Title: Digimon: Digital Monsters
Volume(s): 5
Creator(s): Yuen Wong Yu
Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left
Publisher: Tokyopop
MSRP: $9.95
Genre(s): Action
Rated: All Ages
Everyone remembers the year of 1998. That was the year a little franchise known as “Pokemon” took the entire world by storm, and made people look at kid franchises differently (In terms of dollars anyways). Then in 1999 the world was introduced to “Digimon: Digital Monsters,” another monster theme show that looked similar to Pokemon in every way possible, and paved the way for competition. “Pokemon” aired on the WB, “Digimon” aired on Fox, and even though “Pokemon” outlived “Digimon,” many people who watched both of the shows will tell you that “Digimon” left a bigger impact on them then “Pokemon” ever did. While “Pokemon” was content to be a 30 minute toy commercial every week, “Digimon” took the concept and turned it upside down.
In “Pokemon” the characters were simplistic and single layered. In “Digimon” the characters were complicated and multi-layered. “Pokemon” had the trio Team Rocket trying every week to capture Pikachu, and never actually accomplished anything. “Digimon” had several big villains that posed a real danger and threat to everyone, and managed to accomplish some of the things they set out to do before they fell. “Pokemon” never thought too much about a story, or where (And if) that story would end. “Digimon” had a deep story that ended, and some might say quite shockingly too. As you can see, there was a reason that for three years many people were looking more forward to watching the weekly adventures of “Digimon” rather then watching the weekly adventures of “Pokemon.” “Digimon” was quite simply a better show, and considering how good the show was the comic has a lot to live up to.
So the question is does it live up to the quality of the show? Read and find out.
The comic starts out kind of like the TV show, only a lot more hollow. It starts out with seven kids, each holding a little monster. The main hero Tai let’s the readers know who everyone's names are, and that they were taken away from the real world and landed in this world known as the Digi-World. How you ask? Don't know, the comic doesn't say. After the (Too short) introdution to everyone, the group is attacked by a big bug, and it’s up to the Digimon to save them. The Digimon make quick haste of the bug by Digivolving, which makes each Digimon stronger and bigger. How does the whole Digivolving thing work? Don’t expect an answer until volume 4...at least! As for the rest of the story...well, I think the writers need to get their act together, because the limited story in this comic has little appeal to anyone, and serves to be more confusing then anything.
People who are new to this comic will be confused to no end, and fans of the TV show will groan about how completely unfinished this comic feels. I’m not sure who was ultimately responsible for the pacing of this comic, but they obviously had very little concern for the story as there’s about three quarters of the story missing here. In this version of "Digimon" things happen, and they happen without explanation. How did the kids get to the Digi-World? The comic CLAIMS that they were taken there....but what exactly does that mean? Was there a warp hole involved? Did they get sucked up by a tornado? What? How about this, Tai gets separated from the other kids, and when he finds the little boy T.K. he finds out everyone went their separate ways, and they need to find them again. But does it bother to mention HOW they got seperated...or even if they got seperated at all!?! For all we know maybe the kids split up by their own free will. What happened? It's things like this that make the comic more frustrating to read then anything.
Anyway after we are introduced to THAT twist, the comic then just tells everyone they got back together, without so much of a clue on HOW they got back together! They’re just back together, so we have to deal with that. Fights? Over in two panels, and if not that then the book just tells us that the fight was either “victorious” or “devastating” before moving on. Character development? The only character development to be found in this series is on the first page, in the first book, and ONLY there can you find ANY character development! You think I’m kidding? The story and character development are about on par with that found in “Miyuki-Chan In Wonderland,” however THIS is a bigger disappointment since I KNOW the story of “Digimon” is FAR more engaging and engrossing then THIS!!!
Considering what they had to work with this is just unacceptable in every way possible. The “Digimon” TV series was about 46 episodes long, and it told a very deep and complicated story, where we learned everyone’s secrets, fears, and past sins. The TV series had a threat that keept you interested till the very end, and even threw in some shockers that were bigger then some found in episodes of various “Star Trek” series. Lives in the TV series were changed, characters died, people had feelings, and all this comic does really is act as a sneak preview for the show! However this comic should NOT have been like a commercial, it should have been an adaptation of the series! The TV show was far more interesting because of the care that was put into it, this comic just serves to either confuse you or bore you to death.
Heck, the final project is so sloppy and lazy I’m not even going to give the creator’s props up for trying, as “Digimon: Digital Monsters” provides one of the most boring and unreadable comic experiences you’re going to encounter. My advice is to catch the cartoon on TV and skip this comic version. At five volumes long and at $9.99 a piece, “Digimon” is overpriced by about $44.99.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -