cover image TOP SPEED

TOP SPEED

Man Wai Cheung, George Lau, . . Comics One, $14.95 (193pp) ISBN 978-1-58899-402-8

"Every racer is always searching and longing for 'top speed'... but no one has every [sic] discovered 'top speed.' " Thus begins this unwittingly campy romp set in the world of illegal, after-hours Hong Kong street racing. Complete with bad translations, art that veers from cartoony to photo collage, ridiculously portentous captions and earth-shattering sound effects, this book offers the same fun as a poorly dubbed action movie. The set-up: The Four Kings of the racing scene rule the roost, getting all the babes and hot cars, until one day a new guy shows up. Tian is a young taxi driver whose father died in a racing accident. The silly story gets some traction from the art, which presents its larger-than-life stereotypes as highly attractive hoods, rock stars and seers. No cliché is left unturned. There's the a rare girl driver who's constantly hit on but only dates the fastest driver; the ace reporter who relentlessly chases scoops; and an overweight taxi driver who almost loses his life in a street battle. Tian must battle not only Nicholas, the rock star driver who only uses one hand unless he finds an opponent worthy of him, but his own tortured legacy. Unintentionally hilarious at times, this is a wildly earnest mix of Speed Racer and The Fast and the Furious . (Apr.)