“You put the sword in my hand.”
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Mack Chater
Colors: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
Elsbeth Dagsdottir has not forgotten the oath her father made to her on that remote Icelandic beach: to deliver revenge upon the Forty Swords clan that burned their village and murdered her mother. It might take them a lifetime of strife, but it is a promise they are willing to die to keep. Brian Wood and Mack Chater team up again!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sword Daughter has been an intriguing book since it began as I like the way that it feels so lightly paced, getting a lot of room to breathe and just exist in the moment. Brian Wood has worked these kinds of tales before and it complements well the more intense projects where a lot is happening quickly. I like settling into this time period and seeing it unfold slowly in front of me. Similarly, Mack Chater gets to work with something that’s a little simmer on the backgrounds because of the locations but it’s still something that feels rich and distinctive even while given such a muted color palette. It makes for a world that feels like it exists more than it might otherwise because of these choices.
Elsbeth’s retrieval of her father from prison in the creative way she did it made for a solid story the last time around. Now, however, they’ve ended up back in Britain where she’s settled for the moment and is giving him a chance to recover and acclimate to the world as it is. The passage of time and prison has definitely taken its toll on him and there’s a worn aspect to him that really rings true here, especially with Chater’s artwork. There’s a distance between father and daughter for obvious reasons and we know that time has hardened Elsbeth significantly. She’s who he created, knowingly and unknowingly, and she’s protected herself with the distance as well. But, as we see, she also knows when it’s time to let people close, such as the young girl that has come to the home to talk to her. Kip, watched by everyone from the village a distance away, knows that Elsbeth is something more.
With events in 993 unfolding as they are, talk of how the Lord of these lands is building churches that will serve in multiple ways for him in the time to come, including dealing with tenants that will not abide by his commands, it’s no surprise that Kip sees something in someone like Elsbeth that can help. And Elsbeth knows she can help, or at least try, and is intent on doing so regardless of what her father says. While I like the journey they go on and the interactions with the Lord that are going to turn out badly, it’s the time between her and her father that resonates the most. His attempts to dissuade her has her talking about her journey since he was gone and how he made her like this by putting the sword in her hand. There’s a difference between using the sword as she does and simply being a tool. Her clarity over what she’s done with the remainder of The Forty Swords makes clear she carried through on the perceived promise she made as a child. But she’s also intent on dealing with injustices elsewhere as well.
In Summary:
Sword Daughter continues to be an engaging work in a kind of minimalist approach. It’s got great layouts, a lot of detail, but an emptiness that works so well in evoking the right kind of mood for it. It’s generally sparse in terms of dialogue but it conveys a lot when it does have the characters speak. A lot of things are simply unsaid and implied by actions and look and it’s able to achieve that with a small cast very well. There’s a lot to like with this series and each installment branches out in interesting ways, making me wish there were a couple dozen out already so I can just read a ton of it in one sitting.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 5th, 2019
MSRP: $4.99
