Switchblade Stories #1 is a comic created by Chris Askham. This story takes place sometime in or around the 1950’s starring Mindy Lou, your average married secretary who becomes anything but. After a regrettable incident our heroine(?) must change her life drastically. This leads to her doing all sorts of things to survive. And on this journey she meets quite a few people who appear to have her back. One thing I must say is that this plot does not go where you think it will, expectations will be subverted all over the place. This comic does a good job of fleshing out our key characters but seeing how this is the debut issue there is still some work to be done. This is a pulp-influenced comic with the plot to match. Even though this does have slight noir vibes it lacks the audible introspection those stories are known for. We are truly the onlookers to what looks to be an exciting story. There are some bonus stories, mini-comics, and in-world ads after the conclusion of the main story.
This is pulp art if I’ve ever seen it. There are even baked-in splotches, smudges, and stains! This comic travels to too many different locations to name. Just about every few pages we are in a different spot. Pulp comics aren’t really known for malleable faces and this comic holds true to that. While we do get a passable amount of expression we still need to words to fully understand the scene. And true to pulp, there is some face sameness. I was born in the 90’s so I’m not an expert but the hairstyles and the way they dress seems pretty accurate to what I’ve seen on old TV shows and movies, and this has a good amount of variety. There is some action here and the impact is oddly heavy. You’ll feel the hits. Is there sexualization here? Not really. Like I said this story takes place in the 50’s, and I’m pretty sure even having skirts above the knees was illegal.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you’ve been looking for a pulpy tale about a woman who has to change her life in a flash and try to survive this is it. This comic also features lesbian relationships.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Very adult.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“This ain’t no time for a game of backseat bingo!”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/managementproject/switchblade-stories-issue-1/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 21
Violent Pages: 8, for 31% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 4, for 15% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 3
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 2
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 2
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
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