh" on my pull list, and sharing it with my daughter.

RATING: 8 out of 10. 

And if you're interested, here's the trailer for "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame":

And here is a clip of 1976 animated film, "The Chinese Gods (Feng shen bang)":

And you can find the entire film in English here.

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