Kabuki Volume 4: Skin Deep

by David Mack
In stores the week of May 1st.
The Concept: A woman whose face is horribly scarred finds herself in an institution for "defective" government agents. She (Kabuki) is interrogated to find out if she is hiding something to do with the nature of her scars, or if she is simply crazy. Isolated and psychologically tormented, her only comfort is found in a mystery friend who sends handwritten messages that are folded into origami animals. Or is it just another trick?
This Collection: Now back in print! Collecting the entire Skin Deep series (and the Kabuki Fan Edition) in a brand new and improved prestige edition with extra pages! Having sold out of two entire previous print runs, this third printing includes for the first time ever:
*The entire painted story from the sold out Kabuki Fan Edition, *a gallery of the original covers (including the cover art by ALEX ROSS),
*an Introduction by Alex Ross, *a brand new afterword by David Mack,
*re-colored and re-mastered pages, *a brand new front and back cover,
*preliminary sketches with notes on the story & art, *original script pages, *and printed on new and improved, thicker, high grade, archival paper.
Having been out of print for some time, fans are looking for Kabuki Vol 4, and this new printing delivers with loads of extras.
FC, 128pp   

In a sinister, futuristic Tokyo, an assassin named Kabuki wakes up wounded and incarcerated. She's a member of an agency that keeps the forces of government and crime in balance. Events covered in preceding Kabuki volumes have separated her from her sister agents and landed her at Control Corps, an agency that rehabilitates impaired or rogue agents and gets them back in the field. But Kabuki discovers her associates are out to kill her for a murder she's allegedly committed. Not much else happens in this slow-moving volume, which is called a prequel to another volume by the author. At its core is Kabuki's clandestine friendship with Akemi, an unseen individual claiming to be a fellow detainee, who sends tiny notes folded into exquisite origami creatures through a vent in the cell. Mack has a talent for eye-catching composition, color and texture, and an excellent grasp of anatomy. Each image has a high-labor finish and his inventive layouts are unconfined by a traditional panel grid. But his affection for melodrama and his overly exotic treatment of all things Asian (particularly women) or superficially Asian often makes the book seem like soft-porn science fiction. His women are all half-dressed, continually pouting and flawless. Add a tendency toward a pretentious "literary" tone and you might mistake this book for Asian-fetish erotica. But the work is saved by the intelligently rendered psychological intrigue Mack generates between two characters forced to establish trust and support under tremendous duress. This edition includes a bonus short story, sketchbook drawings, handwritten manuscript pages and photographs of Mack, his buddies and his models.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.