Creator/Writer/Artist: Tim Yates

$3.99

Blue Juice Comics

Jumping right into the thick of things, Anne Bonnie #5 begins with Ariana being declared a full-blown pirate, but not without a catch, as she soon will realize. Bilge Hart and his gang of pirates and thieves are definitely up to no good, and Kenoshi knows it, and desperately tries to ward Ariana to no avail.

Some of the best parts of this series revolve around Ariana and her no holds barred eagerness to become the greatest pirate ever. Her outlook on that life is a rosy one though, even with the constant warnings from Shen and others she has encountered. Last issue she encounter Bilgeheart, who told her she only needed to sign her name on the dotted line, and she would be a pirate! But, as we learn in this issue, that isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There is a war being waged, though the sides and the stakes at the moment are a little unclear.

Even though Shen is miffed at the way Ariana is handling herself, he takes her back to the ship to meet Mary Reed, who just happens to be the great Anne Bonnie’s first mate! This sends Ariana over the moon, and Shen desperately tries to reel her back in. In the ensuing chaos that Ariana causes, she finally gets into the part of the ship that was barred from her, confirming that it is, in fact, the Crimson Dawn, the ship that belonged to Anne Bonnie!

But, not all in this issue is great news, as the true intentions of Bilgeheart and his gang are revealed, leaving Ariana and her crew in a terrible state by the end of the book. This is still considered the first story arc in this series, so only more adventure, swashbuckling, and twists and turns await us, but at what cost to Ariana and her friends?

The “Best There Is”: I really love the way that Tim Yates crafts the dialogue in this series, this book in particular. It is very hard to find the voice of separate characters in a story, and have them all exist in harmony together. It is even harder when you have so many different voices, ranging from hardened pirate speak, to giddy little girl dialogue, but Yates does it effortlessly. This makes for an incredibly fun read each and every issue, and like I have said previously, this story NEEDS its own Saturday morning cartoon series, if such a thing still existed! (RIP Saturday morning cartoons).

The “Isn’t Very Nice”: My only qualm with this issue is a minor one, and a nit picking one at best. I just don’t like the look or feel of Mary Reed. She just doesn’t “do it” for me, from an artistic standpoint, and I feel that he stature and her tattoo’s took me out of the panels a few times. But again, that is a super nit picky kinda criticism, and by no means reflects on the story or the art of the book on a whole. Honestly, I find it tougher and tougher to write something in the “Isn’t Very Nice” section, because this book continues to fire on all cylinders beautifully.

FBI Score: 9.5 out of 10. I am a total sucker for pirates, and young adult coming of age stories. Where the characters learn and grow through their own failures right before your eyes. Anne Bonnie is completely fun and entertaining, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next.

Jeff Ayers

Both my parents instilled in me at an early age the awesome power and incredible wonder of the written word. My father sat with me when I was four years old and taught me to enjoy reading with classic comic strips like SPIDERMAN, PEANUTS, B.C. and, later, CALVIN AND HOBBES. My mother exposed me to such classics of literature as Poe, Tolkien, Stoker and Doyle, and I started my own comic collection with allowance money from mowing lawns. I liked Wolverine before it was cool, I watched as Superman died and returned, and huddled under the covers as I turned the pages of SANDMAN. Reading is like oxygen to me, and all genres and formats are welcome and devoured equally. I am the co-host of The DW and Incredible Jeff Show, CEO of Permian Productions, and a reviewer at Graphic Novel Reporter. I am 34 and live in scenic Saratoga Springs New York, where I haunt coffee shops and dive bars and the best comic shop anywhere, The Comic Depot.

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