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Elizabeth Reuter's Reviews > Kabuki, Vol. 4: Skin Deep
Kabuki, Vol. 4: Skin Deep
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Of all Kabuki books, Skin Deep left the strongest impression on me.
There is almost no moving plot. Instead, our heroine Kabuki/Ukiko wakes up in a government-run mental insitution and learns about her doctor, the other patients, and herself.
Her entire life had been vengeance, achieved in Kabuki vol. 1 Circle of Blood. Now what does she do with herself? She has no target to kill, and no idea who she is without one. Kabuki must reinvent herself as a human being, but the institution's goal is to break her, that she might be re-molded to suit the government's needs. Kabuki is thus too busy fighting for her sanity to answer many pressing questions of identity.
But then an origami crane drops into Kabuki's cell; when unfolded, it reveals a letter from a new friend. Notes keep coming, and the story of Kabuki reading these notes and falling in love with this faceless presence that anchors her to reality is stunning, beautiful and achingly romantic. In Skin Deep we find a romance based not on chemistry, not on witty banter or dream-perfect figures, but instead on two unique people exposing all the ugly parts of themselves, and then helping to put each other back together.
An orginal romance, told in an original book that bends the comics medium in original ways. Artistically David Mack continued to push himself with Skin Deep, adjusting his artistic style from photo-realistic to anime cute to scratchy and distorted depending on what each scene called for. The result was magic.
Continuity note: David Mack switched publishers in the middle of this series, which is why Skin Deep ends so abruptly, and then is taken up again in Kabuki vol. 5 Metamorphosis. They are one story, though Metamorphosis spends the first issue catching new readers up.
-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive
There is almost no moving plot. Instead, our heroine Kabuki/Ukiko wakes up in a government-run mental insitution and learns about her doctor, the other patients, and herself.
Her entire life had been vengeance, achieved in Kabuki vol. 1 Circle of Blood. Now what does she do with herself? She has no target to kill, and no idea who she is without one. Kabuki must reinvent herself as a human being, but the institution's goal is to break her, that she might be re-molded to suit the government's needs. Kabuki is thus too busy fighting for her sanity to answer many pressing questions of identity.
But then an origami crane drops into Kabuki's cell; when unfolded, it reveals a letter from a new friend. Notes keep coming, and the story of Kabuki reading these notes and falling in love with this faceless presence that anchors her to reality is stunning, beautiful and achingly romantic. In Skin Deep we find a romance based not on chemistry, not on witty banter or dream-perfect figures, but instead on two unique people exposing all the ugly parts of themselves, and then helping to put each other back together.
An orginal romance, told in an original book that bends the comics medium in original ways. Artistically David Mack continued to push himself with Skin Deep, adjusting his artistic style from photo-realistic to anime cute to scratchy and distorted depending on what each scene called for. The result was magic.
Continuity note: David Mack switched publishers in the middle of this series, which is why Skin Deep ends so abruptly, and then is taken up again in Kabuki vol. 5 Metamorphosis. They are one story, though Metamorphosis spends the first issue catching new readers up.
-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 2001
–
Finished Reading
May 4, 2013
– Shelved
