Kabuki Books

This graphic novel is the best of a David Mack's incredible Kabuki series. It contains the most beautiful, yet unusual art for a graphic novel while also following an intriguing story line that helps the reader see the world differently.

I love the current Kabuki series from Marvel comics called KABUKI: The Alchemy.
And Metamorphosis is the story that comes right before it.

It is absolutely incredible.
Some of the best writing and covers so many ideas. Even articulating a very reosonable and sophisticated theory on one character's understanding of the meaning of life.

And it is actually 288 pages not 280. Including a full 9 issues from the complete story. It tells a complete story on its own, and is even more compelling how Metamorphosis and the current ALCHEMY compliment each other and unite to tell one larger story in continuity.

It elevates the graphic novel format to fine art and literature.

The Kabuki series creates and sustains a visual intensity that has to be seen to be believed. If nothing else, the range of media is incredible - one image might contain watercolor, collage, lettering, and computer processing. The next might be three or four other media.

This is not a book to read once and put down. It deserves more than one reading, maybe many readings, to capture everything in this story. The plot itself is well done but ordinary. It's the imagery that can't be absorbed at one sitting, including lettering and private notes. These additional texts don't drive the story along the plot line. They do, however, sustain the mood and express the characters' inner experience of their situation. There is no clear dividing line between text and artwork, though.

Other artists may use experimental media and non-linear text as a substitute for technical skill. Mack uses the media to express his skill - his drawing is outstanding, and he clearly has a passion for figure.

I have many favorites among comics, each for different reasons. Mack's Kabuki is a favorite among my favorites.

Frankly, a piece of comicdom art-- a real groundbreaker. This graphic novel, and the whole Kabuki series, moves comics into areas that the genre should have been going for years-- namely, using the art form for one of the things it can do best-- telling a story visually. Mack's ability to bring together both the story itself, and _how_ that story is told into one, completely interdependent form is amazing. The full color paintings and ink drawings that Mack does are beautiful and visually compelling, and his use of the whole page (versus simple panel by panel exposition) is refreshing and well worth the time one can spend poring over a page looking for all his details. The story itself, a dark one of beautiful assassin "secret agents", is nether here nor there. However, what he does with that vehicle is mezmerizing. The depth of Kabuki's character is real, what she experiences internally is real, and the growth she moves through is real. Get it just to see what a graphic novel really can be-- an art form entirely its own, a merging of visual and literary mediums. Read it over and over to be awash in an obvious labor of love. Psychologically engaging, visually stunning. It's unlike any other comic I've seen yet-- transcends the comic genre, even as it moves the genre into a new level.

David Mack worries me. He's taken the art of drawing comics to a whole new genius dimension. Nobody else has ever welded story and image like this, with so many ways to express everything: museum-quality watercolors, perfect pencil drawings, spiraling text, doodles, origami, abstracts, traditional japanese inks. New ways to show movement, memory, fights. One fight is drawn in calligraphy on a sheet of music; another is laid out as a board game; another is caught in the blur of a black-and-white video camera shooting in the dark. All this, while his heroine is trapped in a mental asylum for former female spies and assassins.

Here's a warning: fans of action/adventure, this book is not for you: move on to the next Kabuki volume, Scarab. And if you've read Skin Deep and are waiting for the story to move on, you find yourself in a long, almost demented version of the previous book. Kabuki makes her padded cell into a cocoon and slowly, obsessively rehashes personal elements of identity. Her metamorphosis occurs gradually as she transcends her mistrust of herself and her fear and longing for her past, by accepting gifts from another inmate, discovering the beauty of her own acts and story, sharing herself with her enemy. But that's a terribly flat way to put it.

The way David Mack does it, he can wring your soul out by chiseling in layer after layer of philosophical questions answered in a variety of metaphors. He brings new meaning to the term, tortured writer, and very nearly locks himself down and his readers with him in the asylum. He narrowly escapes at the end of the book, but not until he's imprinted on your mind both the pain and uncommon beauty that genius, whatever form it takes, carves into people. Glad you made it out alive and well, David. Thank you and take care.

This is my favorite comic. This was my intro to Kabuki. I was in the mood for something different, saw an ad for this on the back of one comic or another and checked it out at the local direct sales store. WOW. Yes its weirdly told compared to the ordinary comic book and having to move the pages around to read all of it was odd but I loved it. I thought Frank Miller hit the high point in comics when he did The Dark Night back in the 80's. This just blew that away.
You probably have to be an adult to get all the nuances but even then there are layers within layers here.

David Mack's beautiful art combined with his wonderful storytelling made this Amazing book come to life. This book deals with Kabuki, a "defective" agent of a secret assassination team called the "Noh" (a group of mysterious women who wear masks who protect the innocent from unknown dangers) being in Control Corps mental institute. She is locked up in a room which is to her, constantly changing color and morphing, due to hallucination from drugged foods, only allowed to come out for meetings with doctors, and refuses to speak without her "face" (which is really her kabuki mask, but she feels the mask gives her strength and confidence, and in some psychotic way, actually believes the mask is her face).

This book is much more than your average comic book will ever be. The art is amazing (compared to most of today's comic books), the story is captivating, and I guarantee your eyes will be glued to every page! This fully painted, amazingly written book deserves 1,000 stars and an A++++. It's mysterious, beautiful, strange, confusing, and twisted, but you will definitely enjoy this book if you are looking for a new genre of comic book. You will never read a graphic novel quite like this one. If you are a fan of the timeless graphic novel "Elektra: Assassin", than this book, Kabuki: skin deep, is definitely for you!

Perhaps the most interestingly mysterious part of this book is a person Kabuki receives messages from, through a vent in the ceiling of her room on small pieces of origami paper, named Akemi. Akemi sends kabuki these origami animals, telling her not to fall for any of the guards' tricks. "She" (or whoever this "person" may be) tells Kabuki not to eat or sleep in order to save herself. But Kabuki begins to wonder why Akemi is giving her such helpful advice. Is Akemi a true friend? Is Akemi a character made up by one of the doctors trying to get Kabuki to cooperate? Is Akemi one of the Noh operatives coming to break Kabuki out of her cell? Or, is Akemi just an imaginary friend fabricated by Kabuki's own mind to help her cope with the hardships of being in a mental institute.

Find out when you read Skin Deep, the best, most entertaining graphic novel I have ever read. This book deserves the highest rating of any graphic novel. It is truly amazing. I have never read a book like this. I read (not just the words in the bubbles but the childish, autobiographical words and doodles of "kabuki" scribbled across the page and in the corners of) every page of this book.

~SPOILER~

*Look for the page where there is a statue marked "foam rubber statue, as not to hurt myself or others" to get an idea of what I am talking about*. It's as if "Kabuki" is making commentary on the world around her and we get to see every strangely child-like bit of it!

If you liked Elektra: assassin, Evil Ernie: Youth gone wild, or
Hellboy: the chained coffin and others, then you will love this book. If you are already interested in Kabuki, I recommend the slightly less entertaining comic book, Billy Tucci's "Shi" (visit www.crusadefinearts.com for information on Shi.) I hope this review has helped you, and I hope you will read Kabuki: Skin deep.

I look for two things in a comic. The first is strong visuals - good drawing, deep imagery, skill with materials, composition, and lots more.

The second is optional if #1 is good enough: story. David Mack gives everything. The story is good, in a Femme Nikita Japonaise Noveau kind of way. The art is all I look for. It is dense - many marks carry different parts of the narrative. It is skilled - watercolor, pen, photo, I lost track of the amount of process that goes into each page. Text, imagery, and typography interact without clear bounds. There's just so much that I can't remember it all, so I have to it over and over. (That's a good thing.)

Not for kids, but not everything has to be. Not 'adult' either. Just really good. At least, I think so.

One small warning: not all of Mack's Kabuki books sustain this level of visual intensity. If that is your reason for buying a book, this one's good. Only some of Mack's Kabuki books conduct this much power. Well, he's only human.

In the previous two books in the Kabuki series David Mack has been exploring the effect on the lifes of those around Kabuki of the events in Volume 1. Here in Volume 4; Skin Deep we finally return to the heroine of the title. This book, while ostensibly a superhero comic book is in fact an excellent combination of so many things. This book brings together great storytelling, excellent characterisation, beautiful artwork, poetry and psychology. We learn more about the fate of the great character Mack has created in Kabuki. While not as long, or indeed as involving as the first work, this book has a very different feel to it. In this work we get drawn into the psychology of the women involved, and into the raw emotions they experience. There is no middle ground in this book. I strongly recommend this book BUT you do have to read the previous works in the series. This is not a good starting point. But you should make the effort. Go back to the start. Work your way here. It is worth it.

The large, coffee-table quality book offers a particularly engaging, different way to learn about the kabuki theater that has long been an integral part of Japanese society. With full-color pictures of Japanese woodcuts on nearly every page, it's really an art book on kabuki. One aspect of the woodcuts relating to the theater are woodcuts of actors. These testify to the important place of kabuki in Japanese society, while they sometimes served as a sort of publicity. Besides offering a multi-dimensional treatment covering origins and evolution, playwrights and actors, the yearly cycle of kabuki, costumes, staging, and music, the work is also a lifelong reference--with its six indexes for instance. The Dutch authors are steeped in the subject from extensive research and attraction to Japanese prints. Thirty-seven kabuki dramas are reviewed with casts of characters, narratives of story lines, appropriate woodcuts, and endnotes and references.

...will find a treasure-trove of information in this wonderful book. The nobles had Noh, the commoners had Kabuki. Noh is tragic, intense, and performed with no scenery. Kabuki is melodramatic (when it isn't funny), diffuse, and depends on elaborate costume and scenery changes, some so entertaining they're done while the audience watches.
On the Left Coast, when most people hear "Japanese Art," they think of the Zen-influenced sumi ink painting, calligraphy, the cha-ya-nu ceremony, and ikebana. A tour through this book shows that much of Japanese art is unrestrained, brash, colorful, and fun.
I'm an old Japanese woodblock print collector and can vouch for the excellence of the prints used to illustrate every story. If you are a Westerner going to see your first Kabuki, this book is the authoritative source for understanding not only 85 separate Kabuki plays, but the whole wonderful set of conventions that have been built up around it.
The publisher has a catalog of Japanese and Asian art books which range from the terrific to the merely splendid.

This novel is about the woman who transformed theatre in Japan and founded Kabuki. I was amazed to learn that "kabuki" originally meant strange and unconventional. Ironically, women were later forbidden to perform on stage in Japan. Centuries later, Sadayakko would have to reclaim the place of women in Japanese theatre by becoming popular in the West first. But it all started with one courageous and defiant woman named Okuni portrayed so movingly by Sawako Ariyoshi.

Lovely book for inside information of a Kabuki Dancer, from her side of the room. Delightful and mind opening. I believe this is a book that is
one from the heart. I liked it, it was an aid in my research of expressions of culture.

Kabuki is a great series. Every one of the Kabuki books are startling, beautiful, touching, violent and oh-so-cool. It follows a rhythm and style that is altogether American pop brilliance and Japanese deep craftsmanship. It's a story being passed down from generation to generation about finding yourself. It'll leave a mark.

Kabuki: Scarab is as good as any of the other Kabuki books. It focuses (not surprisingly) on the Noh operative named Scarab. She's a girl who fell into being cool because she was quick, smart and dated the right guy. Ironically, it's the same things that made her a good assassin. Scarab is wonderfully drawn by Rick Mays, who combines his great handle on Japan, pop urban danger, stylish street gear, and a weird combo of innocence and volatility.

The writing borrows heavily from Speed Tribes (a highly-recommended, solid, easy-to-read book on contemporary Japanese youth culture). For the first time, David Mack uses someone else to map his story. I didn't quite understand why he did this when both he and Rick Mays are so familiar with Japan. Doesn't make the story less enjoyable, but it did give it a sense of "didn't I read this before".

Scarab is the first of the Kabuki books to completely focus on another character. I loved it. Can't wait for the next installment!

This book (written by a Univeristy of Hawaii theater professor) is absolutely brilliant. It's a great, basic primer on the history and world of Kabuki, with fun facts and clever writing to keep it's audience interested. If you're just looking for pictures of the theater, try and pick up the amazingly pricey (but worth it) Kabuki no Sekai (World of Kabuki, with photos of actor Tamasaburo Bando). If you have any interest in learning about Kabuki, pick this up!

Disclaimer: The author was my best friend in high school and I followed their adventure via their website while it was happening.

I just received the book a few days ago and started reading it to today. I read half the book in my first sitting (it's not long). I still have the second half to read, but... Wow! During the time this was happening, of course, it was spread out over months and months. One day you would read about some near disaster, but then wouldn't learn about the next one for weeks or months. Reading the whole story in a matter of hours REALLY made me understand what an adventure this was.

You know that feeling of anxiety you get when you are doing something you have never done before (first day in high school, first time going to an airport) because you don't know what you're doing? Dave and Deb were in this state of anxiety on most days for the better part of a year, in a much less forgiving environment. I think Dave does a good job bringing those feelings of fear and anxiety to the reader.

There's also some little insights that one would probably never even think of. My favorite so far... "Oh yea, being called 'captain' on the radio for the first time is very cool."

I enjoy mystery books, and this book was my favorite so far. This book takes place in Osaka and Edo of Japan. The conflict is that a jewel has been stolen from a daimyo named Lord Hakuseki. The theme is that a young merchants son named Seikei, the only witness,is helping the famous Judge Ooka (also known as the Japanese Sherlock Holmes)solve this mystery. My favorite part of the book was when Seikei is presented with a sword, even though he is a merchants son. In Japan, only a samorai can have swords. My least favorite part was when Seikei described the "Ghost of the Tokaido Inn". He described it as"...larger than a man, eyes flashing menacingly, huge horns...". Seikei meet a traveling kabuki, or troupe,where he is forced to stay for a long period of time. Seikei feels that he is as good as a samauri should be, and writes poetry just like a samauri. This exciting book was very hard for me to put down, and it may just leave you hanging!

This book is a great introduction to Japanese characters and Japanese life. It has elements of reality, Judge Ooka is based on a real life person in Japan's history, but the story itself is fiction. It is a coming of age story, a story about who we are raised to be and who we want to be. It is about following your inner voice and being true to who you are. Seikei is a boy who gets caught in a whirlwind of excitement while traveling with his merchant father to sell tea. The books talks about the cast system, if you are born a merchant that is what you are going to be. There is no becoming of a Samurai, even though that is what Seikei wants more than anything. When he becomes the only witness to a crime, and the famous Judge Ooka (called the Sherlock Holmes of Japan) calls on him for help, Seikei's father must allow him to help the Samurai/Judge, and Seikei is very excited. The book is a mystery, who stole the ruby gem, but it is about so much more; family, honor, dreams, and revenge. In this book, the boy Seikei goes through his journey alone. He has help from the judge, who directs him, or Bunzo who watches over him (without being seen), and Kazuo who becomes a sort of friend, but basically he is alone. He has no sidekicks, readers have few other characters to focus on, or receive help from. Seikei has to figure out what to do on his own; he uses logic and what he has learned about the honorable Samurai mostly from reading at the beginning, but some experience by the end. At the end of the book, Seikei gets his wish. He is adopted by the Judge and in turn his status is raised and he will be able to become a Samurai, following in his adoptive father's footsteps.

In the story, The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. The character Seiekei changes a lot for something he wants. Seikei first goes on a trip with his father and they stay in a hotel called the Tokaido Inn. Something or someone steels a priceless jewel from Lord Hunsu. A judge comes and looks at the evidence they suspect that a girl stole it because they found a fake jewel in the girl's room that looked just like the real jewel. Then Seiekei tells the judge that he saw someone else steal the jewel. Judge Ooka and Seiekei go on a trip to find the real jewel thief. Judge Ooka and Seiekei go out and trace all the missing clues and figure out that the thief was a ghost. Seiekei decides to stay with Judge Ooka and not his father because that's the only way Seiekei can become a Samaria. Seiekei father decides to let him go with Judge Ooka because it would be better and his father doesn't make that much money. That is how Seikei changes.

This book will keep the reader turning pages as they unravel this thrilling mystery. Every time you think you have figured it out, something happens that proves you wrong. Often something will happen that will refer you back to other ideas you had earlier in this mind boggling adventure. When that happens you think that the current thought is the only possible solution, then you will discover something else that opens a door in your mind to new possibilities- and questions. Smothered by many ideas and unanswered questions it will burn an imprint in your mind and you will continue until the end of the book when it all becomes clear in an exiting climax that reveals the criminal and the motive to the world. This is certainly a book that I would recommend to anyone of an older age (12+). This is indeed a tale worthy of a samurai.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Genre: Mystery


If you like Sherlock Holmes, this is a book for you. Fourteen-year-old Seikei, the son of a wealthy tea merchant longs to become a samurai, although he knows that this is an inherited honor that he can never hope to obtain.

Seikei's father is not such a dreamer and does not like the fact that his son can't stop talking about the samurai and is constantly referring to books about the samurai for information. So to get Seikei back to business, he takes Seikei along with him on a business trip. After a long day of traveling, Seikei and his father stop for the night at the Tokaido Inn. Inside the inn, a cruel and dishonorable samurai, Lord Hakuseki, is also staying. A precious jewel is stolen from the lord over night, and he orders the Inn on lockdown. When the great judge Ooka, the Japanese Sherlock Holmes, arrives they all searched the rooms and the jewel is found in the room of a young girl whom Seikei had recognized as the paper merchant's daughter that he had seen earlier on the street. The girl's family is accused of the theft but Seikei risks his life to save the girl and her family by interrupting the interrogation and yelling that they were not the thiefs. The interrogation stopped for a few seconds and then Judge Ooka motioned for Seikei to explain what he had seen. So, as ordered Seikei told Judge Ooka, that he had seen a ghost the night before and that he had thought it was just a dream, but maybe, just maybe the ghost had something to do with the theft. Judge Ooka admired the way Seikei risked his life to save others and so he decides to take Seikei with him to help solve the case. The book continues on, and Seikei must go undercover in a Kabuki troupe or "traveling performers" to help solve the case. Follow Seikei on a long journey where he is reminded to stay resourceful, honorable and courageous while he travels with only his instinct as his guide.


This is the best mystery book I've ever read. The book kept me attached the whole way through. What I liked about the book is how the author really exhibits Seikei's personality and makes the reader think that Seikei really was a nice, hopeful, honorable; and passionate Japanese boy in the 18th century. The author showed great attention to detail. For instance, the author specified each scene to the point where you knew the exact color and material of a certain kimono and even made sure that you knew exactly what Seikei's mood was wherever he went. Most importantly, the author made sure there where absolutely no boring parts; the author always kept you wanting more. The action all takes place in the Tokugawa period where Japan is ruled by an emperor and a shogun, and to preserve ones honor was above all else. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the ways of the samurai or just wants to read a great mystery!

Ming-Ju Sun has created a lovely collection of kabuki outfits, each one with the name of the character, play it is from, and style of play, from historical drama to musical. The inside of the covers also contains history and information on kabuki and kabuki actors. I recommend this for Ming-Ju Sun fans and kabuki fans, and those who love to collect beautiful paper dolls.

The kabuki costumes are very colorful and wonderfully drawn. There are 8 female costumes and 8 male costumes. The dolls are made of thicker paper, found on the flap of the back cover. Even though it defeats the point of having paper dolls, I found that I rather liked keeping the costumes uncut and left in the book. I use this book for reference, given the handy short descriptions on the side. The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was because I've seen better work from Ming-Ju Sun. I recommend Ming-Ju Sun's "Japanese Kimono." This book has 26 costumes, more detailed with better color, and the whole book is done on thick paper. The paper for the Kabuki Costumes was much thinner and would most likely not endure prolonged handling. Both books are the same price but I believe you get a better deal with "Japanese Kimono."

16 Kabuki Costumes with short description, such as "Benkei (an 11th-century warrior) in Kanjincho (The subscription List). Juhachiban." Each costume comes with appropriate Kumadori (make-ups) and wig.

Even though I don't know the details of each Kabuki costume, I believe it well convey the mood of Kabuki. If you are interested in Kabuki, it'll be a good starter.

The titular prince of this manga is Ryusei, high school student and heir to a Kabuki theater dynasty. While a very popular and technically proficient actor, he is cold to everyone around him and only feels close to his cat, Mr. Ken. (Kawaii!) Into this world stumbles fellow student Akari - very normal by her own admission - a newbie to the world of Kabuki but attracted to Ryusei just the same. Fate obliges her to become an assistant to Ryusei, where she discovers the boy beneath the cold exterior, and their relationship slowly begins to deepen...

I feel like this series has a lot of potential - Kabuki is a fascinating art and the romance between Ryusei and Akari is very sweet. (Oh yes, and Mr. Ken is adorable. I like cats; I can't help it.)

My biggest problem with Backstage Prince is that the characters all seem a little flat, fulfilling basic roles (gossipy classmate, stern traditionalist father, seemingly perfect tarento, etc.) and not having lives of their own. This is possibly because the book is pilot of sorts for the series, focusing on establishing plot more than illuminating characters; I hope so. At worst this is a sign of storytelling in the vein of Mayu Shinjo's Kaikan Phrase: uninspiring bishonen, female characters who are either boyfriend-stealing snakes or easily manipulated, and a meaningless, soap-operatic plot. Here's hoping the upcoming volume clears the air.

Ever wonder if famous actors are really as cool and calm as they appear? Well Ryusei certainly isn't! He is so painfully shy that he claims to hate people in general. Akari is the exception to that rule. She's sweet, happy and always eager to help. After accidently clobbering him with her heavy bookbag, Akari becomes Ryusei's backstage assistant till he heals from the major bruises she inflicted. Before the black and blue fades, (with the help of his pet cat, Mr. Ken) the young kabuki actor warms up to the lovable and kind high school girl and she falls head over heels for him. Now the only things standing in the way of cute lovey-bliss are his strict kabuki heritage, the fact that they can only see each other while he's backstage, and his rabid fangirls.

This story was origially released in America in the Shojo Beat magazine, and I'm so happy its been put out as it's own manga. I highly recommend it for the romatic-comedy sap in all of us! My only complaint is. . . I have to wait till June for vol. 2!