Comics
Review: The 7th Sword #1
Ever wonder what the world of Mad Max would look like if it was a little more civilized? Maybe decades after the movies, some semblance of order was somewhat restored? That is what The 7th Sword #1 feels like. This time, it’s with swords, robotic sand people, cloned goblins, cyber femme fatales, and a samurai. Let’s find out if all that makes it cooler or not.
WRITTEN BY: John Rafffo
ART BY: Nelson Blake II
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: 23 April 2014
Writer John Rafffo is undertaking the arduous task of world building. There are ideas and concepts and names scattered throughout this issue. Our story begins on an alien planet but it feels like a desert on Earth. Daniel Cray is a samurai for hire. It feels like Raffo is spreading seeds out for a garden of ideas to grow in the future. Some are clever twists and some are transparent. I’m calling it first – Samurai Cray and the blonde daughter are totally hooking up. And I hope those goblin, acid-spitting clones come back in the near future. It’s nice to see a creative notion for a bad guy’s troops.
The art by Nelson Blake II is serviceable in this debut chapter. I recently read an article about The Newsroom’s Aaron Sorkin wishing he could go back and re-do each episode. I feel this type of story could really benefit from another first issue and an art style that is more dynamic and unique. The designs of this world are nice but the standard comic book art doesn’t help it stand out at all.
Overall, this issue feels like a soft open. Which is better for restaurants openings than it is for comic book titles. I’m willing to let the creative team work out the kinks for another issue. I’m curious to see where this story will go so kudos to the writer. I hope the art will expand and give readers something new that hasn’t been portrayed again and again.
Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Brady
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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