Sai: Dimensional Rivals #1: Three Brushstrokes

Sai: Dimensional Rivals #1 is a beautiful tale told, as the name might suggest, through a journey across multiple dimensions. Peach Momoko’s artwork and storytelling are both famous for her variant covers and her run on the Ultimate X-Men series. In the first issue of Dimensional Rivals, Peach Momoko shows her artistic and writing chops by bringing the character of Sai (a version of Psylocke) to life through dialogue and her travels into other dimensions.

The issue reimagines many longstanding characters, specifically X-Men, such as Sai’s pet companion Logan, for instance. These are mostly used as set dressing for the story but also build into the manga-like ambience of Sai: Dimensional Rivals. Among all of the characters, Sai is written very well. She is both the lone wanderer and the brave hero in equal measure. Her dialogue as well as her actions both feel meaningful in terms of the story, even in just a single issue. Her motivation, while simple, is effective enough to warrant her status as the protagonist of this story.

The artwork and colorwork are synchronous here. Both are drawn by Peach Momoko (Ultimate X-Men), Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), and Iban Coello (Imperial). In the coloring, the watercolor art style of Peach Momoko is dominant with the vibrant tones that Stan Sakai made famous with the covers of his award-winning Usagi series. A scene about halfway through the issue also clearly uses the Usagi Yojimbo style in an excellent way that leverages the contrast and shading of the art style.