Walls of Zhumar

Okay, I admit it: CrossGen Comics came and went before I got around to sampling its wares. So, now, I'm kicking myself and feeling bittersweet about things, because, as it turns out, there were many bits of excellence that were produced by CrossGen Comics. And here I am, playing catch-up. So far I've gotten my hands on several outstanding issues of SOJOURN, CRUX, MERIDIAN, and NEGATION. My favorite, though, is WAY OF THE RAT. CrossGen stood out because its titles didn't cater towards the superhero sensibilities. No capes or cowls for CrossGen, and, to be perfectly honest, this may have been what made me hesitant about trying it out earlier. It's a shared universe, with WAY OF THE RAT apparently sharing its general locale with two other CrossGen titles THE PATH and BRATH. On the world of Hann Jinn, on the outskirts of the Empire of Shinacea, sits the isolated fortress city of Zhumar. In Zhumar a chain of momentous events is set off when lowly thief Boon Sai Hong steals two mystical objects from an aged scholar. These two items are the Ring of Staffs, which grants its bearer instant mastery over any staffed weapon, and the Book of the Hell of the Hungry Dragons, a scroll which opens the gateway to a hell populated by baleful dragons. This very quickly garners Boon the unwelcome attentions of the sinister ruler of Zhumar, Judge X'ain, and the Thieves' Guild, which seeks him for violating its code of conduct (something about Boon bogarting the booty). There's also the Silken Ghost, an enigmatic white-shrouded woman wise to the ways of wushu and very much interested in the proceedings. And when Boon later gets his mitts on the Phoenix Heart (another sacred relic, this one able to release ghosts), the collective manhunt intensifies that much more. Boon, in his desperate attempts to evade capture from his fellow thieves and from the city guardsmen, is aided by the sentient monkey Po Po. If by "aided," it's understood that Po Po mostly insults Boon incessantly. Nevertheless, Po Po becomes Boon's de facto sifu. And because WAY OF THE RAT isn't all about Boon, we are soon introduced to a key subplot. Even as Boon, Judge X'ain, and the Thieves' Guild play out their shenanigans, a horde of barbarians lays siege to the walled city of Zhumar, this horde led by the mighty and shirtless Bhuto Khan, wielder of the Ring of Blades and coveter of Boon's stolen sacred artifacts. WAY OF THE RAT ran for 24 issues before CrossGen folded in 2004. The first six issues are collected in the trade WALLS OF ZHUMAR (WAY OF THE RAT, Book 1), and, hells to the yes, I recommend it. These issues read so damn quickly that I feel I should be upset with the brevity of the thing, except that I know better. Chuck Dixon is a solid storyteller and never did much care for excessive exposition. WAY OF THE RAT is a fabulous series, embodying the finest of wuxia tradition. Dixon incorporates elements of whimsy, straight-out comedy, fantasy, and sizzling kung fu mayhem. He's tremendous wi

this comic is pretty much a martial arts comics, which few exsist today that are made ouitside of asia, but it is real fun, the story is of Boon, who stumble upon a ring that makes him a martial arts master in a certain field of combat, but more of these rings exsist, and there is pretty nice fight when the owner of the ring of baldes faces down boon. Complete with a talking monkey, war, and touch of humor, i highly suggest Way of The Rat for anyone whose likes martial arts movies of just good solid comics

In medieval China, the border city of Zhumar is threatened with total destruction at the hands of a a Mongol-like horde from the west. However, the evil judge-ruler of the city has struck a bargain with their warlord. In exchange for several powerful magical artifacts, the city will be spared and the judge will be allowed to rule on. Alas, the schemes of the mighty are wrecked by the lowliest rat-in this case Boon Sai Hong (The Jade Rat), a member of the Thieves Guild who inadvertently steals two of the three artifacts on the very night the judge was to have them stolen. Yes, this is a plot straight out of a Hong Kong flick, and it's probably no coincidence that the bumbling hero-thief bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Jackie Chan. The parallels to Chan's films grow even stronger when his two mentors are introduced, a pudgy fellow who looks an awful lot like Sammo Hung, and another who could be modeled after Yuen Bao. The book's film forebearers are perhaps too much in evidence in some of the action scenes, where the artist's have attempted to capture the visual poetry of the combat acrobatics by creating sort of stop-action, slo-mo renderings of Boon's moves. Many others profess to love the technique, but I found it very off-putting and distracting.Most of the book has Boon racing around the city, attempting to elude the judge's assassins, his own Thieves Guild brothers (who are displeased with him), and a mysterious masked woman in white (presumably a princess). This plays out again the siege of the city, in which the Mongols are aided by a Russian military engineer who unveiled a massive cannon. The passage of time gets somewhat confusing actually, as Boon's chase scene over rooftops and through alleys appears to span days, if not weeks, as it is intercut with the siege. It's all pretty stock stuff, a lovable rogue whom destiny grants great power, and then becomes a hero, with a princess in the offing. There are some fresh touches though, like the talking monkey mentor he gains, and the Russian cannonmaker. All in all, not bad, but not great.

Surprisingly, I didn't like the first issue of "Way of the Rat" the first time I read it. Oh, it was a passable action-fantasy, but it didn't engage me enough to justify spending three bucks a month for the comic book. Still, I kept hearing people say how good it was, and I started to wonder if I'd missed something, so when this collection of the first six issues was published, I decided to give it another try.I'm glad I did."Way of the Rat" is a fast-paced martial arts action flick on paper. Our hero is a thief who happens upon a pair of mystic artifacts -- a scroll and a ring, the latter of which transforms him into a fighting master whenever he lifts a staff. With the help of a spiritual guide in the form of a talking monkey, the "Jade Rat" learns he has a much greater destiny than that of a criminal and embarks upon a quest to become a hero.Reading this collection, I realized quickly why I didn't care for it in single-issue form. It's fast paced. SO fast-paced, in fact, that in that first issue I never got a chance to feel for or care about any of the characters. Reading six chapters in one go cured me of that. "Way of the Rat" is going to join CrossGen's "Mystic" as a comic book I prefer to get in trade paperbacks instead of magazine form.