Kato #14
Written by Ande Parks
Art by Lee Furguson
Colors by Rainer Petter
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Covers by Ale Garza
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 26, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

OK, now THIS is the bad ass Kung Fu ninja book that you’ve been looking for. Disguised as a superhero comic, Kato #14 is actually like watching a really good martial arts movie. There’s action from start to finish, with some surprises thrown in for good measure.

Writer Ande Parks delivers a fantastic story. Also with the action comes surprises in the few pages that are not solid action, where he actually does some nice character development between the original Kato, and his daughter, Mulan.

The issue is completely narrated by Mulan who reminisces about growing up and training with her father, his adventures as the original Green Hornet’s sidekick, and how he neglected his daughter. For a comic book, there’s some pretty deep psychological daughter/father issues being explored, but it never drags the book down into a depressive state. Parks finds the perfect balance of the two.

Artist Lee Ferguson does a nice job of making the action easy to follow and never confusing, which can sometimes be the case in martial arts comics. My one complaint is that in a book that is 75 percent fighting, there’s hardly any motion lines. I think it would have made a bigger impact if there were.

All in all, this is a really good issue, and what I like most about this one in particular is that it’s a “one & done” and you’ve never had to read an issue of Kato before to know what’s going on. Perfect for new readers to pick up and see if they might be interested in the title.