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Pearl #1-6
Pearl, Vol. 1
Pearl is an exceptional tattoo artist…and and accidental assassin for one of the modern-day San Francisco Yakuza. She was born into one life, but another is calling to her. This is Pearl Vol. 1, from the Peabody Award-winning creators of Jessica Jones.
When Pearl accidentally meets one of her peers, her doppelganger from another clan, she starts to dream of a better life. But Pearl has a very special ability that keeps pulling her back into the violent world she is desperate to escape.
PEARL is a major series launch from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos that features their first brand-new original character since Jessica Jones. Fans of the Jessica Jones comic and TV show will be thrilled and delighted by this bold new direction the creative team has taken. This new graphic novel collects issues #1-5.
When Pearl accidentally meets one of her peers, her doppelganger from another clan, she starts to dream of a better life. But Pearl has a very special ability that keeps pulling her back into the violent world she is desperate to escape.
PEARL is a major series launch from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos that features their first brand-new original character since Jessica Jones. Fans of the Jessica Jones comic and TV show will be thrilled and delighted by this bold new direction the creative team has taken. This new graphic novel collects issues #1-5.
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 2019
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,431 books2,634 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
July 20, 2019
Young albino Japanese/American tattoo artist Pearl Tanaka foils a Yakuza hit and is forced to become their hired gun to pay off her debt. Shenanigans ensue!
Pearl, Volume 1 is the weakest of Brian Bendis’ new Jinxworld titles at DC. Bendis is usually a clear storyteller but I found his story in Pearl to be murky at best.
Why did Pearl foil the Yakuza hit in the opening scene – because she liked the boy target she’d just met? Why was the boy a target in the first place?
Why would the Yakuza make her their hired gun – if her targets are important, why would they expect her to take them out; does she have special assassin training? Because we don’t see her go through anything like that here. But if she’s made an assassin as a way of killing her indirectly, why not kill her outright? Because even if the Yakuza clan doesn’t kill her directly, as some kind of loyalty to her family’s existing mob connections, they at least put her in a position where she was likely to be killed, which is basically the same thing anyway. But if she is the daughter of a former powerful mob boss, why not let her off the hook entirely as a show of respect? Was the kid target really that important?
I didn’t get into the story at all nor did I think much of the characters. I suppose Mr Miike, the mob boss, had some cool Tony Stark-esque dialogue but the Endo Twins I just found insufferably idiotic. They’ve got the Bendis dialoguerrea and none of their copious blathering is funny or relevant. The only interesting aspect of Pearl’s character is that her tattoos are invisible until she’s all het up and the blood makes them show. Otherwise she’s just glum and charmless for the most part. She wants to keep her tattoo parlour, currently owned by the mob – but then why does she go around foiling mob hits then!?
However the book does have the best art I’ve seen yet from Michael Gaydos. It’s very photorealistic – quite often it looks like an Instagram filter! – and extremely skilful. The tattoo designs were very imaginative and the range of styles incorporated – classic Japanese art, psychedelic - was impressive.
The art doesn’t really make up for the poor writing though. Pearl, Volume 1 is too contrived and convoluted a story – tattoo me unimpressed!
Pearl, Volume 1 is the weakest of Brian Bendis’ new Jinxworld titles at DC. Bendis is usually a clear storyteller but I found his story in Pearl to be murky at best.
Why did Pearl foil the Yakuza hit in the opening scene – because she liked the boy target she’d just met? Why was the boy a target in the first place?
Why would the Yakuza make her their hired gun – if her targets are important, why would they expect her to take them out; does she have special assassin training? Because we don’t see her go through anything like that here. But if she’s made an assassin as a way of killing her indirectly, why not kill her outright? Because even if the Yakuza clan doesn’t kill her directly, as some kind of loyalty to her family’s existing mob connections, they at least put her in a position where she was likely to be killed, which is basically the same thing anyway. But if she is the daughter of a former powerful mob boss, why not let her off the hook entirely as a show of respect? Was the kid target really that important?
I didn’t get into the story at all nor did I think much of the characters. I suppose Mr Miike, the mob boss, had some cool Tony Stark-esque dialogue but the Endo Twins I just found insufferably idiotic. They’ve got the Bendis dialoguerrea and none of their copious blathering is funny or relevant. The only interesting aspect of Pearl’s character is that her tattoos are invisible until she’s all het up and the blood makes them show. Otherwise she’s just glum and charmless for the most part. She wants to keep her tattoo parlour, currently owned by the mob – but then why does she go around foiling mob hits then!?
However the book does have the best art I’ve seen yet from Michael Gaydos. It’s very photorealistic – quite often it looks like an Instagram filter! – and extremely skilful. The tattoo designs were very imaginative and the range of styles incorporated – classic Japanese art, psychedelic - was impressive.
The art doesn’t really make up for the poor writing though. Pearl, Volume 1 is too contrived and convoluted a story – tattoo me unimpressed!
June 19, 2019
I think this may be my favorite of the many Jinxworld books Bendis has released lately. Gaydos absolutely kills it on the art. The book is gorgeous looking with a muted color palette. Bendis edits some of his trademark verbal diarrhea and it really lets the story shine. The book is about an albino Asian-American tattoo artist named Pearl who gets involved with the local San Francisco Yakuza. Bendis provides enough twists and turns as Pearl tries to figure a way out of working for the Yakuza while a larger mystery unfurls in the background. This is the kind of Bendis book I dig.
January 25, 2021
Tattoos...yakuza...San Francisco - this looks really good - Jinxworld is here. My friend told me that he has read that this series is going to be optioned as a movie/TV series. I think it is just a matter of time before Hollywood 'grabs' Brian Michael Bendis...hey Tarantino (or, better yet, Scorsese) - give the guy a call - love to see what you could come up with!
January 12, 2022
I’m a year late in getting to this series, but I am glad I checked it out, and will read volume two. Pearl is written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Michael Gaydos, the team that created Jessica Jones, which I loved and wanted more of. So this is an American Yakuza story, set in SanFran, though as Bendis says, he is trying to remove many of the cliches that Yakuza stories usually feature.
Pearl is an albino Japanese/American tattoo artist, very talented, with a remarkable, legendary spider tattoo on her shoulder. And a condition that--when she gets particularly emotional--highlights features of the tats she has all over her body. I like Gaydos’s artwork in Jessica Jones, but I think this is even better, with garish nightlife colors and swirling movement. Many panels feature what seem to be portraits of Pearl, and her tats, everyone's tats. And the story has just the beginnings of character development.
The plot ignites when Pearl gets in the way of a Yakuza hit and then has to pay back the mobsters by becoming a (badass) hired assassin. I mean, her Dad did give her an untraceable gun in case guys got aggressive with her, so she knows how to use it, but. . . a killer? She's artist not a fighter! But yeah, there’s action, and family matters are entwined with the plot. I think the visuals are thus far more impressive than the story, but I’m intrigued. It has potential. I rate this 3.5, but it has moments in it that are better than that. But since it is just the opening, and not all that original (yet): 3 stars.
Pearl is an albino Japanese/American tattoo artist, very talented, with a remarkable, legendary spider tattoo on her shoulder. And a condition that--when she gets particularly emotional--highlights features of the tats she has all over her body. I like Gaydos’s artwork in Jessica Jones, but I think this is even better, with garish nightlife colors and swirling movement. Many panels feature what seem to be portraits of Pearl, and her tats, everyone's tats. And the story has just the beginnings of character development.
The plot ignites when Pearl gets in the way of a Yakuza hit and then has to pay back the mobsters by becoming a (badass) hired assassin. I mean, her Dad did give her an untraceable gun in case guys got aggressive with her, so she knows how to use it, but. . . a killer? She's artist not a fighter! But yeah, there’s action, and family matters are entwined with the plot. I think the visuals are thus far more impressive than the story, but I’m intrigued. It has potential. I rate this 3.5, but it has moments in it that are better than that. But since it is just the opening, and not all that original (yet): 3 stars.
June 10, 2019
When Bendis jumped to DC he was able to start his own line "Jinx" which not sure if co-published by DC or just his own, but it was his own work getting published. I was actually pretty excited for this as I usually enjoy Bendis own work even more than big two sometimes. Cover was the first one I read and enjoyed it a lot, so I decided to pick up Pearl next.
It starts off simple enough. A girl name Pearl is an awesome tatto artist. However, her life gets mixed up with the Yakuza. When her life spirals out of control after a certain someone dies, she goes on the run. The first volume mixes a crime story with some drama about Pearl's past and how she became who she is.
This was pretty good. The art was fantastic most of the time and the vivid world was something special. I also liked Pearl and her relationship with the guy in here and her father was pretty great. Everything else though, the actual story, was a bit jarring in it's storytelling way. I also thought the pacing needed to be worked on.
Overall, good, but not great. I'll still check out volume 2 though, if for nothing else, the art is awesome.
It starts off simple enough. A girl name Pearl is an awesome tatto artist. However, her life gets mixed up with the Yakuza. When her life spirals out of control after a certain someone dies, she goes on the run. The first volume mixes a crime story with some drama about Pearl's past and how she became who she is.
This was pretty good. The art was fantastic most of the time and the vivid world was something special. I also liked Pearl and her relationship with the guy in here and her father was pretty great. Everything else though, the actual story, was a bit jarring in it's storytelling way. I also thought the pacing needed to be worked on.
Overall, good, but not great. I'll still check out volume 2 though, if for nothing else, the art is awesome.
January 13, 2022
Can an accidental assassin find love in a rival group?
The story is about an albino Asian-American young woman named Pearl, who is a tattoo artist, who inadvertently gets involved with the San Francisco Yakuza mob. Written and illustrated by the Jessica Jones team of Brain Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, it is set in Bendis’s Jinxworld.
Pearl meets Rick, a fellow tattoo artist, and saves him from an assassination attempt by a rival Yakuza clan. Her local crime boss, Mr. Miike forces her to become an assassin for his group, as she shows a killer instinct that he plans to use to his benefit. Thus, the story is somewhat of a Romeo & Juliet inter-generational crime saga, as Rick and Pearl are from rival clans.
Gaydos’s photorealism art was on full display and was a strength in the story. The tattoo work and the San Francisco cityscapes were especially beautiful, with a muted blue and pink color palette. But, OMG, all those speech bubbles! While Bendis is known for his snappy dialogue, he is also known for overdoing it, and that was the case throughout the story. Gaydos did his best to incorporate all the dialogue into the panels, in fact, he just leaned into it on one page, with Mr. Miike’s dialogue just spiraling around him.
Chosen as January’s graphic novel selection by the Goodreads group I Read Comic Books, I appreciated being pushed to try a book I would not have picked up on my own, however, it will be a hard pass for me in regards to reading further volumes. The self-indulgent dialogue, the problematic issue of neither author nor artist being Asian, plus my lack of connection to Pearl or Rick made this a one-and-done.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2022/01/1...
The story is about an albino Asian-American young woman named Pearl, who is a tattoo artist, who inadvertently gets involved with the San Francisco Yakuza mob. Written and illustrated by the Jessica Jones team of Brain Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, it is set in Bendis’s Jinxworld.
Pearl meets Rick, a fellow tattoo artist, and saves him from an assassination attempt by a rival Yakuza clan. Her local crime boss, Mr. Miike forces her to become an assassin for his group, as she shows a killer instinct that he plans to use to his benefit. Thus, the story is somewhat of a Romeo & Juliet inter-generational crime saga, as Rick and Pearl are from rival clans.
Gaydos’s photorealism art was on full display and was a strength in the story. The tattoo work and the San Francisco cityscapes were especially beautiful, with a muted blue and pink color palette. But, OMG, all those speech bubbles! While Bendis is known for his snappy dialogue, he is also known for overdoing it, and that was the case throughout the story. Gaydos did his best to incorporate all the dialogue into the panels, in fact, he just leaned into it on one page, with Mr. Miike’s dialogue just spiraling around him.
Chosen as January’s graphic novel selection by the Goodreads group I Read Comic Books, I appreciated being pushed to try a book I would not have picked up on my own, however, it will be a hard pass for me in regards to reading further volumes. The self-indulgent dialogue, the problematic issue of neither author nor artist being Asian, plus my lack of connection to Pearl or Rick made this a one-and-done.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2022/01/1...
June 9, 2019
Off to a good start. Bendis brings some great dialogue to the table while simultaneously delivering a gritty story of family, and organized crime. I appreciate that this volume isn't overly wordy and has a flowing plot filled with some colourful characters. Bendis was able to layout the backstory on Pearl seamlessly and I feel the world was established early on. There is also some elements of mystery/Sci-Fi surrounding Pearls powers that I look forward to learning more about in further volumes.
Gaydos' art is eye catching. Think Sean Phillips ink work with a vibrant colour palette. Since the story circulates around traditional Japanese tattoo work. This depictions of characters Tattoos really jump right off the page.
This is a title I can really see myself getting into hope the creators can keep the ball rolling
Gaydos' art is eye catching. Think Sean Phillips ink work with a vibrant colour palette. Since the story circulates around traditional Japanese tattoo work. This depictions of characters Tattoos really jump right off the page.
This is a title I can really see myself getting into hope the creators can keep the ball rolling
October 30, 2022
This vibes like a loose tribute to Quentin Tarantino's True Romance, even including a climactic three-way standoff. It wants to be funny, offbeat and romantic, but the convoluted storytelling, stiff art and ugly coloring all bring the mood down.
And any book that feels obliged to include an article in back explaining why the white male writer is featuring a Japanese-American woman with albinism as his protagonist is admitting there may be a bigger problem here. It even includes an admission of the writer's previous mishandling of a yakuza storyline in another book and how he's trying to do better this time. Ummmm . . .
I have the next volume on hand from the library, so I'm going to read it, but only from completist compulsion at this point, not enthusiasm.
And any book that feels obliged to include an article in back explaining why the white male writer is featuring a Japanese-American woman with albinism as his protagonist is admitting there may be a bigger problem here. It even includes an admission of the writer's previous mishandling of a yakuza storyline in another book and how he's trying to do better this time. Ummmm . . .
I have the next volume on hand from the library, so I'm going to read it, but only from completist compulsion at this point, not enthusiasm.
December 21, 2019
Read for IRCB's BotM January 2022
Still a 4 star book for me (ok, 3.5 rounded up) - some of the jumping around gets confusing and the speech bubble abuse is criminal (but its a Bendis book, you already knew that), but I still get to the end and want to know more. On to Volume 2!
Still a 4 star book for me (ok, 3.5 rounded up) - some of the jumping around gets confusing and the speech bubble abuse is criminal (but its a Bendis book, you already knew that), but I still get to the end and want to know more. On to Volume 2!
October 2, 2019
Mixed-race albino Amercian-Japanese tattoo artist living amongst the San Francisco based Yakuza! And that's why Bendis does so well. A concept outside of the box, with loads of space for innovation, mystery and basic Bendis kick-assery?
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You've heard of 'natural po-lice', well Pearl might just be natural ass-sassin'... that sounded much better in my head. Take a break a appreciate some Gaydos' Pearl art:
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Bendis' problem is that he has done so much exceptional work, that it's hard to find something exceptional here, as the bar has been set so high with Jessica, and indeed even Scarlet. The arc is well crafted with a fair number of eye openers, and some most awesome throwback scenes. This might be one of those serials that grows on me, but right now it all feels like introduction, albeit superb introduction. 7.5 out of 12.
.
You've heard of 'natural po-lice', well Pearl might just be natural ass-sassin'... that sounded much better in my head. Take a break a appreciate some Gaydos' Pearl art:
.
.
Bendis' problem is that he has done so much exceptional work, that it's hard to find something exceptional here, as the bar has been set so high with Jessica, and indeed even Scarlet. The arc is well crafted with a fair number of eye openers, and some most awesome throwback scenes. This might be one of those serials that grows on me, but right now it all feels like introduction, albeit superb introduction. 7.5 out of 12.
September 2, 2019
A gifted San Francisco tattoo artist intervenes in a hit on a cute boy and finds herself targeted by one yakuza boss and indebted to a second, who extracts payment by forcing her to work as an assassin. One hit leads to another, which in turn leads to uncovered secrets about her own origins and identity.
Pearl takes an unusually long time to get interesting for a Bendis title. I wasn't feeling it until near the end, but it recovered well.
The illustration is largely a win, with lots of gorgeous but headache-inducing abstract action; loving depictions of tattoos; rotoscoped(?) faces; and heavy monochromatic filters. Except for the dead, static fight scenes, it's marvelous.
Pearl takes an unusually long time to get interesting for a Bendis title. I wasn't feeling it until near the end, but it recovered well.
The illustration is largely a win, with lots of gorgeous but headache-inducing abstract action; loving depictions of tattoos; rotoscoped(?) faces; and heavy monochromatic filters. Except for the dead, static fight scenes, it's marvelous.
September 12, 2022
Nice art can’t save a pretty run-of-the-mill Crime comic from leaving me with an impression of much averageness.
December 3, 2021
Pearl is stylized to obscurity. The art in this book is gorgeous. Sadly, what makes it stand out visually, in my opinion, ruins much of the actual content and clarity. Namely the coloring, which is super dramatic, but in a story where character's appearance matters so much, it's often very confusing what people are referring to in their Bendis-style dialogues. It's like they put every fucking page through an Instagram filter, drowning everything in the same disco ball light to the point that you have no idea what color anything is actually supposed to be.
All of the things that drove me nuts throughout all of Alias shows up here but even worse because of the boring plot and dialogue. If all the text were removed from this book, it might tell a much more striking story with the images alone.
All of the things that drove me nuts throughout all of Alias shows up here but even worse because of the boring plot and dialogue. If all the text were removed from this book, it might tell a much more striking story with the images alone.
February 25, 2021
Not sure about Pearl yet. I am interested in the backstory, but there was a lot of noise for me on this first volume. The artwork though is stunning.
December 20, 2020
Amazing art, exciting and cool protagonist, but subpar writing...
March 22, 2026
Mais uma tentativa de entender o lado autoral de Brian Michael Bendis que dá errado. Talvez Bendis sirva mesmo como autor da Marvel, onde ele consegue passar a impressão de entender os personagens e consegue fazê-los interessantes, mesmo descaracterizados. Existem autores que com mais liberdade criativa conseguem fazer suas obras-primas, mas há aqueles que são bons mesmo em estarem limitados a ordens editoriais. Bendis parece ser o segundo caso. Pearl poderia ser um quadrinho legal se não tivesse toda uma ladainha de misticismo e poderes de fundo. Também poderia ser melhor se fosse um quadrinho de seis edições e não de doze. Megalomania do Bendis é o que parece. A arte de Alex Maleev nunca estava tão estranha também, parecendo mais uma fotonovela do que uma história em quadrinhos. Além disso, Pearl é uma história de máfia, mais especificamente da Yakuza. Histórias de máfia, em geral, não costumam cair no meu agrado. Um baita decepção essa Pearl.
December 30, 2022
Illustrazioni meravigliose, di grandiosità epica. Colori mai visti prima. Idea narrativa intrigante, ma lo svolgimento è confuso, banalizzato, eccessivo. Non riesco a classificarlo, avrei preferito guardare delle belle tavole e non leggere un'idiozia simile.
May 29, 2019
Good. I was gonna read all of bendis jinx world titles but I’m not really feeling it anymore. I may stop here. I read enough stupid shit as it is. 4 stars.
May 23, 2019
Strong start to a new character and series. Pearl is incredibly badass but not over the top. Excited to see where this goes.
July 7, 2019
Stunning art but the story feels fragmented, so 3 stars. I might read more.
September 5, 2019
It looks great, very stylish. And Bendis has maintained his gift for dialog. As for everything else... Well, just not my taste, I think.
January 14, 2023
Two white guys wanted to make a Yakuza comic, but didn't want to do any research into the Yakuza/Japanese tattoo culture/how to draw Asian people. So they set it in a San Francisco that for unexplained reasons is controlled by the "American Yakuza." This frees them up to exoticize the absolute shit out of the main character.
I just feel like if I met the creators they would get way too close and bend down to look at my leg piece and ask me all sorts of idiotic questions about my tattoos.
I just feel like if I met the creators they would get way too close and bend down to look at my leg piece and ask me all sorts of idiotic questions about my tattoos.
January 8, 2022
Definitely prefer Brian Michael Bendis as a Superhero storyteller. That being said? It is a nice little Yakuza in the US adventure with a cool magical realism aspect that I hope they explain later on. The art is not AMAZING, but it does have some really really nice panels that left me staring for sure. Will definitely check our volume two to see where this goes.
January 5, 2021
3,5/5. I really enjoy the first two third of it, but then the story seem to slow don a bit too much. I love the art, very interesting characters and a fun story even if a bit slow and not very original. I enjoy it, but not enough to get going with the series...
June 11, 2019
Historia, personajes, todos sin salsa.
March 4, 2020
beautiful art and interesting storyline. Would love to see or read stories about Pearl where you could get more. Looking forward to the next volume.
September 2, 2022
A bit befuddling, the way the story is told. Great art.
June 12, 2019
I wasn't into the story much but the art was fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews