INTRIGUE-A REVIEW

Welcome to INTRIGUE-the latest in the Japanese feel comics. This unusual work is written and inked by Howard M. Shum, with pencils by Kaare Andrews and colors by Tom Chu, Jung Choi and John Starr.

The book begins with Vice president John Owens making an appearance to dedicate the opening of the Nisei Museum to Japanese Americans who served in World War II and were interred in camps. While this is going on, a super human type has a strange meeting with a gentleman named Nigel, who carries a strange bag. the two engage in a brief amount of fisticuffs and Nigel splits with the bag. Seconds later, an explosion erupts at the museum, immolating the Vice president and his guards.

The super human and Nigel brawl some more, only to be interrupted by the police, who immediately take out the super human. Back at the police station, he gets grilled, as the police assume he's the one responsible for killing the Vice president. What appears to be a police cover-up quickly ensues. Claiming he is a security officer for Pinnacle Security by the name of Best, he states that he was after this Nigel character, who had stolen a prototype from Cybertech Labs. All the while, Best is helpless, as his genetic powers have been neutralized by a shot of a drug called Demu-X.

Meanwhile, old Nigel meets with two shady looking characters and trades the bag containing the protype(of what, we're unsure) for some money and a new car. Too bad Nigel didn't pay attention to all those classic American action thrillers otherwise he would never have put the key in the ignition of that new car.

BOOM! Say good-bye to Nigel.

Back at the Police station, FBI agents Lauren Sumner and Joe Franco arrive and proceed to take over the case. Best is fitted with a wrist band which is set to detonate if he gets more than 100 yards from Agent Sumner. Either way, the guy decides it's time to make his move, grabs Sumner and threatens to fry her brain with his powers, which include sending fierce electrical charges through metal objects like guns. Grabbing her gun, he bursts out of the police station, only to be met by an army of reporters, cameramen and cops, who immediately open fire. To no avail, he has set up a force field around himself.

Pushing her into a police car, he drives off at a high rate of speed while some super powered policeman gives chase. As the cop closes in alongside the car, a shot rings out. Agent Sumner has fired the car's shotgun, a move which causes Best to bend the gun barrel. Not the brightest bulb on the tree, she in turn cracks him over the head with the stock of the shotgun, which just makes him madder than before.

A host of cops continue the pursuit but he shuts them down just as quickly with an energy field which flips one vehicle and stops the rest in their tracks. Issue #1 ends with a mysterious caller informing an equally mysterious gentleman at Eagle Express Deliveries that "one foot stands before the crib, the other by the casket." The mission, at the moment is a failure.

Just what in the name of Stan Lee is going on here? I have NO IDEA!

This is by far, one of the most CONFUSING first issues I have ever read! ABSOLUTELY A MESS! First we start with the VP, then Best, then back to the VP. BOOM! Explosion, death and destruction. best gets caught, grilled and breaks out. Nigel gets paid and dies. Why? What is the prototype? Why is it so important? Who killed the VP and why?

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

I'm a firm believer in having a little mystery surrounding a book but THIS is ridiculous. Nothing makes sense, the dialogue is like a badly TRANSLATED Japanese movie. The only savior, and even that is barely enough to make me want to pick this up again, is the art and coloring. It feels like a Japanese cartoon, complete with several pages containing nothing but action sequences and no dialogue. Cool. but if I truly wanted this, I would rent a movie.

Save your $2.50 and put it to good use, like picking up an issue of Viz Comics' PULP. Now THAT'S what I call GOOD MANGA!

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