Switchblade Stories #5 is a comic created by Chris Askham. The Furies have a shakeup at the top and Honeydew is under pressure to deliver results. This is a story about female gangsters dealing with love, lust, infighting, and other vicious gangs. The leading lady here is Mindy Lou, a former housewife turned gang member who is ruthless and unpredictable. By her side in this gang is Honeydew, a black undercover cop who is trying to do her job and be with Mindy at the same time. The story has been tumultuous up until this point and this issue maintains that trend. Things kickoff with a fight and afterwards we get doses of drama between the women in this gang, along with problems from outside sources. This takes place in unspecified 1950’s/60’s world with themes of love and longing. The action here is very bloody bordering on gore with some real nasty hits. The pacing has its fast and slow moments with a serious tone and some high intensity throughout. The dialogue is spoken with older words and phrases hearkening to that older time. There is only wordy page but it’s conversational. This is an issue with excitement and drama and plenty of violence with an all-woman cast that will have you locked in the entire time. There are some bonus stories, mini-comics, and in-world ads after the conclusion of the main story.

            The art style is reminiscent of comics from the very early days with old-school coloring and designs. The “paper” this comic is drawn on is bloodstained and wrinkled which adds to the atmosphere this story gives off. The primary location is the Furies’ hideout but it will take us down a few streets. The backgrounds here come in three main flavors: scene parts like posters on a wall, faded/rough colors, and silhouettes. The expression level here is slightly above-average with many characters giving us different looks. The range is mostly restricted to looks from the anger family with a lot of hostility going around. The looks come across with varying degrees of clarity due to the art style occasionally making faces seem stiff. The action scenes have great flow and get very bloody. You’ll see a broad us of weaponry paired with some gruesome attacks. The outfits here match the time and are stylish. There is some nudity present.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like lady-led tales of crime starring a diverse cast and featuring lesbian relationships that take place in the 1950’/60’s than this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, blood, nudity.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Well why don’t you take control, you seem to want it so bad?”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/managementproject/switchblade-stories-issues-1-to-5/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 23

Violent Pages: 9, for 38% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 2, for 8% 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 – 3

“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.”