Pearl #1 is written & created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos (Jessica Jones). Letters by Joshua Reed, design by Curtis King Jr., edited by Michael McCalister, and is published by DC Comics.
The story kicks off with our title character Pearl out grabbing food with a friend. A young man catches a glimpse of a tattoo on her wrist. He approaches her and totally nerds out because he immediately recognizes the artist by the styling.
Pearl and the young man continue to nerd out and flirt. But, before long things start to go south. A simple dinner with a friend turns into a drive-by shooting. Without going into too much detail to spoil the story shots are fired and things get dark, but Pearl escapes mostly unharmed. She certainly has a steady hand.
This modern telling of the Yakuza in San Francisco kept my attention. I found myself wanting to know more of Pearl’s past, and Bendis and Gaydos delivered by giving the reader some history via flashback. Small glimpses to let us know what her family life was like growing up. But, of course not giving away Pearl’s full history yet. It’s obvious that Pearl was born into this life. But, it’s also easy to see that she doesn’t want this life. After all, Pearl is a talented tattoo artist herself. She has her own dreams and aspirations, they’re easy to see when she flirted with the young man before a shooting broke out.
Things that I really enjoyed about this story is how well Bendis and Gaydos established Pearl’s character. They conveyed her story so well and in such a short time frame. I felt myself not feeling sorry for Pearl, but wanting more so to see her fight back to get away from the Yakuza. I wanted her to live out her own dreams. Pearl is a mysterious action-packed story about a strong talented young woman that wants to break free and live her own life without a mob boss pulling the strings.
Rating: 8/10
