White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion

White Tiger #1-6

by Tamora Pierce, Timothy Liebe, David W. Mack (Cover Art)

Collects White Tiger (2006) #1-6. Angela del Toro knows Her uncle - Hector Ayala, the former White Tiger - killed. Her FBI partner, murdered. Her career, ruined. Her mentor, Matt Murdock, jailed. And the hurt is just beginning. The Yakuza's bloodthirsty Sano Orii returns, a genocidal shadow organization appears, and a new-but-old super-powered madman is looking to put the squeeze on White Tiger. Armed with mystical amulets - and finally in costume - White Tiger demands answers! But will she survive long enough to ask the right questions?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Marvel, Young Adult, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2007

About the author

Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't. How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on.

I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join groups, I'm going to turn them all down. I just don't have the time to take part, so please don't be offended if I don't join your group or accept an invitation. I'm not snooty--I'm just up to my eyeballs in work and appearances!

Also, don't be alarmed by the number of books I've read. When I get bored, I go through the different lists and rediscover books I've read in the past. It's a very evil way to use up time when I should be doing other things. Obviously, I've read a lot of books in 54 years!

I was born in South Connellsville, PA. My mother wanted to name me "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When I was 8 my family moved to California, where we lived for 6 years on both sides of the San Francisco peninsula.

I started writing stories in 6th grade. My interest in fantasy and science fiction began when I was introduced to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R. R. Tolkien and so I started to write the kind of books that I was reading. After my parents divorced, my mother took my sisters and me back to Pennsylvania in 1969. There I went to Albert Gallatin Senior High for 2 years and Uniontown Area Senior High School for my senior year.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote the book that became The Song of the Lioness fantasy quartet. I sold some articles and 2 short stories and wrote reviews for a martial arts movie magazine. At last the first book of the quartet, Alanna: The First Adventure was published by Atheneum Books in 1983.

Tim Liebe, who became my Spouse-Creature, and I lived in New York City with assorted cats and two parakeets from 1982 - 2006. In 2006 we moved to Syracuse, New York, where we live now with assorted cats, a number of squirrels, birds, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and woodchucks visiting our very small yard. As of 2011, I have 27 novels in print, one short story collection, one comic book arc ("White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion") co-written with Tim, and a short story anthology co-editing credit. There's more to come, including a companion book to the Tortall `verse. So stay tuned!

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Who do you think I am?" -- Angela 'White Tiger' Del Toro

"Black Cat, of course. Don't make me shoot you." -- Wade 'Deadpool' Wilson

"Oh for -- ! Genius, I'm wearing white! . . . First people mistake me for Emma Frost. Now you think I'm Black Cat. The name is White Tiger. WHITE TIGER!" -- White Tiger

"White Ti - GRRRR! . . . Check." -- Deadpool

Angela Del Toro was a resilient and street-savvy former NYPD officer and FBI agent from New York City. After a few deeply personal tragedies and setbacks - plus a good deal of trepidation and some mentoring from Matt Murdock's Daredevil - she assumes the crime-fighting super-heroine alter ego of White Tiger! Armed with three mystical jade amulets (which greatly enhance her physical abilities, and she's already a skilled combatant), she hits the mean streets as the Big Apple's newest vigilante.

I found this to be an entertaining volume, with perfectly balanced drama / action / humor. (Slyly amusing were the brief scenes where a random threat or illegal activity would pop up nearby, and Tiger - with her strong sense of justice - simply takes care of said business LIKE A BOSS!) It should be noted, though, that superficial knowledge of Daredevil and the 'Heroes For Hire' duo - Luke 'Power Man' Cage and Danny 'Iron First' Rand, who are Tiger's friends and allies - storylines are somewhat required for easier comprehension. Also nice were the cameo appearances by Black Widow and Spider-Man, both offering their helping hands - in the two-fisted sense - when Tiger, adjusting to her new life as a "costume," takes on some organized and well-armed criminal gangs.

[Amanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

See the full review with pictures at https://amanjareads.com/2020/05/18/wh...

White Tiger is what happens when a company decides that they need more diversity but not more characters. As is the case with way too many comic book franchises, Marvel decided to turn an existing hero into a lady hero for no real reason except for as an attempt to get a new market.

I was drawn to it because she appears in some Daredevil runs and I thought she might be cool. I am always looking for new lady characters to stand behind. Also I am a sucker for David Mack covers.

Enter Angela. She's the niece of the previous White Tiger and has received her uncle's power giving amulet from an unknown source in the mail. Now she can be White Tiger. And she will, cause when you get magic amulets you use them.

She's relieved of her job at the FBI and is now able to focus on being White Tiger full time. But she needs an income so she takes a private security job. Between her former life at the FBI and her uncle's previous status as the former White Tiger she apparently knows everyone with powers on a first name basis and has a lot of networking she can use.

Way too many cameos take place in this book. It's another side-effect of attempting to bring a new audience to an existing market. They attempted to get people interested with any hero they could conceivably place in New York City but it reads as a parade of awkward encounters.

Also there is a reveal about a relationship she has with a masked hero that really doesn't make sense time-line wise. How could (name redacted due to spoilers) be her babysitter when she was a kid when they're like the same age?

It doesn't make sense for her to know most of these people! Why would an FBI agent be good friends with Black Widow, a former KGB spy? Why would she be friends with vigilantes operating outside of the law? Why does she have no non-super friends?

Well, Angela doesn't have a lot of personality on her own so they let her be adjacent to more well known characters in order to make her interesting.

She is also frequently objectified as a sexy lady throughout this entire book. Black Widow says she should use it to her advantage but we never see that actually occur. I'm fine with sexy being a trait but not if it's just there for the sole reason of selling books to hormone driven young buyers.

Let's detour for one moment to talk about the panel above. I've seen this panel in many different comic books with many different characters but the outcome is always the same. The men are talking and out of a group of all male super heroes there is one woman present and the image is zoomed in on her butt.

Let's stop this please. Either show all the butts or nobody's butt. After dragging White Tiger's appearance into the commentary of every single issue you don't also need to draw this exploitation. It does nothing to enhance her character and does nothing to make me want to read this further.

So anyway.

The story of this book is... fine. It's average and has a couple okay fight scenes and conflicts but it's largely forgettable. It also requires you to be pretty familiar with some side events to Civil War, especially Daredevil's plot within that time frame.

Overall the book is maybe interesting as a companion to Civil War but it's mostly disposable. It seems like a testing ground for how to use a female character and whether or not people would buy it.

Here's a tip. If you want to sell a female character, write one. Don't convert an existing character and don't just sexy up some side character. Write an awesome, badass, strong, complicated, interesting, female character. From the ground up. Do the work and you'll be rewarded. Don't do the work and you'll end up with this kind of throwaway run.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there anyone more experienced at writing a kickass female hero than Tamora Pierce? White Tiger has never been on my radar, but seeing her name on the cover made this an easy decision for a read. I'm glad my local library had it, because I doubt I ever would have heard about it if I hadn't spotted it on the shelf. And it was pretty much exactly what I had expected. Angela, the new White Tiger, fits the hero mold perfectly, with the added incentive of carrying on a family legacy to help guide her. There are several better known Marvel characters in prominent roles, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, she doesn't really need them, she could carry the story just fine on her own. On the other, from what I understand of the previous White Tiger it would be kind of weird if Danny Rand and Luke Cage didn't show up at least briefly, and neither of them are exactly the type to take a back seat in the narrative.

I think I might well have gotten more out of this if I'd been into the original White Tiger. But, um, something tells me that he didn't have the biggest fan base? And I'm not exactly sure if this version of the character has had much traction since this miniseries. Kind of a shame, because I feel like she could be a good supporting character on, like, a secondary Avengers team or something.

[Neil McCrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a great deal of goodwill towards any comic that revives an old C-list character and gives them some respect and depth. This bias will be apparent in my review. The original White Tiger was interesting in concept, but seldom used for anything other than Latin-American superhero tokenism. Now that Hector Ayala's niece has inherited his superhero persona, Marvel is finally letting the White Tiger come into her own.

A Hero's Compulsion does a good job of establishing the White Tiger's place within the Marvel Universe, and Pierce manages to place this story firmly within both Daredevil and Civil War continuity without sacrificing the integrity of the story she's telling.

Sadly, the art is lacking. The non-costumed characters are often generic looking, lacking in individual identity. Liebe also seems to have difficulty with action scenes. Unable to either show a sequence where one blow flows into a counter attack or provide us with a snap shot montage of key moments in a larger fight, Liebe tries to do a bit of both and gives us a number of moments when cause and effect are either not clear or lacking in obvious key steps.

This is recommended only for those who like to explore all the nooks and crannys of the Marvel Universe.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I enjoyed reading this. The more I read, the more into I got but it was a little confusing at first if, like me, you didn't know the back story from previous Daredevil issues and the larger Marvel universe story lines. However, by the 2nd and 3rd issues the introductory recap blurbs do their job and help to clarify and explain things (although the 'flashback' panels start to grate after a while, feeling like wasted space sometimes). There are still a few points where the story telling and art are confused though, even resorting to arrow guides on the panels at one point(!). At other times though there are real bits of brilliance, as I'd expect from Tamora Pierce - she particularly seems to manage to capture the essence and voice of Spidey. (I don't know how much input Tim Liebe had in the story - he was credited for every issue but was initially stated to only be co-writing issues 3&4.) If Marvel and/or Tamora is ever interested in another foray into the comics world then a Spidey story would be an excellent match I feel (although I'd rather see something entirely stand alone and not tied to a larger universe). The three pages on Angela's rooftop in issue five are a particular high point.

Other supes pop up left, right and centre in this limited series. Some seem a little pointless and their appearances redundant to the story - Lizard and Deadpool primarily. Lizard in particular was never explained and it felt odd. I'm aware that both characters were there to cause disruptions and additional hardships, but quite frankly these could have happened in other ways without throwing more characters at us for the sake of cameos (not like there wasn't enough!) - it started to feel a little chaotic and the Emma Frost confusion was amusing enough by itself, it didn't need any more. The foreign supes at the airport was the most confused (and unnecessary I felt) point, in both art and writing. I think perhaps it was tying into the larger Marvel universe story lines but there was plenty of other references and coupled with the confusing art (it looks like the supes have shrunk with no discernible explanation?!) it felt like a wasted page. I would have expected this White Tiger run to be more self contained and accessible for a limited series, especially one that I imagine Marvel must have hoped would attract fans of Tamora Pierce to read comics for the first time, potentially adding to their reader base.

The art was solid - in the large, full page spreads it was brilliant (again, the last page of the rooftop scene, issue 5, stands out along with the first costume shot, issue 1, and all the introductory recap pages), and in the panels it went from good in larger panels, to serviceable in smaller ones to occasionally a bit rough and unclear in some smaller panels or backgrounds. The costume design was a plus point - it looked modern, clean and fresh without looking daft like a lot of costumes can. On the whole, solid art - not brilliant, but I've seen much, much worse! David Mack's covers, however, are a different kettle of fish. Those are brilliant and I really loved them. The high key white on white is stunning (issues 1, 6 and the tpb do this best), the water colours sublime and the detailing and depth to the art is silencing. If I were Tammy I'd have all seven pieces as clean, beautifully printed screens hung in my house! Hmm, makes me wonder where the originals are.

Overall it was mostly solid, but not as good as either a. Tamora's novels or b. other comics/graphic novels that I have read. I did enjoy it however and it certainly got stronger as it went along. As a first run at comics writing it was above par and, as I said before, I'd really be interested in seeing Tamora write for comics again as it is a medium I'm very fond of. However, I really like to see something original from her and not universe based, then I think (combined with the right artist) she'd really knock things out of the park.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too much for me. There was just so much back story that I wasn't caught up with, and not knowing it made the whole thing feel rather cheesy... maybe it would have felt that way anyway... I mean, what modern super-heroes aren't a bit cheesy.

Also, there was a giant lizard that appeared out of nowhere a couple times and just messed things up for no reason. Who WAS that guy?

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Marvel fangirl and longtime Tamora Pierce fan I had high expectations of this. There were some really good moments and some familiar faces appearing throughout but the story didn't quite live up to expectations. It lacked a lot of intensity and I missed the feeling of urgency I expected. It was good though and I did enjoy the read.

[marisdreaming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird ending. I'm not sure if the series was cancelled or if the Omega Red plotline gest developed somewhere else.
What is it with the heroes being cool with Sano "having to" kill himself? Spider-Man is the only one who seems upset about it and yet he let it happens. Meh. Weird way to end the villains of the story.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures were nice but the story confused me. I learned more from the back flap and from the character profile at the back of the book than I did from the graphic novel. I think the main problem is that I don't know enough about the various superheroes who appeared in this story. There was some cool dialogue with lots of references to the pop culture of the time when it was created ten years ago. I liked the sarcastic reference to Miami Vice.

I quickly realized that reading a graphic novel requires some skills that I don't necessarily have. Even the flow of the story on the page required some concentration on my part. I can understand why my students enjoy graphic novels - colorful graphics, minimal text and lots of action. I feel sure that they will enjoy this one once it gets into my Media Center too.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well drawn and written graphic novel. I especially appreciated some touches of humor, such as when White Tiger asks Spider-Man if he knows how to use a camera, and when she's mistaken for Emma Frost and Felicia Hardy. I emjoyed it very much.

[Debbie Zappen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always like a woman who can kick butt! She has interesing brushes with Daredevil, Spiderman, Black Widow, Power Man & Iron Fist.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because Tamora Pierce wrote it, but ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I'd be amenable to reading more.

[Adam Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is set before the events of Marvel 's Civil War. In it, FBI Agent Angela Del Toro leaves the FBI after her partner is murdered and her career is on the downswing. However, she acquires the amulets that beloved to her late uncle Hector and as such becomes the new White Tiger.

This is a decent story. There's plenty of action, good art, and a nice mystery. But there's a reason why this series and the Whtie Tiger are generally forgotten. Because while we're given information on her powers, we never really get a good connection with her as a character. There are a lot of Marvel Universe cameos and that may be part of the problem. She has connections to Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Natasha Romanov, and Spider-man, Emma Frost, and Deadpool also show up for cameos in a six-issue mini-series.

Her strongest connection is to Matt Murdoch/Daredevil but because of Murdoch being in prison at this point, he doesn't appear. Ironically, that character being in the book for cameos and others absent may have worked far better.

Overall, this is not bad, but ultimately, it's just a bit forgettable.

[kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I reread this because I remembered liking Angela, what I forgot is that despite really liking her character this comic is actually really meh. The plot is a bit overly complicated (which... it really isn't all that complicated but for some reason they all make it sound like it is) and relies too much on the reader having read previous comics (dolla makes em holla), the same thing with the relationships. Because of that, I didn't feel any real weight to any of it.

The bad guys didn't feel particularly threatening either - probably due to the over-complication. Also a lot of things just randomly happen and then are dropped and never brought up again. There were also things that never really got explained or answered.

This comic is okay. Nothing exciting, but definitely not the worst thing.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I was a fan of Tamora Pierce, and I was greatly intrigued by it... Especially by Angela's relationship with the other superheroes and with Daredevil / Matt Murdock. The plot was nothing special - modestly enjoyable - just a vehicle to get people hooked. And that's a shame. The cover art is drop-dead gorgeous. It was my first comic book, and had the character continued to be developed, I could have expanded my range into the other superhero comics. But there are no sequels. :(

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was familiar with several versions of White Tiger before reading this volume, and this fleshed out the one who was current around the time of the first Marvel Civil War event (this volume taking place just prior to that). Overall, it is a fun street-level superhero story, and has some team up sections with some other street-level heroes, which I found fun, because the previous White Tiger had relationships with a handful of those characters. Unlike some other readers, I quite enjoyed that Danny Rand was regarded as an uncle to this character (who is the niece of the previous White Tiger), though I thought he wasn't drawn very well on a few occasions and this volume sees him acting fairly uncharacteristically dopey at times for me. Ultimately, I felt like this was a solid book that wasn't really followed up on, and which had little impact beyond itself, but which was overall generally well done.

[R. Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed from high school library (I’m so shocked they have this nonetheless anything remotely related to my Daredevil hyperfixation)

“The amulets are changing me. I hardly sleep, I feel empty when I don’t wear them. I don’t want to go nuts, Tío Hector.”
I have some bad news for you girl

Anyways I love that Angela had her own limited series, I find the idea of an FBI-agent-turned-superhero SO interesting, and I wish we saw more of it. She kind of reminds me of Medani from the Punisher TV series, just a bit less traumatized.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't my favorite. The artwork wasn't good - the side characters were too hard to differentiate from each other. The main story was OK - the new White Tiger figuring out her place and trying to take out a major operation from the gang who killed her partner, but overall it was just ok. I liked the parts when she was not White Tiger better than the times she was.

[Magnus Frederiksen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Här ska en ny karaktär säljas in. Alla ska vara med. Och för att förtydliga hur fundamentalt perfekt hon är ska det göras tydligt i dialog som känns skriven av manusförfattare till porrfilm. Fint tecknat. En del underhållande ögonblick. Men storyn visar verkligen var Marvel står idag.

[Jackie Bach · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Tiger

I thought this was really interesting! I love reading comic books and White Tiger is one of favorite superheroes since Marvell's Spider Man: Unlimited!!!

[Brittany]

Read 1-3. Unfortunately, not a huge fan of typical Marvel superhero comics and this was no exception, despite Tamora being the author.

[devyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

yasss she’s so slay

[Eris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how this graphic novel talks about the immigration. Wanna watch in movie.

[Ayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tamora Pierce is a masterful storyteller in any medium.

[Space__sheriff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It grew on me

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

About all that can be said is that this is a marginally comparatively better mag many of the contemporary mass produced Marvel universe DEI mags being produced.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I’m a big fan of Tamora Pierce and I figured what the hell. The story is still possible to follow if much less rich if you aren’t well versed in Marvel (I am not), and honestly if you’re not I wouldn’t bother. The multiple cameos of people you feel like you should already know and niggling feeling like you’re probably missing information that may not be vital but also could make the story better, makes for a less enjoyable experience. I also can’t tell if the witty banter wasn’t well written or if I’m just over Marvel’s brand of it.

[MeatAndPotatoes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't typically read comics involving street level heroes so it was refreshing to see a plot be more realistic than a group of mutants stopping a megalomaniac villain from dropping an asteroid on New York.

Pierce did a good job of recapping previous events in the Marvel universe so it'd be more accessible. The cover art was amazing. The actual art was alright. I have an issue with the fight scenes. They would skip around too much. One moment we see Angela on the ground in front of her assailant, and the next we see her behind them, still on the ground, kicking their knee. There was also the oh so common problem of making character's faces look unique instead of just relying on a different hair color or style. You could've told me Danny Rand was Iceman or Angela was Black Widow with a wig and I would've believed you. Apart from that, I enjoyed the large, page filling pictures and the overhead view of chaotic action scenes.

The story was simple enough to follow. There were some humorous moments but also a few ones that make you wonder why they were there because they added very little to the plot and didn't feel natural.

I appreciated Angelas character. Being smart, tough, and beautiful without being a caricature or overly-sexualized (which may have not been easy with that costume).

Over all, I enjoyed reading it and definitely made me want to pick up more books with White Tiger, Daredevil, and others.

[Esti · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Tiger is fantasy writer Tamora Pierce's first foray into comics, and an action-packed addition to the Marvel Universe. Former FBI agent Angela Del Toro takes up her uncle's magical amulets and a mask, becoming the latest incarnation of the superhero White Tiger, and sets out after Chaeyi, a mysterious syndicate devoted to creating international unrest. Like many of this generation's superhero stories, the prevailing attitude towards masked heroes is uneasy--as in Watchmen, they are often persecuted as vigilantes, but remain dedicated to fighting for justice. The book features appearances by many of the familiar Marvel castmembers, including Spider-Man, Daredevil (in whose story Angela first appeared), and Emma Frost, for whom White Tiger is repeatedly and amusingly mistaken. The book, written with Pierce's husband Tim Liebe and penciled by Phil Briones, is full acrobatic action scenes and takes place in a surprisingly realistic New York City. Though it lacks the warmth long-time fans of Pierce are accustomed to in her novels, White Tiger is a good representation of the contemporary Marvel universe, marketed to teens but enjoyable for all comic book fans.

Tags: graphic novels, Marvel, comics, minority heroine, super heroes, urban setting, organized crime, teens, comic fans

[Allanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Marvel Universe, an FBI-agent is fired for doing her job (well, eventually it's written off as a medical-induced retirement).

Her uncle was the White Tiger, complete with magical jade amulets. Somehow, someone broke into the evidence closet and sent the amulets to Angela Del Toro. She made the mistake of touching them. Now she has superhuman powers.

Teaming up with some of the other heroes in town, her nights consist of fighting against the Japanese Yakuza and Russian mobsters moving in on American soil. She often ends up teaming with Daredevil (who, with the original Daredevil in jail, can't be Murdoch. He uses a speechbox to disguise his voice, yet is so oddly familiar to Angela), Spiderman and Black widow.
Her days are soon being taken up with her new security job.

She also has to deal with the issue of being the new super- in town ... With people commenting on the costume and mistaking her for other established superheroes (e.g., Emma Snow and Black Cat).

There was a good deal of humor, the art was enjoyable ... and with Tamora Pierce's writing, it was very fun.