Can anyone outsmart the Bailiff of Wolfsmund, or is every member of the rebellion destined for a brutal execution before the war can even start?
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mitsuhisa Kuji
Translation/Adaptation: Ko Ransom
What They Say
By no means the exclusive province of oppressors, bas callousness also inspires some rebels, while those who don’t care for the political struggles are no more saintly in this installment of the searing feudal saga.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Most of this volume follows a new view of society in the Swiss Alps. Instead of seeing how the Austrian oppressors and rebels are dealing with each other and how they feel about the current situation, volume two views the struggle from the POV of Swiss citizens that are ambivalent to both the Austrians and the rebels. Hans and Eva make quite the odd couple as Eva is young and the most beautiful woman in the valley, but Hans is in his 40’s, never been married, and very plain looking. Initially, you might think the only way he could land a minx like Eva would be because he was rich or super funny. Neither of these apply to Hans as he is a sniveling coward and a meager inn owner.
Well, Eva isn’t a super great catch either. Everyone in the village knows she is a snooty woman with a horrible personality. Between that and Hans’s promises to buy her nice things, Eva must have decided she didn’t have many other options and she wasn’t getting any younger. I like this setup as I imagine it probably happened a lot throughout human history across many cultures.
Where the relationship between Hans and Eva could have just stayed a marriage of convenience with love never blossoming, Hans’s desire to have sex with his ice cold wife causes him to take stupid chances in an effort to make more money than he could ever hope. Considering the current situation, and his dislike for the other villages that pick on him, Hans begins to spy on the rebels visiting his inn and report to the Austrians. This gets Hans fine cash rewards that allows him to buy jewelry for Eva, but if the townsfolk ever learn they have such wealth, it would only be a matter of time before they realized Hans was the person selling out the rebels.
Eva ignores Hans’ warnings to never flaunt her wealth about town and goes out wearing every piece of jewelry she owns. Unbeknownst to her, she pretty much signs her death warrant. But can Hans and Evan steal away in the night and sneak through Wolfsmund to Italy, successfully saving their lives and avoiding the rebels? Or will their meeting the Madam at the Inn below the gates of Wolfsmund spell their doom?
Speaking of the Madam, she is the only character to last through two volumes of this series, but who knows how much longer she will last with the way the author kills off characters. The Madam is part of the rebellion, and while she doesn’t have the dangerous task of trying to sneak through Wolfsmund, she does live every day below it’s shadow. That is a dangerous position to be in because she has to deal with the rebels as they come through, and it is probably only a matter of time before soldiers from Wolfsmund see here interact with rebels before they expose them. Enough of those “coincidences” will probably spell her doom too.
In Summary
Wolfsmund is a title that reviewers like to throw clichés around like, “not for the faint of heart…”, or “more violence than you can shake a stick at”. Well, I can’t actually argue with any of those clichés, Wolfsmund kicks me in the gut with just about every chapter. The author has absolutely no qualms about killing off any character she feels like; no one is safe. And unlike those supernatural TV series on the CW, when a character in Wolfsmund’s is dead, their dead and they won’t be making any future appearances as a ghost or some such.
Now, here in lies my problem with this series thus far (not the lack of ghosts); I can’t get emotionally attached to any protagonist. There is no anti-hero, no protagonist that has lasted more than three chapters, and just no one to cheer for except the Swiss society as a whole. So after these first two volumes, I could stop reading this series and never think twice about it. It is quite possible that I don’t understand where the author is trying to drive this story, but I think this is a sign of a young writer. If someone, even a character that only shows up every third chapter, was around and fighting the powers that be and surviving, then I would have been able to build an emotional attachment and eagerly await the release of the next volume. That is really the sign of a series (good or mediocre) for me, one that has me thinking about it and wondering when the next volume will make it into my hands.
However, and despite my complaints, this is only the second volume, so there is plenty of chances in the next volume for a protagonist to step forward and throw down the gauntlet. Of course, he has to live through that volume too. Plus, this is an interesting read just in the fact that I’m always wondering what ghastly thing the author will put a character through next. The Bailiff of Wolfsmund is a seriously twisted sadist, but incredibly intelligent in the way he smokes out rebels. Although, I’m thinking he probably kills a lot of innocent people too.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Vertical, Inc.
Release Date: October 29th, 2013
MSRP: $12.95