Title The Dragon of Hong Kong Series Yoko Tsuno #16 Author Roger Leloup Illustrator Roger Leloup Publisher Cinebook Ltd - 2010 First Printing 1986 Category Comics Warnings None Main Characters Yoko, Morning Dew Main Elements Dragons

Travelling to Hong Kong to visit the Chinese branch of her family, Yoko is attacked by a massive lizard-like creature. She finds a string of scientific clues and evidence, but as the pragmatic electronics engineer's investigation progresses, the trail leads her to a mysterious little girl - and a sense of wonder that will change her life forever.

I must say, a comic book about a female engineer first published in the 1980's is pretty impressive. Although in this book I wouldn't have guessed at what she was, she didn't do anything particularly scientific and in fact the one big thing she did was adopt a kid she had just met just a few hours ago, which seemed a bit random. But still, she's definitely a strong female lead in a media usually associated with boys.

The French are well know for their comics, Lucky Luke, Tin-Tin, Asterix and Obelix. I had not heard of Yoko Tsuno but I could recognize the style of bandes-dessinees and it came with a wave of nostalgia (I probably hadn't read any of these since elementary school). I read this one in English because that's what I found in the library while looking for dragon books. For what it's worth, they aren't any actual dragons in this book but given there are two different kinds (one mechanical, the other biologically engineered) I decided it was a worthy addition to my year-long dragon book campaign, to be exposed to all kinds of variations on the concept.

I might be tempted to check out if the library has more Yoko Tsuno books, the asian theme and female engineer lead it kind of neat but it isn't high priority on my list, I'm not that big a comics fan.