The Voyages of The She-Buccaneer #1 (of 3) (Great Big Comics – Hughes / Hughes)
From the Website – The Voyages of the She-Buccaneer begin with the death of her one true love, Captain Calico Jack Rackham. In the depths of despair, she is lured into the tombs of Eden and offered a deal with the devil for the release of Jack’s soul. She sets out to find seven gemstones, hidden among the fables seven seas. When she gets all the stones, she plans to return to Adam and Eve’s tomb, open the gate to the tree of life and free her beloved from Hell’s grasp…
First she must battle the cannibal giants of Atlantis, the dragons of the Eastern Sea and escape sacrifice upon the steps of the ancient Aztec temples! To this end, she cut a bloody path through the Great Spanish Main and becomes a legend.
The inside cover states that this story is based on the screenplay Tombs of Eden also by Heidi and Bill Hughes. If that was their goal, I have never read a comic that comes across more like an adventure movie than The She-Buccaneer.
At first glance, this book just seems like it playing the “how many different hot outfits can I get the female pirate into?” card. But as you read and get into it, there is a lot more story than eye candy happening here and that’s saying quite a lot given the very attractive almost pin-up art presented by Bill Hughes.
There are several very positive things about the book, the first is protagonist herself. The She-Buccaneer is strong, independent, smart, beautiful and still actually gives a hoot about her crew and the people around her. A very good lead female pulp-hero (much more likable let’s say than Keira Knightly). Another good factor here is the art, gorgeous and solid throughout the book. Also, I was amazed by how much story they fit into one book, almost to point where it seemed the plot was rushing, but you certainly get your money’s worth from the story.
That leads me to the obvious struggle I was having with it… while I do want to point out and recognize that according to the author it was based on a screenplay from 2001… but having a female pirate have to go on a journey to free the soul of her dead lover “Captain Jack”, well, it just seems like I’ve heard this one before. And in the next issue, the She-Buccaneer goes after a Crystal Skull (nope, not kidding!).
The Hughes are incredibly talented with their writing and art, but I hope their other projects don’t seem so “johnny-come-lately” as this did.
Issue Grade: B
