‘The Fearsome Doctor Fang’ TPB (review) 

Written by Tze Chun and Mike Weiss
Art by Dan McDaid
Published by TKO Studios

I wasn’t too sure that I would enjoy this book when I first picked it up. Just by reading the premise, it could really have gone either way.

Luckily, the book didn’t take itself too seriously. It had some strong writing and some truly amazing artwork. That’s good enough for me!

The story starts out in San Francisco in 1906.

We meet Nayland Kelly. Nayland’s brother was killed by the villainous Doctor Fang two years prior.

One night, Nayland meets Alice Lecroix who is an art and history expert.

She’s made her way to San Francisco  to take a peek at a fabled artifact that belongs to the Kublai Khan.

Right from the beginning, the creative team establishes a pulpy feel in both the writing and the art. Eventually, they experience  a series of events that lead them straight to Doctor Fang himself!

Things are looking dour for them!

But they quickly learn that Doctor Fang isn’t as bad of a guy as he seemed to be at first. In fact, the three of them might even have like minded goals!

Normally, a plot twist like this would make me groan. And to be honest, it almost did. But the story is so well handled that I didn’t mind. Writers Tze Chun and Mike Weiss do a spot on job here and make the whole thing feel as natural as can be.

That doesn’t mean everything is roses. The adventures that follow are fun for sure. But the ending feels a tad rushed and the way the writers leave things open ended for more adventures feels a tad overt and even forced.

But those are small complaints compared to the fun that I had reading this. The story works as a straight up adventure tale and not too much more. The art by McDaid though is something else indeed. He makes every panel work perfectly. You can feel his passion for good comic book art on every page. It’s great.

Will there be more adventures with these characters? Time will tell. I will read them if they appear. There’s a lot to like in this book. The characters are well developed and the tone is fun. Sign me up.

RATING: A-