2 out of 5

When I read a comic that is, y’know, alright, for the purposes of having more to say than that, I comb back over it to assess whether or not the book can be said to have accomplished its task, whatever I imagine that is. Am I getting the intended experience?

At first, with Blade in the Dark, I assumed it to be more of a vehicle for Willi Roberts black and white, ink-splashed, heavy-blacks art, with Morgan Quaid’s samurai-meets-Lovecraft mashup providing opportunity for cool widescreen pages of monster slashing.

Maybe.

But there’s some world-building in here, establishing some gods or demons our lead will track down, seeking vengeance for the burning of his village; and frankly, while the book has a widescreen setup, only a couple of scenes act as showpieces – the rest are dialogue or moody stares between characters.

So I assessed the writing: the story starting with the burning village; the stated need for revenge; meeting the monster; getting tasked by a wise woman where to go next. And unfortunately, it fell apart a little. While the cold open of the village is a good way in, we somewhat jump too quickly into semi-cryptic dialogue – conversations that just don’t read real in any way, but are rather just statements made. The monster fight and some saw-it-in-a-vision lore has a similar detachment to it, info moreso presented than told as a story.

So I assessed the art. Which is cool, but is maybe partially responsible for the lack of immersion in the story, with the widescreen layouts forcing pacing that doesn’t really serve the story’s punctuations very well, and the heavily inked style making everything seem ominous, which isn’t uncool, but again, perhaps unbalances scenes or moments that should carry more weight.

Blade in the Dark is alright, but a closer look unfortunately suggests that elements of it perhaps stand in its own way from making a more durable impression with its admittedly cool mashup concept.