Review by: Connor Russell Stan Lee has come back into the spotlight the last year because of his working with Boom! Studios and I'm sure they are loving the attention he is bringing them. He has already brought Soldier Zero, The Traveler and Starborn but he now has a new mini-series titled Blood Red Dragon. However this is not just his idea but also founder and musician of X Japan, Yoshiki. And yet if this still was not enough Todd McFarlane is the creative director of this project (maybe he got tired of doing nothing and/or people slamming him for not doing anything).
Now for the story, we are shown some guy punching some creatures and narrating. Saying how his life didn't used to be like this, we then get taken back and are narrated through some events. The character is Yoshiki, here he is a solo musician and whenever he plays acts of violence always seem to follow. Three women approach him at his house and they transform into women wielding weapons and are calling themselves “Shrine Maidens of the Dragon Temple” and say he is the host of a dragon spirit and that demons are trying to take over earth. More happens but I won't tell you.
So even though it was created by Stan “The Man” Lee and Yoshiki, it was written by a man named Jon Goff. I've read a number of comics that start in the midst of action and then flash back to narrate the events leading up to that moment. Normally these suffer from problems with pacing. Surprisingly I felt this issue handled the pacing very well. It was both fast and slow, I'm gonna call it flow! Well the word exists, so the comic flowed well.
Art was handled by Carlo Soriano and Crimelab Syndicate (not sure if this is a team or a person, must look it up). The art was well done. It has a slight manga feel about it but this is not a bad thing. Heck, I think it enhances the life of the characters.
The color is also done well and one of the cover variants is done by Todd McFarlane! Wow he does something different and it is a good looking cover. So maybe if he doesn't feel like doing interior art he should still grace us with covers. Ye he does them with Haunt every now and then, ok almost every issue so far. But still I think he should do them for all sorts of comics. His art is awesome.
So fans of Stan Lee, its a yes. Fans of X Japan and Yoshiki in particular its a yes. A fan of Todd McFarlane? Well its a yes for them as well. I can see potential cliches happening with this mini-series but it was still a good read.
Score: 3/5