Daomu Review

Story by: Kennedy Xu

Written by: Colin Johnson

Art by: Ken Chou

Published by: Magnetic Press

Magnetic Press is a fairly new press that focuses on publishing international authors for a North American audience. One of the stories they have brought to us English speakers is Daomu, a full length graphic novel based on the best selling Chinese novel series Daomu Journals (or Dao Mu Bi Ji). The author of the novels, Kennedy Xu, is widely considered “China’s Stephen King,” and he was a supervisor in the creation of the comic.

“Daomu” means grave robber, though tomb raiding is only one aspect of the story. Sean Wu is a Chinese American man who has been living in the United States since his father abandoned him and his mother. After his father dies, he returns to China and learns that his father was part of a legendary order of tomb raiders that is tasked with maintaining the balance between men and nature and protecting the tombs and artifacts that are found in them from greedy organizations.

Daomu blends the supernatural with organized crime and the result is pretty exciting. Colin Johnson tells the story by weaving dialogue with journal-entry narration, and creates an engaging and clear read. Most of the characters are interesting and believable, though, as in many sci-fi or fantasy books involving an expedition, there are a lot of expendable characters. I never felt particularly attached to any of the characters, with the exception of the Warrior, Kilan, who is shrouded in mystery. I was also disappointed with the sole female character in the book, Lyn, with her unclear intentions and impractical cleavage: she was pretty much just a stock female character.

Sean Wu’s journey is the central focus of the story, but there’s also a lot of time given to the different organizations at play as they try to use Sean to further their own agendas. By the end, it’s still a little unclear who is really on his team, so there’s a lot of room for the story to expand beyond this volume.

The most brilliant part of Daomu is definitely the art. The art team was led by Ken Chou, the creative director of James Zhang’s Concept Art House, whose name you might recognize from their work with the World of Warcraft and Magic the Gathering franchises. Every panel is incredibly detailed, to the point of creating a cinematic effect. It would be easy to translate this book into an animated series or film without having to change the style.

Daomu is good read, and it’s easy to see why the novels it’s based on are so popular. It’s exactly the kind of story people like to read, with a little bit of everything. Really, the art is worth the price of admission, especially since the book is only sold in a glossy hardcover. The fact that Chinese literature is making its way into North American hands is also pretty cool, and it’s a great way to check out what’s popular in other parts of the world. Overall, Daomu is worth checking out.