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Draco Azul #1
Primal Warrior Draco Azul #1
Mexico is under siege by nightmarish beasts! Fortunately, an ancient mech has risen to the occasion, with a rookie pilot and his A.I. coach at the helm. Now, this metal goliath must stand against these demons before all hope is lost. Enter: DRACO AZUL!
27 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 8, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 22, 2021
An engaging introduction to the Draco Azul series that was shorter than I would have liked, but delivers intriguing details on the giant robot and its origins. #2 is lengthier and features better character exploration. I would suggest reading that for connecting more with the protagonist.
August 24, 2025
I met the author at G-Fest this year and wanted to support him. This introductory issue is a good setup and explaing Draco while also leaving some things a mystery. The blend of Gundam, Kaiju, and Mayan/Aztec lore is a fun combination. I am curious as to who the individual on the final page is.
February 6, 2022
I read this book several months ago, and I enjoyed it well enough, but I can't remember it well enough right now to give it a fair review. My impression was that it felt a bit generic, albeit with a more novel setting. Right now I can't remember the first thing about the human characters, and only snippets of the actual fights, so I need to give it a re-read before I give a real review.
Edited to add: Okay, I just reread the comic, this time with a more critical eye. Now with a fresher impression I can give a better review.
First, the good stuff: Tyler Sowles' art, except for a few minor stumbles here and there, is expressive and exciting, with great monsters and a dynamic fight. I like the design of Drazo Azul. The coloring I think also really helps sell the art a lot. I love that we get a bunch of individual pin-ups in the back showcasing Draco Azul. I like that the story is set in Mexico. There are some obvious nods to tokusatsu here, such as pulling out the weapons and blasting a super weapon at the last minute, and that is kind of fun. The prehensile scarf is a lot of fun.
Now on to the criticisms. This story, even as a first issue, feels incomplete and lacking in some frustrating ways. I said before that I couldn't remember the human cast, and after rereading the book, I see there is a very good reason for that: Eric is completely forgettable. We know nothing about him, other than that he is male, Mexican, and an adult. And I guess he is... forgetful (he forgets he has weapons, even though he is fighting for his life). I guess he is kind of confident and cracks some minor jokes I guess?
But we don't know anything else. Family, job, hobbies, nothing. It's really hard to care about him. We don't even find out how he got control of Draco Azul--in the explanation, we just find out he "stumbled on the robot in the midst of the chaos" of a bunch of mysterious monsters emerging. But we don't know if that means Draco fell from the sky, burst from the ground, was lying in the middle of a city, was in a cave, was floating in the air... we have no idea, and the story kind of just glosses over the information like it doesn't matter. It is quite possible that Eric will become more interesting later, and that we will find out more about how Eric met the robot, but without those aspects dealt with in the first issue, for me at least, I felt a real disconnect from the story.
Eric, Draco, and the hologram training program guy seem to have a base in cave which we never see as well. Since it's glossed over, that also feels confusing to me personally.
I also found myself nitpicking the writing, which occasionally had me scratching my head a little bit.
The first monster Draco fights also just seems completely generic.
However, even saying all that, of course I enjoyed reading the book, and I am looking forward to the next issue. The cliffhanger at the conclusion was kind of nice. And I want to support the book just because it is a kaiju/robot book from a passionate fan, who obviously has put a lot of love into it. But at least for me, the first issue feels a bit hollow. If you're a fan who wants lots of action and not much else, this comic is a good choice. If you want much more, the first comic at least doesn't offer much in the way of character building or world building. The story will probably be much more satisfying later on.
But at least for me, if I am going to be really honest, I would probably have to give this issue two stars instead of three.
Edit: I read the comic again. My opinion above mostly stands. I suspect I would enjoy these much more if they were collected together and thus the progression of the story could be enjoyed together, but as standalone books I still find a lot that is frustrating in them. Again, though, I am excited about the Draco Azul universe, and I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in supporting independent creators and loves giant monsters to pick this up.
Edited to add: Okay, I just reread the comic, this time with a more critical eye. Now with a fresher impression I can give a better review.
First, the good stuff: Tyler Sowles' art, except for a few minor stumbles here and there, is expressive and exciting, with great monsters and a dynamic fight. I like the design of Drazo Azul. The coloring I think also really helps sell the art a lot. I love that we get a bunch of individual pin-ups in the back showcasing Draco Azul. I like that the story is set in Mexico. There are some obvious nods to tokusatsu here, such as pulling out the weapons and blasting a super weapon at the last minute, and that is kind of fun. The prehensile scarf is a lot of fun.
Now on to the criticisms. This story, even as a first issue, feels incomplete and lacking in some frustrating ways. I said before that I couldn't remember the human cast, and after rereading the book, I see there is a very good reason for that: Eric is completely forgettable. We know nothing about him, other than that he is male, Mexican, and an adult. And I guess he is... forgetful (he forgets he has weapons, even though he is fighting for his life). I guess he is kind of confident and cracks some minor jokes I guess?
But we don't know anything else. Family, job, hobbies, nothing. It's really hard to care about him. We don't even find out how he got control of Draco Azul--in the explanation, we just find out he "stumbled on the robot in the midst of the chaos" of a bunch of mysterious monsters emerging. But we don't know if that means Draco fell from the sky, burst from the ground, was lying in the middle of a city, was in a cave, was floating in the air... we have no idea, and the story kind of just glosses over the information like it doesn't matter. It is quite possible that Eric will become more interesting later, and that we will find out more about how Eric met the robot, but without those aspects dealt with in the first issue, for me at least, I felt a real disconnect from the story.
Eric, Draco, and the hologram training program guy seem to have a base in cave which we never see as well. Since it's glossed over, that also feels confusing to me personally.
I also found myself nitpicking the writing, which occasionally had me scratching my head a little bit.
The first monster Draco fights also just seems completely generic.
However, even saying all that, of course I enjoyed reading the book, and I am looking forward to the next issue. The cliffhanger at the conclusion was kind of nice. And I want to support the book just because it is a kaiju/robot book from a passionate fan, who obviously has put a lot of love into it. But at least for me, the first issue feels a bit hollow. If you're a fan who wants lots of action and not much else, this comic is a good choice. If you want much more, the first comic at least doesn't offer much in the way of character building or world building. The story will probably be much more satisfying later on.
But at least for me, if I am going to be really honest, I would probably have to give this issue two stars instead of three.
Edit: I read the comic again. My opinion above mostly stands. I suspect I would enjoy these much more if they were collected together and thus the progression of the story could be enjoyed together, but as standalone books I still find a lot that is frustrating in them. Again, though, I am excited about the Draco Azul universe, and I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in supporting independent creators and loves giant monsters to pick this up.
October 20, 2019
Cool
Cool shogun warrior style/kaiju comic. I’m sure I’ll check out the next one. Good art decent story and something I can see keeping an interest in!
Cool shogun warrior style/kaiju comic. I’m sure I’ll check out the next one. Good art decent story and something I can see keeping an interest in!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews