There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we look at what “Pearl” from Jinxworld, the first new series from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos in quite some time.

Who Is This By?

“Pearl” is written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Michael Gaydos and letters by Joshua Reed. Exotik Alek serves as the model for Pearl. Diego Martin is the series tattoo designer.

What’s It All About?

“Pearl” isn’t that far off from the opening lines to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Pearl Tanaka was relaxing with some friends at the food truck, until some Yakuza shot up the place and turned her life upside down. Now she’s doing wet work for her local boss, in-between appointments, and trying to keep her tattoo shop out of the crosshairs.

What Makes It So Great?

Having a creative team that includes Brian Bendis and Michael Gaydos certainly makes things interesting. While it is to early to assess the long term impact of “Pearl,” it continues to be both an interesting crime book and part of the pairs oeuvre.

This book reminds me of what I like about Guy Ritchie gangster movies, but if you replaced his normal clever by half protagonists with an excellent tattoo artist/hitwoman who is increasingly fed up with everything. Aesthetically Gaydos’ varied art, especially when things go graphic such as at the end of issue #2, isn’t that out of step with Ritchie’s music video sensibilities. I would never recommend reading a book solely for the art, but Michael Gaydos work in “Pearl” helps to make up for some uneven bits of narrative.

When discussing the art of “Pearl” you can’t leave out tattoo designer Diego Martin and Exotik Alek as the model for Pearl, and the role they play in shaping the work Gaydos does. The use of a model for Pearl Tanaka helps to bring a realism to the character acting by Gaydos and help get away with some of the more cartooned moments. There’s a real sense of life in the cast, this isn’t like Greg Land’s lifeless figures. That sense of vitality lets Mr. Miike, Pearl’s Yakuaza Boss, come off as both a ruthless crime lord and a bit of a bumbling idiot.

“Pearl” reads like something of a makeshift aesthetic laboratory for Gaydos and Bendis to see what they can get away with in comics as a medium. The way Gaydos uses spreads to show the curvature of a banana to graphic underlays as Pearl does work in a club. There is even a section where it turns towards more of prose oriented in issue #5. The various styles and sensibilities being thrown at or grafted on to “Pearl” keeps things feeling fresh as the series works through the criminal underworld of San Francisco.

Benids has written this series in an elliptic, non-linear, structure. It never goes the full Christopher Priest, but there is the constant use of the first 5 or so pages as a prologue chapter. These prologues highlight an earlier period in a cast members life and sets up thematically or artistically relevant material. These help the single issues function more on their own. It also helps some of the cast around Pearl function better in the present. The story of the how the antagonistic Endo Twins failed at their porn mall helped turn them from eccentric generic Yakuza gangsters into these bumbling comedic foils.

Bendis and Gaydos lay the style on thick in this series, and that high amount of gloss can create a distraction from the straight forward story at the heart of “Pearl.” This series revolves around a pair of questions: Who is Pearl Tanaka and what is she capable of? These fundamental questions help to cohere all the style and give the book some substance. The first 6 issues put Pearl through a hectic couple of days, but it also pushes her to finally confront her past and look to the future.

How Can You Read It?

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“Pearl” has currently released 7 issues. The first 6 will be collected into a trade paperback due out May 14, 2019. Issues #7 comes out this week and begins the book’s second arc.