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Reviewed by Michael Deeley We enter “Dragonball Z” territory as Leroy Schwartz sand Harman Cartel talk about their similarities and differences before fighting faster than the eye can see. Cartel believes Leroy is a Lycanthrope; a human that can turn into a beast. Leroy is hurt so badly, he transforms into his “true” bestial form. Few survive. But our hero’s troubles aren’t over yet as a vampiric Dark One named Charvert confronts Leroy. Another MangaLife reviewer pointed out the physical problems with CMX books. They don’t open as wide as other manga, the pages don’t lay flat on each other, and the paper is coarse. This makes the book harder to open and read. In short, they’re stiff. Art and dialogue printed near the binding can be difficult to see without literally cracking the book open. I don’t know if DC is using a lower quality of paper to keep costs down, but if using the same paper stock an TOKYOPOP adds an extra dollar to the book’s price, I’d say it’s worth it. I’m disappointed that ‘Sword of the Dark Ones’ is only a 3-volume story. A continuing series can get by on style and action with the occasional revealing dialogue. As a trilogy, there doesn’t seem to be a strong cohesive story. Leroy is searching for Lena Northlight’s missing sister. The reader follows him as he’s confronted with his inner demon and fights the Dark Ones that plague Earth. The next volume promises a cataclysmic battle to stop the Dark Ones from killing humanity. That would be more exciting if the story was about the war between Dark Ones and humanity, or the sword Ragnarok, the “Bane of the Dark Ones”. But that has nothing to do with the hunt for a little girl and a man’s inner struggle. The art is stylish; When Leroy “dies”, the pages go black. Scenes of Airee, the underage assassin, fighting in her underwear looks too much like fan service. I will say this is one of the best designed comics I’ve ever seen. But I shouldn’t even be aware of the design-I should be impressed by the story. Comment on this review of Sword of the Dark Ones v2 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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