Sword #13

So in the last issue of this series, Dara, our intrepid hero, was finally able to kill one of the three people who murdered her family.  It was an epic battle in its own right, filled with wholesale slaughter, limb dismemberment, and a right stab through the chest.  It seemed to me that, given the quality of the first 12 issues, this series could do no wrong.  I mean, it's been a solid 5 star book for me with pretty much each and every issue.  This week, however, I just had to give the book four stars for two very disheartening reasons.

My first issue with the story is that we get to the second murderer way too fast.  In less than 16 pages, Dara is able to locate the second member of the trifecta of evil, even though it took her twelve issues to find the first.  It feels like the story is moving a little fast.  A little part of me, however, really likes this because its keeping me entertained and it means that there's another big fight coming up.  I just wish the Luna Brothers would have taken an issue or two to kind of slow things down and build up more to the next fight.  Who knows?  Maybe that will happen in the next few issues.  We'll just have to see.

My second beef with this issue was that the issue ended with the same cliff hanger we've seen in every previous issue:  Dara getting completely messed up in some crazy way.  In one of the issues, she was stabbed and dying.  In another, her legs were cut off.  In yet another, she was shot.  And in this issue, she falls to a barrage of machine gun fire.  All I can do is yawn at this plot device.  It's been overused, and I know she's going to be ok.  There's just no tension with the ending of this issue, which is something the series has been really good about.  The only thing really keeping me interested in the next issue is not the fact that I want to find out what happens to Dara, but that I want to see how the fights will play out.  It's just a bit disappointing that the Luna Brothers couldn't have been more creative with this one.