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 #18 – Review

by Joshua Luna (writer & letterer) and Jonathan Luna (art)

The Story: Dara’s battle with the Earth god Knossos comes to its brutal and bloody conclusion.

What’s Good: Goddamn this was a brutal comic.  Once again, the Lunas prove that the Sword is sharp.  Damn sharp.  Limbs fly and people are gutted.  That said, it’s not brutal in a “random people exploding all over the place” sort of way.  It’s brutal because every single act of violence is loaded with emotional intent.  Every chopped limb actually means something.

The sheer scope and size of the battle is nothing short of ridiculous.  Its impossible to talk about the story of this issue without also mentioning the artwork, as the two go hand in hand in depicting the battle.  The Lunas do an amazing job of conveying the size of Knossos and the unbelievable odds against which Dara is fighting.  It’s the sort of awe-inspiring stuff  we’ve come to expect, and it leads to some unforgettable images.

I also loved the ending of the issue, which delivers a twist that provides the landscape for the coming battle with Malia.  It really is an unexpected turn that reshapes the world of the Sword.  It also guarantees that this series will have a very different feel as it heads into its last arc, and that the battle with Malia will be like none before; this time, with the world watching.  Not running the risk of repetition, the Lunas have changed the rules in shocking fashion.

What’s Not-So-Good: Unfortunately, the bottom-line is that this battle just wasn’t as fun as the one with Zakros.  In that battle, I marveled at the sheer creativity of the Lunas, giving the gods endless ways to use their powers.  Not so much in this issue, which sees Knossos stay in his rock man form.  It’s just a little more one dimensional than I’ve come to expect.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of Malia’s continued interference in Dara’s battle.  It made the conflict between Knossos and Dara feel less personal and less important.  The one-on-one dynamic was lost and thus so too was some of the impact.  I wanted Dara vs Knossos, and having it be Dara and Malia vs Knossos needlessly diluted the conflict.

The rock man form is also a bit of a double-edged sword as well.  While it provides some amazing visuals and an incredible obstacle for Dara, it also means that Knossos is encased in a giant suit of rock, unable to exchange banter with Dara while the fight goes on, which was part of what made the Zakros fight so awesome.  The one exchange of words at the end of the fight is perhaps the high point of the issue only serves to illustrate this fact.

Conclusion: By no means a bad conclusion, but it wasn’t quite as personal as we’ve come to expect.

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