The first fight is almost the last.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Mack Chater
Colors: Lauren Affe
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
For ten years Dag slept, hiding from the horror that ripped his family apart. At the rocky outpost of Raven’s Fate, he comes face to face with the first of the Forty Swords, and the extent of his failure as a father.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sword Daughter has had two interesting issues so far but it’s the third issue that has now really piqued my curiosity. Brian Wood doesn’t always take a lot of time to get to the point of his works but he can take odd directions to get there. The first three issues do a lot of stage setting but this one also expands on all of it in a way that has me a lot more intrigued. Mack Chater has another strong issue where these bleak landscapes through Lauren Affe’s color design really work well with the tone they’re trying to convey and we get a really strong looking book, especially in the quieter moments. The action works well too, which isn’t always an easy thing to convey.
The structure of this issue is a bit off but it comes together well when read in full and on a second read. The series has done well showing us what father and daughter are up to in 991 but this one moves us ahead a little more than a decade where we see Elsbeth at a church where they’re trying to convert her, giving her a good Christian named of Elizabeth. What we see is how they’ve worked to instill a sense of shame about her but she’s reached her limit, for whatever reason, and is now ready to head back out into the real world. The reason for that is that she’s intent on finding her father, which is a reversal of sorts of what we’ve had so far, and she has to shed a bit of blood before getting out there. What’s striking, unsurprisingly, is seeing Chater’s take on her in 1003 as a young woman but one that’s worn down and roughed up by what life has thrown at her so far. It’s definitely intriguing.
The story in 991 definitely works well alongside this as Dag is challenging the first of the Forty Swords that he’s come to at Raven’s Fate. There’s no deep story here in a sense as it’s a straightforward challenge but the nuance of it is what’s intriguing. With a challenge setting where a few others are watching, his opponent makes clear that he’ll take care of Elsbeth afterward because he does feel a bit bad. But what he makes clear is that he understands just how off Dag is. To most everyone, it’s been ten years since the death of his wife. To him, he’s still grieving and driven by that, though perhaps moreso by protecting and safeguarding his daughter. The fight is pretty good as it has that sense of realism about it, almost like a slugfest, and how Elsbeth handles it during and afterward is a lot of fun as it builds the relationship more.
In Summary:
Sword Daughter started off in an interesting way but it’s growing in a much more interesting way by the end here. Elsbeth was always going to be the lead but I figured it would focus slowly on the 991 period and move forward just a little bit. The leap is intriguing and I really want to know more of Elsbeth at that age and hopefully to see more of the journey in 991 a bit more as well. Wood keeps things moving really well here outside of a little uncertain jumping around early on and Chater once again delivers a great looking book.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 8th, 2018
MSRP: $4.99
