The Fearsome Doctor Fang vol 1: Paper Dragon

As my second TKO Studios series I like the direction this publisher is going with this maiden voyage into comics from TKO Publisher Tze Chun and Mike Weiss. A turn of the century period piece this story is a tad on the dense side but it plays into the silver age feel conveyed by the casual superscience (emps in 1904, superweapons etc) and art. All in all i thought the story moved along very briskly despite and coherently, although there were a couple points where i had to go back and check if i skipped a page due to some nonexistent transitory shots. I really enjoyed the scene where Doctor Fang is introduced and the big fight on the train.

The idea of Doctor Fang being a villain by reputation and Church being a hero when in fact the opposite is true felt like something out of Batman or Thunderbolts. I appreciated the opposite sides of the coin, reminiscent of the former in a way, a well established trope is well established for a reason. I also liked that both were students of science, employing devices making them appear to be superhumans which also lends to the silver age Marvel tone this book has.

The art by Dan Mcdaid (currently also drawing Boom! Studios Firefly) feels like an updated take on a silver age book like Tales to Astonish (with Hank Pym and his own Superscience!) maybe along the lines of a Gil Kane or John Romita sr. which is very high praise indeed! I really liked the realistic way gadgets were portrayed in a story that could have very easily have headed in a more steampunk direction. I very much prefer this style.

The panel layouts are very dynamic, in a way that could be considered haphazard but manages to help the story, with the panels flowing perfectly along with the story and not causing any issues following events as they unfold.

The colors by Daniela Miwa look really great with the backgrounds often being steeped in red tones that could very quickly become tiresome were they not well integrated into the scenery. Some scenes even go so far as to tread into Jack Kirby territory especially late Kirby Thor with the skies crackling, the very air seeming to have an otherworldy glow! Amazing.

The often overlooked lettering by Steve Wands also has some impressive aspects including a custom font for Fang that I really like and some decent speech bubbles like the one pictured above that made me laugh.

(the following is a physical book review copied and pasted from an earlier review)

The trade paperback is in an oversized format comparable to somewhere between a DC Absolute Edition and a standard (current age) single issue. Paper is non glossy but still nice, similar to what DC uses in their single issues but a little less shiny. The binding is tight and feels sturdy and the cover material has a high quality feel to it. This is a nice book, I can see why they sent out physical copies. I might have liked to see maybe a small covers gallery or any kind of material on their other books in the back, but other than that the book is physically top notch. I did appreciate a bios section in the back to help me get to know the creators I was unfamiliar with.

To read the first issue of this and the other series TKO has to offer visit https://tkopresents.com for more details pick up a copy today!