Category: (Book)
17 new, starting at $8.48
12 used, starting at $7.40
It was a day like any other for Dara Brighton, a promising young college student, until three strangers knocked on her door, looking for a unique sword, and destroyed her life! A modern day fantasy series from the creators behind Ultra and Girls!
Buy this book. RecommendedReviewed by Ozwell, 2010-02-18
The Luna Brothers' epic "The Sword" is the sort of comic that fans
will press on their non-comic reader friends.
It's that good.
It achieves that wonderful balance of being accessible to both
people new to comics as well as the long term fans.
Plot? Magic sword causes havoc in present day USA. But it's so much
more - the pacing and characterisation make this worth seeking
out.
If your budget can manage it, buy all three volumes. You'll enjoy
reading the chapters one after the other.
Those of us following comic have to wait a month between
installments.
The original comic is currently working towards it's conclusion, so
it's all waiting for you.
A word of caution - this is a comic about what a magic sword can do
to people, so the violence is a level or two beyond what you may be
expecting.
If you can get by that, you're in for one of the best reading
experiences you're had in years.
This is an amazing revenge comic...Reviewed by Isaac M. Speed, 2010-02-03
The Luna brothers have an excellent idea on their hands, and one of
the reasons it works is because it is so simple. Dara is an art
student at college, living at home with her family when things go
horribly wrong and three strangers walk into their house. From
there, things get intense and it all works out to be an amazing
revenge comic.
The gore factor in it is pretty high, but if you've read Kick-Ass
or Walking Dead, then you already know what to expect. The action
is top-notch, and circles around the central characters, as not to
get confusing. The plot line isn't too deep, but is involving
enough to keep interest. The artwork is standard, which isn't a bad
thing. There's plenty of detail. It's just a good overall comic so
far, and I just finished the third volume this evening.
I would highly suggest this to anyone who liked Kill Bill (my
girlfriend loves that series of movies, and loves The Sword as
well), or to anyone who likes comics about ordinary people in
extraordinary situations (like the above mentioned Kick-Ass, The
Walking Dead, as well as Y: The Last Man).
One of the Best in YearsReviewed by David Wilkerson, 2009-12-17
Simply wonderful,
In this amazing comic series, the Luna Brother's work their magics,
creating a world of modern day gods and goddesses. Through their
gifted writing, they help the reader to share Dara Brighton's
journey of vengeance and redemption as she seeks to punish unjust
gods for the murder of her family. One cannot simply read this
book, one experiences the passions, the highs, the lows, the joys,
the fears and the sorrows of the characters. This is the comic book
at it's best.
But it. Read it. Live the adventure.
Amazing bookReviewed by ThisParticular Reader, 2009-10-24
This first volume is exciting, tense, immersive and highly entertaining. The Luna Brothers have an amazing talent for dialogue and action. Their characters are really well done, and the effects they use in their art give a very widescreen cinematic feel. I loved their earlier work (Ultra made me a big fan and I liked girls enough to pick up the single volume hardcover.) Based on the first volume, The Sword may be their best work yet. I've already picked up volume two.
SO addictive... like all of the Lunas' work. Comics don't get much
better than this.Reviewed by M. Schwartz, 2009-07-13
(Full disclosure: I lost my first [longer] review due to a brower
crash, but I'm so durn enthusiastic about this book I cooked up a
new one.)
The Luna Brothers: Visceral. Playful (often darkly so).
Unapologetically violent / naturalistic / immediate. Mighty themes,
visuals, words, and ideas, but NOT pretentious.
The images: adrenalin courses through the beautiful, clean
art--notice the use of lighting, the character expression, the
"special effects," the cinematic motion across the page. Jonathan
Luna, for my money, is equally at home with the big mythic stuff
and the small character moments (see The Walking Dead, the comic
that most easily comes to mind when I look for a comparison, though
Jonathan really has his own, unique voice).
The writing: interactions between characters are loaded with
emotion (or not, when numbness, quietness, etc. is called
for)--they are immediate and real. (Joshua Luna is at his best
during dialog exchanges, in my opinion.) The Lunas' stories are
carefully plotted and creatively paced (it's not all breakneck
action, but there's plenty of that), but their books just don't
seem mechanically (or heartlessly) put-together, plotwise. More
below on the writing...
While I'm a sucker for beautiful art, good, meaty violence, dark
playfulness, and unpretentious "big idea" writing, it's the Luna
brothers' treatment of emotion that does me in--a number of
(alternately painful, funny, fearful, etc.) moments from their work
stick with me long after the pages are closed. I do confess to
being a Luna "pusher" on friends and family--their stuff is that
good.
I know I've been talking about the Lunas generally--frankly, it was
hard deciding which book to write a review for. I settled on The
Sword because it is probably the most immediately (and broadly?)
accessible, though I'd never in a million years classify any of the
Lunas' work as inaccessible. (Compare Alan Moore--whom I do enjoy,
and beside whom I rank the Lunas in terms of going for the big
symbolic, mythic stuff--who can be significantly less accessible
for the first-time reader.) The Sword is a seemingly-classic
revenge story and perhaps a "hero's call" story, but the plot is
almost secondary. Reading this book is about BEING THERE--letting
yourself get lost in protagonist Dara's anger and pain and
relentless motion forward. While the book does treat "bigger
themes," as I've been saying, it never lets you sit back and judge
or ruminate from afar. It's visceral, immediate, powerful stuff,
and the brothers' talents complement each other perfectly in this
regard.
Any second-guessing? It's hard for me to come up with many
negatives. I would say that The Sword has fewer quiet moments than
did Girls (which had far more time to explore its story)--but then,
The Sword is a very different artistic experiment. Really, my
complaints are more along the lines of wanting this book to go on
forever...but then again, I'm also eager for the brothers' next
project.
One warning: you may find yourself in the midst of a belly laugh
one panel after a dismemberment (the story is, after all, about a
magic sword). If this notion bothers you, then you might want to
take a flier. I wouldn't say the book glorifies violence at all,
yet it doesn't seem to be held back by some of the typical societal
hang-ups which some people need to feel comfortable and
protected.
At any rate, read this book. Then read Girls and Ultra. Then read
them all again. The Sword is coming to a close soon; can't wait to
see what the Luna brothers do next.
