Title: The Crude Knight
Issue: #3
Date: 2019
Publisher: Ryan Little / Plastic Sword Press (current Kickstarter for Crude Knight #4 is here)
Writer: Ryan Little
Artist: Yusuf Idris
Colorist: Nick Warner
Letterer: Nikki Powers
Editor: Cody Coloumbe
Merlin's rapidly-growing force has taken control of the Avalon Oil Fields while Jonathan, Maria, and their forces try to find a an effective way to attack. A contest of champions sees Maria take on the newly-reborn Sir Kay, but that only leads to further mayhem, and Merlin continues to hold the upper hand.
First of all, the action and fight scenes in this continue to be great, especially in Maria's fight with Sir Kay.
There is a thematic element here of persistence, the need to keep attacking and keep fighting in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, and the theme gets pushed hard, especially in dialogue directed at Jonathan, who seem less sure, but may also be a bit more flexible in his thinking.
This does come somewhat at the expense of explanation of what Jonathan's father's actual strategy is here. The contest of champions is never really explained. What does either side gain if they win? It's not clear. It it just a setup to give Jonathan another chance at pulling the sword from the stone?
Likewise Merlin's dialogue shows a lot of righteous rage, but doesn't give much idea of exactly what his end-goal in all of this is.
This is where the very fast pacing of the story becomes, well, a double-edged sword. This was an enjoyable read with lots of fun action, but could have used a step back to make everyone's motivations a bit more clear.
Rating: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment