Dragon Resurrection: The First Adventure of Jesse and Jack Chang Review: All About the Dragons

The reason we don’t see dragons around is not because they exist, it’s because they disappeared many years ago. That’s the reasoning Lin and Lyan Zhang give in their graphic novel “Dragon Resurrection: The First Adventure of Jesse and Jack Chang.” Though the story is more military action than fantasy, the Changs manage to pull off an interesting story nonetheless.

In “Dragon Resurrection,” Jesse Chang doesn’t believe in Dragons. That is until she and her dad find the remains of a real dragon in the Himalayan Mountains. Meanwhile in America, her brother Jack is researching the potential of insect DNA. When he gets a sample of the dragon DNA from Jesse, a rogue American general kidnaps him and uses Jack and his research to create an army of mutants. Now Jesse must save her brother and stop the crazed general.

The comic has a solid premise and it manages to maintain a strong narrative throughout. The Changs keep any mythological fluff out of the story and focus on the real conflict at hand. That conflict unfolds involves in some well developed characters that come across more as real people than plot devises. Even the antagonists have fully fleshed out characteristics.

The only flaw in the story is some minor questionable details in the world. These are the whole clone part near the climax and the Red Dragon’s inability to use his psionic power no closer than three meters away. Out of every other psionic character in the history of literature, this has never been done before. It just makes no plausible sense.

The art by Erfan Fajar does its job well for the most part. The humans are well drawn in every possible way and their movements are fluid. The action sequences are nicely drawn and eye catching. The dragons steal the show, though. They look both terrifying yet regal in their designs. Not to mention movement look fluid and they look like they can move like that in real life. Fajar’s only problem is facial expressions. They are so bland and lifeless that there’s no point in looking at the character’s faces at all.

“Dragon Resurrection” may not be totally about dragons, but it’s a solid effort with some strong writing, characters and art even with the minor stumbles. The film, scheduled for Fall 2014, should also be interesting.