Rating: 
Summary: A Great Beginning
Review: Before I review this book, I must make a few assertions. The first among these is that I generally don't read comic books. I see most as being childish attempts at proving who would win in a fight between Mister Marvelous and the Ghostly Goose. Or whatever. This series of comic books is not the sort of ego-gratifying flash in the pan sort of stuff that seems to typify modern comic books. Instead it truly raises the bar, letting us know that we no longer have to dumb ourselves down to take in these pictures with words. David Mack has remade the comic book, showing an artistry that most would never associate with the medium. Even the best of comic books read like a poor man's movie. Not Kabuki. It is visual poetry, doing things with it's art that are simply not possible in any other medium.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Beginning
Review: Before I review this book, I must make a few assertions. The first among these is that I generally don't read comic books. I see most as being childish attempts at proving who would win in a fight between Mister Marvelous and the Ghostly Goose. Or whatever. This series of comic books is not the sort of ego-gratifying flash in the pan sort of stuff that seems to typify modern comic books. Instead it truly raises the bar, letting us know that we no longer have to dumb ourselves down to take in these pictures with words. David Mack has remade the comic book, showing an artistry that most would never associate with the medium. Even the best of comic books read like a poor man's movie. Not Kabuki. It is visual poetry, doing things with it's art that are simply not possible in any other medium.
Rating: 
Summary: A great story but an elementary understanding of Japan
Review: Before you disregard my *** rating hear me out. I really love this book, I love the story, the storytelling, and the art. However Mack's understanding of Japan and Japanese culture is laughable. He threw in some buzzwords and concepts that any American would know and doesn't really take them anywhere. After each and everyone I was left with the question "...and?" Some of the stuff he throws in here is laughable. Throwing in kamakaze and then interrupting the story to have one Japanese character explain to another Japanese character the semi-historical origins of the term, Ainu, eating sushi off a naked lady, comfort women, martial arts, sword fetish. It's like he made a list of everything he could associate with the country, looked them up in the encyclopedia and put it in.It just could have been so much more. He could have explored any one of these topics and actually gave them meaning. I expected a work by a serious Japanophile but Mack is merely a curious onlooker. Despite rolling my eyes more times than I can count I really enjoyed the book and think you would too.
Rating:
Summary: The rising sun of art
Review: Circle of Blood is a transcendent work of art and David Mack is one the the great artists of our deranged and crazy times. This work is a revenge tragedy with all of the Jacobean resonances but it creeps up on you like a spider and bites you with the most soft and subtle poisons.
There is a Shakespearean quality to the Circle of Blood - the feeling that we are reading about great events that transcend the dull nothings that make up so much of our lives. Evil has never before been quite so evil and good ( if it exists at all) has never been so much on the run.
The integration of the plot and the characters and the images the profoundly poetical language is almost perfect. There are flaws in this epic tragedy so reminescent of Kirosawa's Ran - but I readily forgave them because I understood that I was gazing upon a grotesque masterpiece - a masterpiece that indicted the whole of the corrupt militaristic, politically insane, and economically debauched order that we now live in. But this indictment is not done with self-righteous fake anarchist whining and rage. It is a matter of style.
This work is delicate as a feather and as brutal as a car crash. It smashes you in the heart. Considering the current corruption of Japan, getting smashed in the heart is a triumph, a horribly beautiful triumph of David Mack's rising sun of art.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle, Sexy, and Superb!
Review: I got interested in David Mack after readin his run on Daredevil for Marvel comics. I wish I had been quicker off the mark. Kabuki Volume 1; Circle of Blood is an excellent comic book, or graphic novel or whatever you want to call it. This book is extremely carefully put together, with a plot and subplot that flow and meld together. Mack seamlessly ties art, writing and poetry together to form a mature and sensible story. On the surface this is a story of a sexy Japanese assassin, but Mack goes beyond that. He makes us care for the characters, especially the Kabuki of the title, by telling us their back stories. He immerses us into his world, and doesn't force feed us the details. This book has a lot to show, and really rewards a number of readings. The opening sequence of each chapter provides a layer of background to this strange and alien world. What makes it all the more strange and alien is that it is a real world. Mack has just shown us what Japan is like today. It is his careful and subtle comparison of Japanese life and Western life that makes this world seem so distant. Multi-layered, intelligent, provocative, and that's just the story. The art is to die for too. I realise that I'm harping on, but read Kabuki and you will see why. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Reactions
Review: I ordered this book mainly because i liked Mr. Mack's run on daredevil and especially his superbly painted covers. I was mildly dissapointed. Don't get me wrong, the story is gripping, but not extremely so, but the artwork is not all that, if you know what i mean. This being Mr. Mack's first such work must be taken into consideration though, and i have orderd the next volume and hope that it will be better art-wise. Another problem with this sort of book though is that you can't help comparing it to similar books with Japanese authors (Blade of the Immortal springs to mind), and in such comparison this book is surely to be lacking.
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: I would like to address some issues with the reviews so far. I have this book, and the entire run of kabuki comics. I have not and will not read any daredevil stuff, I started reading kabuki long before that. This is not a story about superheros... so if you are into that type of thing, you might be disappointed. If you are interested in a deep, emotional story, look no farther. This story delves into the main character, Kabuki, with a sensitvity towards the female psyche that few male authors have or dare to try. The art in this novel is black and white, for reasons that Mack has stated in the GN itself. This is a story meant for black and white, it is introspective, violent, and part of Kubuki's past, if you will. Read the rest of his novels and you will gain a better appreciation of how Mack adapts his art to the story flawlessly. To conclude, this entire series is gripping, masterful, and has some of the best art I have ever seen, inside comics or not. Enjoy it. :)
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: I would like to address some issues with the reviews so far. I have this book, and the entire run of kabuki comics. I have not and will not read any daredevil stuff, I started reading kabuki long before that. This is not a story about superheros... so if you are into that type of thing, you might be disappointed. If you are interested in a deep, emotional story, look no farther. This story delves into the main character, Kabuki, with a sensitvity towards the female psyche that few male authors have or dare to try. The art in this novel is black and white, for reasons that Mack has stated in the GN itself. This is a story meant for black and white, it is introspective, violent, and part of Kubuki's past, if you will. Read the rest of his novels and you will gain a better appreciation of how Mack adapts his art to the story flawlessly. To conclude, this entire series is gripping, masterful, and has some of the best art I have ever seen, inside comics or not. Enjoy it. :)
Rating:
Summary: I wish I could have given it 100 stars.
Review: I'm sorry if this is long... but believe me, keeping it this small was incredibly difficult. please read on, I have tried to make this as complete and informative as possible. Circle of Blood should be hailed as one of the great achievements of modern literature. It is certainly the best ever within the comic medium. I have not read David Mack's run on Daredevil, nor do I care to. I have, however, read every volume of Kabuki, and they blow me away. Circle of Blood is a story so amazing I can't believe a person wrote it. I once told David Mack that he is like a God to me. I could only explain why to someone who has already read Circle of Blood. I'll try to stick to things that are relevant to those of you who haven't. David Mack's artwork is amazing. It is the most creative I have ever looked at. He tells the story as much with the pictures as with the text... its hard to explain, but once again I have to say you will only truly understand if you read it yourself. I'm sure some people might not like the artwork in Circle of Blood as much as the beautifully painted pages of Dreams, Skin Deep, or Metamorphosis (Kabuki volumes 2, 4, 5) because it is in strict black and white. not even shades of grey, just black and white. This is intentional and deliberate. It's not for budget or time constraints, its done for a very specific reason, and those who have read all the different Kabuki books know that Mack uses different mediums for different moods and different types of stories. Kabuki books are best read with close attention to detail... you get the most out of it if you take in the art slowly and attentively and look at everything on the page. In response to another reviewer who found Mack's portrayal of Japanese culture offensive and ignorant, I have only to say that I understand why that reviewer had the opinion he or she did, if he or she thought that was David Mack's perception of what Japan actually is. However, this story is fictional, and set in a future timeframe that is not meant to reflect modern OR traditional Japanese culture, but rather a mixture of both, twisted and perverted into something new, dark, even evil. To those of you with short attention spans, you'll probably find this book boring. But it is far from it. There is so much of the story devoted to introspective images and thought processes, memories and dreams, that you will know our heroine Kabuki intimately and personally. The result is that we feel her pain, and know her mind, and therefore the storyline and the ongoing events of Circle of Blood hold meaning for us, the readers, and not just the people drawn on the pages. Now don't get me wrong. If you're looking for action, you've got it by the cold-blooded cutting edge fistfull, but if thats the ONLY thing you want, look elsewhere. Kabuki is both delicate and hard-edged. elegant and obscene. beautiful and bloody. Nothing in Circle of Blood can be taken at its simplest, face-value. The imagery interlocks and relates throughout the whole story, and you will see how interwoven and complex every theme is. Even the title "Circle of Blood" holds incredible significance and many different meanings. Kabuki is Inexpressibly intriguing. The first five volumes of Kabuki tell a story you will never forget, But Circle of Blood by itself, being the first part, is definitely complete, and it is individually the best of them all. Read it, and be amazed.
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful suprise
Review: I, like many others, picked up this graphic novel due to Mack's work on Daredevil. Mack's combination of intensive emotional study with abstract art was a shock to my system. No other graphic novel series could realistically be compared to this. The art is truly an aquired taste, and I (obviously) enjoyed the hell out of it. What really stands out, however, is Macks ridicuously well-crafted story. One could nit pick here and there about certain points, but, for me, the character of Kabuki is perhaps one of the best in the history of comic books. Most characters are kept at an arm's length in terms of comic book characters. Not many writers are willing to delve into the depths of introspection and emotional weakness that Mack has in this story. I hope that this does not come off as a "this is the greatest thing ever...KABUKI RULES!!" review, becasue there are things wrong with it. I dare not give them away for fear of ruining the storyline, but know that the good far outweighs the bad. It is on the level of Gaiman, Moore, and Miller in my mind, and I would really suggest it to anyone that likes the more character rich works of those writers. Warning: Do not buy this if you are expecting Manga. This is a work of fiction done by an American. The art is American, and the introspective story is that of an outsider looking in. My final suggestion is that you read it slowly. The art is not something that the reader should glance at while blazing through the story. Take your time with and study the many things to enjoy on each page. It's easily one of the most fullfilling stories I have read and suits its reputation as "the best graphic novel that no one has read".
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