Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises review

Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises is an improbably comic book to love.  It takes a kinetic art form, martial arts, and attempts to reproduce that in a 2D medium.  Additionally, its title character was killed in the early 70’s and this comic book takes place in 2012. How could a fun and engaging story about Bruce Lee occur when it takes place decades after his death? We were first introduced to the comic as part of Free Comic Book Day. Darby Pop Publishing has a portion of the first issue out as an issue on FCBD on May 7. That sneak preview led us to get the first issue of Bruce Lee and it is fabulous, fun and entirely appropriate for all ages.

The comic starts out with security guards in a warehouse overseeing some green boxes when an earthquake hits. A pair of eyes emerges from one of the boxes and the next thing is an Asian guy getting off the bus. He’s disoriented and confused about the customs and attire of the people in town.  While walking around town he sees a martial arts studio where a teacher is being overly aggressive with his students. He goes in see what’s the matter and teaches the teacher a lesson in respect, speed, motion control and more in a matter of moves.

From there we learn that this ‘stranger’ knows lots about martial arts, but has no idea about modern society. He befriends two teenagers who quickly ditch him, only for our stranger to be known by a person driving by. Joe is a retired cop who used to work with him and tries to get this person to understand that they are the legendary Bruce Lee.

It sounds silly, doesn’t it? To an extent it is, but the pseudo science fiction mixed with martial arts legend suits the comic book medium perfectly. We don’t know what was going in the green boxes, but halfway through the FCBD preview you will be hooked. And what’s even more surprising is that this works as a comic book and an all age comic book. Granted kids 6 and under might not like it due to the fact that there is a fair amount of dialogue. However, kids 7 and up, those young readers that can get through two to three sentences in a thought bubble, will really enjoy it.

Even older readers (see: adults), will like the comic because of all those reasons and more. The style of Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises is in line with those comics from the 70’s and late 80’s. By that I mean that the majority of the comic panels are square or rectangular. Those few panels that do not have 90° angles in them do so for a reason. They’re pivotal points in the story, those that really emphasize a hero or villain or action shots that need a close up.

Joe lets Bruce stay with him for the night, but halfway through it some of the folks from the warehouse break in, stun Bruce and try to drag him away. Thankfully Joe wakes up, grabs his golf club and starts swinging. Bruce wakes up, lays a couple moves on the mysterious baddies, who are also quite adept at martial arts.

The Dragon Rises #1 succeeds on every level. The art is top notch; the story combines humor, action, science fiction, nostalgia and martial arts.  It’s a new comic, with an old soul that manages to entertain new audiences with a legendary character doing what he does best.

It’s worth nothing that Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter, signed off on this comic. There are also a couple page advertisements to the Bruce Lee Foundation, a 501c3 that was established to share Lee’s philosophies and habits.

At its heart though, Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises is a comic book. It’s an all ages comic that entertains older readers as much, if not more.  Action, positive role models, great for boys or girls and humor, this is a comic that exceeded already high expectations. Fans of Bruce Lee and comics can easily get behind this comic in hopes that the following issues are as entertaining as #1.