By Roger Leloup
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-041-2
This is the fifth Yoko Tsuno offering from Cinebook, a series about a Japanese electronics engineer who gets tangled up in all manner of mysteries. This particular tale involves Yoko travelling to Hong Kong and coming face-to-face with a sea monster in the fragrant harbour separating Hong Kong island from Kowloon. Her tenacious personality is determined to get to the bottom of the encounter, leading her to discover genetic experimentation and a second mighty beast of an altogether different nature.
The whole story takes place before the handover to China, and as someone who has seen Hong Kong first-hand, the artwork is superb, capturing the crowded skyline on the city in fine detail, and incorporating many aspects of daily Hong Kong life.
It's a straight-forward adventure yarn with a definite appeal for younger female audiences, although that doesn't mean for a moment that this is intended just for girls. With its themes of friendship, scientific deduction and life-threatening danger there's something for everyone. Yoko is a strong, independent character who uses logic and reason throughout the story, rather than brute force, to do the right thing. This makes it somewhat refreshing to read and she's certainly not a role model you can object to.
And if you liked that: Take a peek at Blake & Mortimer
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