Script/Design: Christopher Sebela
Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Review: Art Bee
Through most of my teenage years, I was. That was quite a while before Pirates of the Caribbean hit the silver screen but from the sound of many that triggered or retriggered their interest. Since that movie series hit theatres, pirates seem too much of a grand stand for me.
A week ago when I picked up my comics from my LCS, staring at me was a cover that was attractive and intriguing. Without any more knowledge aside from the cover, my guess was it was a pirate story, and I decided to give it a try.
For many centuries the seas have been the lifeline of commerce. It was the job of people called, “boarding masters”, to supply ample bodies for shipping crews. Along the west coast of the U.S. it became common to incapacitate a man and forge his name on a contract to serve on a ship. Once contracted to serve it was illegal to abandon the job until the end of the contract. Most of these voyages were connected to Shanghai, China, which gives the name to the practice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghaiing).
This story starts with a group of five individuals who are about to be released from their “contracts” for which they were sold into slavery. One of these five, Jack, apparently has something against release and kills the first-mate, captain, and rest of the crew with the exception of the other four slaves. At this point Jack reveals HER name is Molly but would like to be called Red.
Shanghai Red #1 is a somewhat boring issue. There is no suspense in the storytelling, but the creators seem to be setting up Red’s past and how she came to be on that ship, the Bellwood.
Though it’s a bit boring, two very important tasks are accomplished here. First, we are lead to the actual start of the story which should occur in the second issue.
Normally an issue like this would be called issue #0.
This story is not a pirate tale, but instead a vigilante tale, which is so much better. Vigilante tales captivate us with justice, because every single person who has ever lived has been wronged in some way or another.
My thought would have been to start out with Red hunting down someone, while we get more information as she hunts. Although I understand that the creators want us to be on her side before the hunt begins.
The artwork is wonderful to the eye. The style and tone remind me of water color work but is more deliberate than that. It fits the tone of the story, which is a bit dark. Hixson is a master of negative space, and his use of black was very hypnotizing. This is probably why, though the story was a bit drab, I felt no problem with finishing the issue.
Don’t get me wrong; I am going to give Shanghai Red a chance.
The creators have worked so hard to provide a likable main character and a reason to follow this young lady into her hunting ground of Portland, Oregon.
From this point the story can nose dive, but my feeling is different. Fighter pilots with dip the nose of their plane and lose some altitude to gain a bit of speed before performing a grand maneuver; this is what I believe is happening here.
Perhaps I have been shanghaied a bit by this story
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