A Monk’s Tale

(Konsequential Studios, 2004-2005)
™ and © Konsequential Studios

A Monk’s Tale is shot directly from pencils and, therefore, appears in a loose, sketchbook style that works in this case. It’s a story of three monks in ancient China who know martial arts and their journeys away from the monastery they called home.

Hundreds of old and new Asian martial-arts movies feature a premise similar to this one, but this genre isn’t represented in comics form, so it’s welcome. It’s easy to picture Chow Yun Fat, Donnie Yen, and Jet Li in the title roles, though the abundance of comedy means Jackie Chan would have to be in there somewhere.

Writer and artist Laurie Breitkreuz needs to do more to distinguish the three monks from each other. Siu, the jokester with the smile, is easy to make out, but the other two look almost identical.

— Steve Horton

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