Eight Limbs

by | Nov 29, 2023

The 1980s is considered by many to be a renaissance for movies featuring martial arts. Sure, there were heroes with bulging biceps, quotable one-liners, and very large guns, but there were also action stars who needed no real acting experience, just a black belt in a given martial art. Those movies might not have aged well, and some may even laugh at the unintentional comedy of martial artist/movie starts like Steven Seagal or Jean Claude Van Damme these days, but Eight Limbs, written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Giulia Lalli, might owe some of its narrative DNA to the martial arts movie formula. Rather than being a throwback, however, Phillips’ story updates the martial arts story for this century.

Joanna Carr was a Muay Thai champion until she lost her title in a brutal fight. She went into retirement to raise a family and open her own gym. Joanna seems content to raise her family to train other fighters until a longtime friend asks Joanna to take in troubled foster teen Mari. Joanna soon begins mentoring the girl, training her how to fight. When a misunderstanding drives Mari away, she soon gets involved with a dangerous underground fighting ring. Now, Joanna must step into the ring and fight to rescue her protégé.

Fans of martial arts movies might find the plot rather familiar: a fighter gives up on fighting only to be forced to step back into the ring when everything is on the line. Phillips, however, completely excludes the toxic masculinity and avoids the cliche of a climactic martial arts battle that leaves one or both combatants near death. The crux of this story is the steadily growing bond between Mari and Joanna and how that bond is tested. The martial art of Muay Thai is more a way to give Mari and Joanna the focus and discipline needed to overcome the problems they both face, rather than just another way to pummel a human body into hamburger.

Muay Thai is also known as the art of eight limbs, hence the book’s title. The Muay Thai fighter uses two fists and two feet like other martial arts, but the fighter can use brutal knee strikes and punishing elbow strikes on their opponents, and this fighting style is beautifully depicted by Lalli, showing everything from the fighter’s stance to a freeze frame of a kick connecting. The artwork isn’t quite the hyperkinetic action one would find in an anime, but its grounded depiction of one-on-one combat grounds the overall story.

This book is made for those with a martial arts mindset, but it’s less about Mortal Kombat-style fatalities and more about the spiritual side of martial arts, how martial arts help people discover who they are, what they’re capable of, and especially what is important in life. Joanna might not be doing feats that made Seagal and Van Damme famous, but one could argue that she is a more evolved form of martial artist for this more emotionally and socially aware time.

Eight Limbs
By Stephanie Phillips
Art by Giulia Lalli
Humanoids Life Drawn, 2023
ISBN: 9781643375861

NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)

Grim

by | Sep 11, 2023

Death is a natural part of life, and in fiction, death (or at least the personification of death) will often have a starring role. Sometimes, death isn’t just one person but an enterprise dedicated to getting souls to their final resting place, and that is the case in the universe of Grim, Vol. 1 and Vol 2. Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano, Grim is a journey through an imaginative, visually vibrant afterlife on a road paved with well-worn tropes.

At the dark heart of Grim is a reaper named Jessica Harrow. Most reapers are culled from humans who have died, but Jessica does not actually remember how she died or even what her life was before she became a reaper. As she begins to delve into her past, she soon finds herself hunted by her fellow reapers, but her reward is not going to be a peaceful journey to the great beyond.

Readers of dark fantasy and of the “chosen one” trope will find Jessica’s storyline familiar. She is apparently the only one who is capable of fixing what is broken in the natural order because of who or what she is. Vol. 1 has the moment when what Jessica thought she knew is upended, while Vol. 2 showcases her trying to stay one step ahead of the reapers pursuing her. While this basic element of the story is nothing new, Phillips does present some ideas that give it a fresh and vibrant coat of paint. Those familiar with Joseph Campbell and his hero’s journey might recognize Jessica’s companions and fellow reapers. Sardonic rocker Eddie provides the comic relief, while Marcel, the obvious straight man, serves as the group’s stalwart, brooding rock. What really stands out, however, is how Phillips reinterprets some notable entities like the Fates, making them colorful drag queens instead of cloaked hags..

They travel through a world that is beautifully rendered by Flaviano. The afterlife Jessica and her friends move through is full of shadowy stone arches and austere Gothic spires, scenery that is both alien and familiar. Even the scythes, the reaper’s traditional weapon, is given a visual upgrade that makes it look like it’s part of an ‘90s action figure’s accessories. Even the very pedestrian city of Las Vegas is bright and vibrant, a depiction befitting a city that is known for being a brightly colored jewel in a desert.

Grim doesn’t necessarily tell a new story, but it tells its very familiar story well. Fans of this book might have already enjoyed works by Patricia Briggs and Sarah J. Maas, or even YA fiction like that of Suzanne Collins. Its depiction of the afterlife puts it in dark fantasy territory, but Grim overall has the bones of a fantasy adventure.

Grim Vol. 1 and 2
By Stephanie Phillips
Art by  Flaviano
BOOM! Studios, 2023
Vol. 1 ISBN: 9781684158829
Vol. 2 ISBN: 9781684159055

Publisher Age Rating: 16 years and up
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)