Beware of Chuck, Master of Martial Arts (Comics)

You've heard/read me write about my enjoyment of the writing of many different authors, both living and dead.  In certain ways I feel it is my duty to tell people how great the act of reading is and how the transforming quality of a great read can change you.

Chuck Dixon writes testosterone charged action oriented tales.  His characters have depth, and interesting aspects of humanity, but almost all of them are heroes, or beings of action, able to do what normal people cannot.

For me, while I like his tales of Winterworld best, there are no genres he writes within that he does not master.  His mastery of martial art tales is an area of reading that is beyond evidence of evidence that he can do it. 

His martial arts tales evoke Chinese Kung Fu movies, Hong Kong cheap movies with one of 20 fake Bruce Lees, and the stories told in the equivalent of Asian pulp mags, the comics and manga featuring martial arts. 

Dixon's work on Way of the Rat blew my mind.  I am a practicing Christian, and I tried, to that point not to swear/curse in public.  When asked at a coffee shop by a friend in a group of comic reading friends who read and chat comics, if I liked it, my only response was OH FUCK YEAH.  Way of the Rat was evidence to me that Chuck Dixon could write in any single genre.  And, there was evidence that CrossGen was the place and time for him to write.  As it turned out, CrossGen was a momentary paradise for comics, especially for those who don't give a shit about super heroes as much as simply liking good comics.

The Silken Ghost was a wonderful character who was a part of the Way of the Rat series.  The mini series explores the character and tells a lovely story.  It deserves to have been collected.  But of course it hasn't been.  Or I wouldn't be saying that.

Many people are unaware of the Young Master and World of Young Master comics that Chuck did.  They are pure enjoyment for any who love Chinese Kung Fu cinema.  World of Young Master: Demon Blade is illustrated by the talented Alex Nino, and is but a single comic.  It is well worth your search.

After Chuck Dixon returned to DC after the fall of CrossGen comics, he took the reins of Richard Dragon.  For 12 issues Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel told a powerful tale, one worth reading, of a character who was worth far more attention than DC had cared to give.  The same creative on Nightwing that was popular and well remembered, did work on this series and did it in such a way that made the final issue a frustration.  It deserved to be collected, and it deserved to go on far longer than it did.  DC made a big mistake by ignoring the book while it was going on, and then letting it go 12 issues without realizing the excellence or following it was building. 

ROBIN Annual 3

In a spirit of adventure, an Elseworld annual of Robin was done where Robin was a young warrior, a ninja, who must protect and save his mentor, from a cult of assassins.