A path of vengeance.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Mack Chater
Colors: Lauren Affe
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
The Forty Swords came at night and murdered the entire village, save for two people: the infant Elsbeth and her grief-stricken father, Dag. Setting off on a revenge quest that will span the width of Viking Age Europe, they find the key to repairing their damaged relationship lies in the swords they carry. Created by Brian Wood (Northlanders, The Massive, DMZ) and Mack Chater (Briggs Land, Lazarus), Sword Daughter is a visually stunning, emotionally poignant story of parental guilt and acceptance of loss.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As I’ve learned over the last few years, I’m a sucker for a Brian Wood book and doubly so for one that has him working with Mack Chater. The two did a lot of really strong work in the last couple of years with the Briggs Land series that I’m still hoping gets more material out for it but this will be a good project in the meantime. Mack Chater’s work is one that’s definitely enjoyable with the way he captures the natural look of things with a minimal approach but with some neat details in both character and setting. It’s also something that’s distinctive here as it’s nearly a sepia toned project with what Lauren Affe brings to it which adds to that feeling of it being something old. I’m curious how much the perception of the book would change if it was traditionally colored.
Taking place in 991, we’re introduced to twelve-year-old Elsbeth ten years after her Norwegian village was ravaged by a group of malcontents that became the Forty Swords. Elsbeth saw her family die with the exception of her father and he essentially checked out mentally for the next ten years because of it. He’s now woken up, with her having taken a pretty good swing at him with a brick, and intent on revenge himself. There’s some good material with the two of them kind of forming some kind of connection, or at least understanding here, while also keeping a good bit of distance. Elsbeth doesn’t talk much and uses noises more than anything else. Her father, Dag, knows he’s beyond really doing anything with her because of how he abandoned her, not realizing that she’s really been taking care and providing for him these past ten years.
With a plan for vengeance in the mix, one that has him grudgingly allowing Elsbeth to be involved after giving her a sword, it’s something that really works well across the board. It’s simple in terms of story going after someone that’s affiliated with the Forty Swords as a kind of lookout of sorts but the visual execution and brevity of dialogue clicks. I’ve been watching a lot of TV dramas from this region set in the present and there’s something about the flow of this that reminds me of it with a minimalist approach. There isn’t a fight here in a sense because it’s so one-sided and doesn’t go quite as Dag wanted since he has bigger goals but it shows the kind of working dynamic he’s going to have with Elsbeth that will be really interesting to watch as it progresses.
In Summary:
I hadn’t heard of this series prior to it coming out so it was a wonderful little discovery. Wood and Chater are some of my favorite creators for doing stories like this where it has some historical research to it, a minimal approach to how it handles dialogue and the visuals. There’s a lot of good detail to be had here to be sure and it’s not just empty land but it has the feeling of a sparsely populated area from over a thousand years ago and its people. The story is straightforward with potential for twists and turns to be had but right now it’s just drawing you in and giving you something familiar but different.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 6th, 2018
MSRP: $4.99
