Jook Joint #1

by Tee Franklin

[Quirky Cat]

I’m going to talk about this issue the way I saw/read it. First I spotted the cover, obviously. I knew right then that I was going to give this one a try. It’s beautiful and badass at the same time, what more could a girl ask for?
The part that really impressed me though? Was the first page inside the issue. There was a trigger warning inside. I honestly can’t tell you if I’ve ever seen a trigger warning for a series before – not one provided by the creators, at any rate. I’m so incredibly impressed by the sensitivity of this, that I would have walked away happy with this issue no matter what happened next. I wish there were more warnings on things like this – everyone has a subject they’d like a little warning to (seriously, can we please start warning people of animal deaths before I spend my time getting invested in the series?).
The plot itself is, unsurprisingly, a little on the heavy side. It covers a lot of intense and sensitive subjects – but mainly it focuses on assault. More than that though, it shows an area that should be considered a safe space, and the measures that have to be taken in order to make it so.
I’m curious about the characters we’ve been shown so far. If not for one scene in particular, I would simply think they were women trying to rid a blight from the world. But that one scene makes them seem like they’re not quite human. One can argue if that means that they’re more or less human, but I think only time can tell that much.
I can’t speak too much for the plot itself just yet. There were a lot of hints about what’s happening here…but I feel like I haven’t seen enough to be able to say anything for certain (plus I wouldn’t want to spoil it even if I could). I’m curious about Auntie and all the others portrayed. Can’t wait to see what happens in the next issue.
The artwork was lovely. Each page had rich colors and shading. I couldn’t have read this series for the artwork alone, so having an intriguing plot was really icing on the cake for me.
The last page in this issue covers the reason for the series, and is really worth the time to read – I know a lot of people tend to skip letters from the authors, but consider reading this one, okay? It explains the trigger warnings at the beginning, the purpose of the series, as well as giving an idea of what the author has gone through – and what this series means to her because of it.