Pearl #1 Review

Tattoo You

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Michael Gaydos and Josh Reed
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 15, 2018

For a lot of people, this book and those that will follow are the reasons that they are excited about Bendis' move to DC. I don't happen to be one of them, but it's not out of anything other than my not having read any of Bendis' creator-owned work. I have read his Daredevil run, and his take on that character and that world are what I expected from this book and that's honestly mostly what I got. Whether or not it worked for me is a whole other story. Read on, Weird Scientists.


We're introduced to our main character, Pearl, through a conversation between her and this guy that recognizes a tattoo on her right wrist. He's a tattoo aficionado and freaks out because her tattoo was done by this incredibly famous and seemingly very underground tattoo artist. Some sort of action takes place around them as a man on a motorcycle is dashing away. Pearl shoots him in the head, revealing the fact that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Pearl.

I didn't really connect with this. This character who recognizes Pearl's tattoo, Rick, is really played up to make this whole tattoo world seem interesting but it just isn't to me. A character that Pearl later meets has his own tattoo parlor that he just owns and it just doesn't sit right with me. I understand setting a story in a particular place but this just seems very contrived to me.

Michael Gaydos' art is overall good, although some of his obvious photo-referenced faces slightly irked me. The storytelling is there though; Gaydos is a master and I recognize that. This is overall a gorgeous issue and I admire the fact that he also colored himself.

Bits and Pieces:

Hardcore fans of Bendis' creator-owned line might like this more than I did. The writing is a bit contrived and the art is good but if I wasn't reviewing this, I absolutely wouldn't read it.

5.3/10