Saint Legend

Publisher
ComicsOne
Writer
Andy Seto
Artist
Andy Seto
Country of origin
Hong Kong
Length
30 volumes
Year
2000

Saint Legend

By El Indio
24th May 04

ComicsOne continues to champion the Chinese manga scene and this involves signing up the best Hong Kong has to offer. They've successfully done that by agreeing a deal with the masterful Andy Seto, artist behind Gambling Saint and Cyber Weapons Z. One of the comics covered by this deal is Saint Legend.

Saint Legend is effectively a modernisation of the old mythological tales of the Eight Gods, and the various other deities ruled over by the Jade Emperor in the heavens. The people of this world no longer pray to the old gods, the masses no longer have faith, and old shrines and monuments lie in disrepair. As religion is eradicated a powerful evil spirit is taking control of this earth, growing stronger as each temple is destroyed. The Eight Gods (traditional Chinese mythological figures who have been written about and used in many stories, and are the same as the Eight Drunk Gods of the Jackie Chan classic 'Drunken Master') unite to try and reverse the trend and investigate what this evil demon is, and how to destroy it. Along the way we bump into many of the other characters of Chinese tradition, such as the Monkey God (along with the Pig, Sandy and Tripitaka Buddha) and the Sea God, the whole piece being dealt with in a pretty sombre manner.

Artwork. What can I say? Andy Seto is the hottest property in Hong Kong because of his amazing drawings. He has to be ranked as one of the best in the business. He has always said his major inspiration is Yosuhiko Yoshikazu ('Venus War', 'Orion') and this can be seen with his fusion of computer graphics with conventional pen-work. What sets Seto apart is his seamless fusion of the two. The reader cannot tell where the pen ends, and the fractals begin. The quality of his illustrations really is unsurpassed, and sometimes the turn of a page just causes you to gasp from the sumptuousness of the drawing. Seto truly is a master, using his computer prolifically in the fight scenes and character set-ups, and using it to just add vigour to the backgrounds, or accentuate certain frames in the dramatic sequences. I could run out of superlatives, and I could wax lyrically all day over this. Saying that, maybe the illustrations will only appeal to a certain group of readers, since many prefer the use of hand to the click of the mouse, but for me personally, when I see Seto's work I see the inevitable future of manga.

This is where the problems start though. Seto is a great artist, but he is a really clumsy storyteller. He really does work better with a writer or adapting source material. His first major hit was Cyber Weapons Z, which was written by Chris Lau. Story of the Tao was an adaptation from a novel, as was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (from the Wuxia books by Wang Du Lu, not the film). His latest comic is Shaolin Soccer adapted from the film by Stephen Chow. When he is the sole writer, the originator, he seems to wash over details, not fill in knowledge gaps about characters. Some scenes seem forced or come to a premature conclusion so as to move the story along on an uneven tempo. Saint Legend suffers from all of these maladies. A bit more focus and planning on the story side would have made this a far stronger comic. There is not enough told on the characters drives and motivations, which makes Saint Legend a very dry read on the drama sequences, which are interspersed with amazing action sequences.

Saint Legend is a flawed work. It definitely has its moments, and the quality of Seto's artwork cannot be denied, it's just that the story is far too flimsy, and someone of Seto's abilities cannot fill it out. Maybe in the hands of another writer things could have developed further and a more textured world could have been presented, but Seto disappoints. The manga was very successful in China and received critical acclaim, but I think that's more down to the outrageous talent Seto possesses when it comes to picking up a pencil or a stylus for his computer screen more than anything. Shame really, because this is some of his best work, mixed in with his worst work as a writer. It's better if you read one of his adaptations, you won't be disappointed there.

'Saint Legend' was first published in 2000 in China. ComicsOne started publishing an English translation in 2002. It numbers over 30 volumes, with the next one being released in December.

6/10

-- El Indio 24th May 04