The Sword #23 – Review

by Joshua Luna (writer, layouts, letters) and Jonathan Luna (art)

The Story: The battle between Malia and Dara comes to its bitter conclusion.

What’s Good: I usually don’t discuss an issue’s ending at the beginning of a review, but this month’s cliffhanger stands as one of the biggest twists in this series.   I haven’t been this stunned by a comic in quite a while.  I’d like to say “jaw-dropping,” but that just isn’t good enough.  This will absolutely blow your mind and have you rethinking past issues.  That the Lunas held off on this massive turn of events until the second to last issue is a huge gamble on their part, for which I can only respect them.  It would have been easy enough to cruise through to a formulaic ending, but now, I have no idea what to expect.  I need that last issue.

Big twist aside, this is a solid outing for the Lunas.  A particular highlight, however, is the flashback.  It’s been something a formula during these “boss battles” or particular hard times for Dara to have a flashback relating to some moral lesson taught to her by her family.  However, the last few outings, these flashbacks have fallen surprisingly flat.  Not this month, however, which sees the Lunas back in form.  The scene this month is well written, though kept simple, and is touching enough to hit all the right buttons.

Beyond that, the Malia/Dara dynamic remains strong and a bit more intriguing, and heated, than the dynamics Dara shared with Zathros and Knossos.  Malia feels more complex as an antagonist due to her relationship with Demetrios.  When she tries to goad Dara by calling him a liar, it’s hard not to think that she’s speaking from personal experience.

As far as the art goes, this is about as solid as you’re liable to get from the Lunas, though a bit more understated than might be expected, given the circumstances.  I didn’t have any problem with that, however, as the action still flowed well and I rarely have a problem with getting more dialogue than splash pages and am glad that the Lunas didn’t go as splash-heavy as they easily could have.

The Sword #20 – Review

by Joshua Luna (writer, layouts, letters) and Jonathan Luna (art)

The Story: Malia further manipulates the media and public opinion as Dara races to New York City to confront her.

What’s Good: It’s great to see an issue of the Sword on the racks again.

The opening scene may very well be the strongest bit of the book.  I enjoyed the Lunas’ putting Dara’s previously indisputable hero status into question.  It really adds a very unique tone to this final arc, while also encouraging the reader to look back on the rest of the series.  We’re forced to re-examine Dara’s progress, and it’s hard not to be struck by how much she’s changed and what she’s become.  That said, the Lunas leave much of this up to the reader, and I do feel some of their trademark flashbacks would have further augmented this element.

I also enjoyed Julie’s suggestions of the Sword almost being some sort of addiction.  It adds a darker feel that the book definitely benefits from.  Certainly, it adds another layer of complexity to the series.

On the action-front, there’s a scene involving Dara’s battle with a pair of fighter jets that’s a great deal of fun.  While I know not everyone is a fan of the Lunas’ work, they do know their way around an action scene.  It’s insane, bordering on over-the-top, but as with many of the Sword’s better action scenes, it works all the better for these reasons.

Justin’s dialogue was also particularly strong this month.  As the series grows darker, Justin provides that necessary comic relief, very effectively deadpanning the book’s grandstanding while highlighting many of the more impressive, super-powered moments.

What’s Not So Good: While the action sequence is good, there are a few botched faces on Jonathan Luna’s part.  One headshot of Julia crying out is unforgivably bad.  At other times, characters’ faces simply don’t carry the emotion they should.  When characters are caught in more rueful, subtle emotions, Luna often draws them far too close to a neutral expression.

Also, I can’t help but be irritated by Joshua Luna’s writing of the “crowd dialogue.”  Luna has opted to present the crowd noise around Malia in the form of a few select quotes being bubbled without a speaker.  This is already a bit ham-fisted on his part, but the actual content of this pseudo-dialogue can unfortunately only be described as moronic.  The quotes just sound far too stupid and thus expose themselves too fully for what they are: Luna’s method of capturing developments in public feeling regarding Malia and Dara.  This “crowd noise” is a weak method of accomplishing this as is, but Luna’s poor writing of these faceless characters doesn’t help any.  I wish he stuck purely to the newscasts.

That being said, Luna’s actual dialogue in this month’s newscasts isn’t great either.  As was the case with the crowd’s dialogue, the quotes are simply too obvious in their authorial purpose.  For this reason, they lack believability and the people speaking feel more like narrative tools than human beings.

Finally, while the Lunas have really done well with their use of flashbacks throughout the series, this is not one of those times.  The flashback isn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near the standards the Lunas have set for themselves.  The moral lesson is weak and uninspired, and the whole situation depicted feels clichéd.

Conclusion: An inoffensive issue that is a bit rough around the edges.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

The Sword #19 – Review

by Joshua Luna (writer, letters, and layouts) and Jonathan Luna (art)

The Story: Malia makes her presence known to the world and a huge reveal is dropped regarding Demetrios’ secret history with one of the elemental siblings.

What’s Good: Wow…what an atom bomb of a reveal this month.  Not only is it a shocker, but it’s also one that feels natural rather than one that was done purely for shock’s sake.  Despite its gravity, it goes along with everything we’ve seen rather than running against contradictions.

Better still, the reveal changes the entire landscape of this final arc of the series, while also carrying a lot of emotion behind it.  It also suddenly makes this series a lot less black and white, which has probably been the biggest knock against the Sword thus far.  The series has followed a very rigid narrative structure, and this reveal threatens to shake all that up.  Things are suddenly a whole lot more grey, and as a result, the fight with Malia definitely won’t be a re-run of what we’ve seen with Knossos and Zakros.

And that’s what makes this issue great, really.  It takes a series that has been so structured and straightforward, and suddenly makes things a lot cloudier.  Better still, Dara, the unquestionable heroine of the series, suddenly seemed a lot less likable.  She’s spent the entire book as an incredibly sympathetic character and a definitive underdog.  This month, I found myself having a lot of trouble backing her.  As Julie brings up, Dara just isn’t the same.  She’s sounding increasingly like an irrationally, even two dimensionally, murderous character, increasingly empty and monotonous in her cries for blood.  Instead of sounding sympathetic, she just sounds violent, and that that loss of character is raised by Julie is a nice move by the Lunas.

Art-wise, if you like the Lunas as I do, you’ll like this book, as it’s really just more of the same, anime-tinged style.  However, if you’re of the minority that can’t abide their style, this won’t change your mind.

What’s Not So Good: The biggest problem with this book though is one of formatting.  Simply put, there is often just too damned many words on one page.  A couple pages of are absolutely swarmed with textboxes/captions, while other pages have some grotesquely over-sized word-bubbles.  I’m not someone known for having a low attention span, but at times, this did feel like a bit of a chore.

One of the most wordy sections is Malia’s telling of her history, which is of course distorted to make her look good.  I found this overly drawn-out and also completely uninspired.  Essentially, take the entire history of Demetrios, and remove Malia from it.  That’s her story.  That her brothers were bad, and she never ever stood with them.  That’s it.  Not only is it not a believable story, but also I expected the Lunas to be able to come up with something better for such a cunning character.

Finally, as has at times been the case with the Sword, some things happen just a little too conveniently.  Why is it that everyone in Mexico that Dara runs into can speak absolutely perfect English?  What are the odds of a random cop Dara takes hostage knowing the location of a nearby private jet field that can carry them to NYC?

Conclusion: A change of pace, but a generally good one that shakes up the whole series.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans

The Sword #17 – Review

by Joshua Luna (writer and letters) and Jonathan Luna (art)

The Story: Dara vs Knossos – Round 2.

The Good: As I expected, this is an issue that’s packed with lots of action.  What I especially liked with the action here is how the Luna Brothers gave a great sense of the collateral damage and the wide effects of the battle between Dara and Knossos; in what is a personal duel between two people comes to be a natural disaster that spreads across Mexico and Texas.  It’s an interesting idea, as it causes us to again ponder the relationship of gods and men.  Due to its magical nature, Dara’s private conflict unleashes an ever widening ripple effect, here, turning into a media event and nation-wide catastrophe.

Readers of the Sword know that Dara’s flashbacks are often some of the best written parts of the comic, and this issue is no different.  The hardships Dara faced as an ordinary girl again come to be relatable to her struggles in her new “superheroic” life.  The flashback here is, like most Luna flashbacks, apt, emotionally poignant, and tied to her battle with Knossos in a very smart fashion.  In fact, it may very well be my favorite flashback yet.

The issue’s conclusion was also a jaw-dropper as it definitely made me incredibly anxious for next month’s issue.  It’s a very subtle twist that could quite possibly change the route of the rest of the series.  While a surprise, more than anything else, it’s intriguing.  Certainly, it’s the first time we’ve seen Dara get any real, supernatural assistance and considering the ancient history of the sword, the source of that assistance is interesting to say the least.

Lastly, the artwork here is especially good.  The Sword’s art is consistently at a high level, especially with the distinctive style that the Lunas bring.  This issue’s art is especially stunning, featuring drool-inspiring images of awe-inspiring combat.  The sheer size of what’s being depicted here is praiseworthy enough.

What’s Not-so-Good: As is the case with all action-based issues, this is a quick read. Given the tantalizing ending, this can be a bit frustrating. Then again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting more of a good thing, is there?

Also, again due to that all out action, readers should be aware that outside of two one-page flashbacks and another single page of frantic media reports, there really is pretty much zero dialogue in this issue.  This banter-less action also comes due to Knossos turning into a giant stone man, which while awe-inspiring, comes at the cost of the back-and-forth that made the battle with Zakros so entertaining.

Moreover, the lack of dialogue will also have fans of Justin’s sardonic humor disappointed, as he he is silent in this issue, only appearing in the issue’s first panel.

Conclusion: A quiet issue, but explosive in terms of action, this is another solid issue of the Sword. Frankly, I don’t think there’s ever been a bad or disappointing issue of the Sword.  Stunning art, awesome combat, and a really cool ending make this a comic that will definitely please the Luna-devoted.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans