I was at TCAF (Toronto Comics Arts Festival) this past Sunday, wandering around looking but not really interested in the things I was passing when I came to an abrupt halt! It was the artwork I noticed first, (which is why it’s a comic arts festival) I had seen it before on the web and remembered it immediately. It is one of those art styles I am drawn too (no pun intended). Of course the book was Shi Long Pang, the Wandering Shaolin Monk. I came across this comic on the web before and remembered just loving the art. I can only guess the reason for me not diving in and reading the archives when I first discovered it is because I have two kids in diapers, and time to go through a comic archive is limited to say the least. Also I was hesitant only because it seemed like everything I wanted in a comic, art I loved, and a subject I loved, but I was afraid to be disappointed by the story. Now here I was at TCAF and there was the book in beautiful hardcover right in front of me, I stopped, picked it up and bought it with a hope the story would be good.
It was everything I hoped it would be and more. The author Ben Costa intertwines fiction and history wonderfully, with great footnotes to educate the reader. I love the tidbits of history brought into the story, a history that is fairly unknown to the western reader, that Costa explains making context easier to understand, which I appreciated. Costa does make the reader work and you do have to pay attention, but that is just another thing that is great about this book.
I’m a shy guy, but I did find myself babbling a bit to Ben as he signed my book, something I didn’t expect cause I have never bought a book from an artist before. He was nice and gave me a great picture of Pang in my book, great stuff!
I couldn’t recommend this book more highly. It’s rare to find a comic that exceeds expectations, and Pang the Wandering Shaolin Monk does this with ease. Also it’s nice to read a graphic novel that doesn’t take 10 min to finish, I mean it actually takes a long time to read and when I started to get near the end I was really sad that it would be over. Thank goodness there is more coming!
Don Ahe
Hey everyone, I’m the webmaster around here. I recently had the privilege to sit in on and record a fascinating conversation about comics by two of my favourite comic artists: David Scott Smith, of Space Base 8 fame, and your very own Don Ahé. Dave and Don talk about their recent comics, how they came to discover webcomics, and also discuss other comics which they’ve been following and enjoy. It’s really quite… revealing! OK, maybe I threw in my own 2 cents a couple times as well 
