There's a line in comic writing wherein the author, trying to make a wry social commentary on a stereotype, ends up merely reinforcing it. Leslie Jones did this recently on Saturday Night Live. And I think Henry Lien accomplishes something similar, on a smaller scale, in Pearl Rehabilitative Colony...
The riffs here are on Asian over achievement, filial piety and general disrespect for girls. All good points to skewer, but this story pretty much beats them with a stick. It ends up to be mostly wearing and not all that funny. I guess the Nebula nomination is for bravery in taking on your own, but that's not so special--comics do it all the time. This is a short read but I would say not worth quite that much time.
Interestingly enough, this is supposed to be the start of a series. Pearl is an area where much of the architecture is made from a tough substance suitable for skating, so that;s how residents get around. The story centers on martial arts on skates. There might be somewhere to go here, but at this point not really.
2 stars from me.
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