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A few years ago, Brian Michael Bendis had signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics and it was a big deal for a time. While his mainline DC work may have been controversial for some, his more personal side projects were kicking into high gear. Scarlet returned after a long absence and the new and seemingly odd comic Pearl began its first six-issue volume.
After an astounding success, Pearl returned for yet six more issues and then disappeared again. Those that had read these smaller personal works of Bendis knew this was where the good stuff was. In the years since his contract ran out with DC; he has now moved his creator-owned projects over to Dark Horse Comics. And with it, thankfully, came a new volume of Pearl, and you can tell both Bendis and Michael Gaydos wanted to return because they haven’t missed a beat.
Pearl Tanaka’s Status Quo
After the events of the first twelve issues of Pearl, we find ourselves in a strange yet rich status quo. In Pearl III #1, Pearl herself finds herself in charge of the Yakuza in San Francisco, running the mob from her very own tattoo parlour. She has a wacky FBI agent in her pocket, her loving boyfriend to help her with the actual tattoo part of the franchise, and experienced, yet incredibly immature crime bosses known as the Endo Twins behind her even though they were one time enemies with her.
In the previous twelve issues, a big deal was made about Pearl taking back her agency, deciding her own fate, and how things would be done. She lived in the shadow of her mother, the rules of the Yakuza, and various other issues which she dealt with one by one in sometimes unusual ways. Now she is the de facto leader of the Yakuza in this part of the world, but this comes with its own pile of issues. She never wanted to be the crime boss she is, she just wanted to be a tattoo artist, and she used her crime connections to finally live out that dream. And while this is applaudable, taking her destiny into her own hands, and reclaiming her agency, this comes at the expense of the crime world which is now relying on her.
So while she is supposedly the “Ghost Dragon of San Francisco” the fearsome Yakuza leader, a bogeyman of the criminal underworld, the reality is a much more mundane thing. She is just a young artist getting high in a tattoo parlour and enjoying her life. Fearsome crime boss, she is in spirit, but in reality, she is not. As such Pearl III #1 sets up the idea that this status quo, while desired by Pearl, is detrimental and ultimately is only going to collapse. So the question is, who is Pearl now?
Bolo & Anti-Cliche Storytelling
Back when the first twelve issues were coming out, Bendis and Gaydos would describe Pearl as an anti-cliché series. Whenever you expected the series to zag, it would zig, and vice versa. This is still the clear calling card of the series here in Pearl III #1, as we have explored above. But this also comes into focus with a new character known as Bolo and Gaydos’ artwork.
Bolo is an enforcer of immense size, both height, and weight-wise. You expect him to be a dim-witted bruiser that is there simply to smash some skulls together. Instead, Bolo is just a classic working man, who also happens to have a body the size of an elephant. He’s out of a job, and because of his stature, Pearl hires him even though he once worked with one of her enemies. So now we have a rather nice guy as her enforcer and Pearl herself relatively uninterested in the crime element of her life. This isn’t your classic crime comic, and that should be clear to new readers.
Michael Gaydos’ art has always been spectacular, but he has been experimenting with the previous twelve issues and that continues here in Pearl III #1. Colours are unnatural, not intending to go for a gritty realism that many crime comics go for. Instead, Gaydos goes for a singular colour on most pages, with different shades making certain objects stand out. When something really needs to be called attention to, he uses a colour that is on the opposite spectrum as the page’s main colour. This is an anti-cliché story and as such the art is also anti-cliché. There is no sense of maintaining continuity, realism, etc. Instead, it’s all about tone and feeling — rather than anything else. This becomes apparent when he uses these colours to distinguish a flashback within a flashback.
Pearl III #1 Brings The Series Back Like It Never Left
Pearl III #1 picks up with some intriguing ideas that go in an opposite direction from what was expected from the first twelve issues and yet that fits perfectly with the anti-cliché stance of the series. Pearl III #1 is off the wall, crazy, funny, and yet exactly what we wanted in this twist on the crime drama.
