Reviews

Rating 3 out of 5 |D+: Good effort, but no Cake

I had just finished Neil Gaiman’s American God; The graphic Novel: Shadow, in which there was a personification of the Hindu goddess Kali, as Mata-ji, an embodiment of death and destruction. Which is when I came across Kali, in my recommendations. The cover art was quite gritty and fetching to say, and I decided to take a gander.

The story starts off in a Kill Bill -esque fashion, with Kali, our protagonist, with a knife in her back, literally backstabbed by her former gang, the Matrikas. The all female gang which roamed the post apocalyptic wasteland of the desert had staged a coup and left their leader Kali, for dead.

But she survived, and if the Bride has taught us anything, it’s that revenge is a dish best served cold. And her enemies better be ready to face the wrath which she brings with her. Only, she doesn’t, not really, not in a satisfying opening.

For, despite an integration premise and great artwork for a title with little publicity, the story takes a downhill approach. As we go from confrontation to confrontation, with occasional flashbacks, with no real substance to talk of.

Revenge stories, like John wick, or stories involving femme fatales, like Red Sparrow & Atomic Blonde, work through the charisma and mystique of their protagonist, as well as the world which they inhabit.

In which case, Kali has neither to write home to. It feels like such a bare bones story with only a succession of action scenes, we as readers don’t get anything significant to bite onto. The first two panels of the story featured Kali the protagonist and her gang, the Matrikas. Which if you’re someone familiar with Indian Mythology alludes to a pantheon of badass warrior-mother goddesses. Which is something that attracted me to the story.

But it didn’t seem like they were going to explore whatever those references entailed if the simple progression of the plot is anything to go by.

A second complaint I have is how short the story is. Revenge stories of the kind usually play out in stages, the protagonist stuck in some impossible situation, her getting out of it with skill and luck, traveling across the unique world meeting engaging characters, and all the while feeding to us drip by drip as to what sort of person she is, while cutting down the names in her kill list. The quintessential Kill Bill.

Yet here, the whole narrative is done and done within a single stretch, which, again, doesn’t give us enough to chomp onto. Which is something that I felt was disappointing.

But, not all stories you read can be pearls, Good effort guys, but sorry.