Crimson Sails #1 is a comic written by Dan Wickline with line art by Art Voyager and colors by Hector Rubilar. A group of pirates are attacked by the Jericho. This is a swashbuckling comic with high-stakes violence, high seas drama, and a high amount of women on the cast. The leading lady for this tale is Natalya, she is a very determined and headstrong woman and the only female member of the crew led by Marcus. Marcus is the captain of the ship and he and Natalya are close childhood friends. The Jericho is a ship manned by an all-female pirate crew. The story begins with Natalya and Marcus getting frisky below deck but they are interrupted when an alarm is raised. Upon returning topside they see that the notorious Jericho is gaining on them fast. The action here is very bloody with gruesome attacks, but no gore. The pacing is a tad bit faster than average especially during the combat scenes and it has that high seas pirate tone that is common to the genre. The intensity is pretty high overall due to imminent danger, violence, drama, and trauma. The dialogue is all conversational and the talking style is more modern than that older English you might expect to hear. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an opening issue that throws us right into the violent fray and gives us a cast of strong female characters who are determined to get what they want.

            The art here is drawn in a highly detailed style reminiscent of some comics ranging from the 70’s to the 90’s, just a bit sharper and more cleaned up. The palette here is both realistic and colorful with a relatively high variety on each page. For scenery we have the vast ocean and the sky which is either cloudy or clear. Though most of this story takes place on ships a decent amount takes place on docks and nearby buildings. The backgrounds tend to show the very detailed surroundings but on occasion it’ll be an orange or blue gradient filled with action lines. The expression level here is on the high side as these characters wear their emotions on their sleeves. The emotions here range from fear and shock to sadness and anger. The happiness shown can be either sinister or nice. The faces have a high amount of detail with strong features from the teeth to the eyes; this ensures that all the different expressions come across with great clarity. The hair here is very free and flowing and will catch your eye. Bladed weapons from daggers to swords are the primary weapons here. The violence is very bloody with gruesome attacks that lead to light gore. The action scenes come in bursts and have a decent amount of panels per page with an overall smooth flow. All the women here have large breasts, are curvy, and pretty. They all wear tight, revealing, and overall not that much clothing. There are more than a few lewd/sexy shots, poses, and angles.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like pirate stories that star and features a cast of mainly women with a lot violence, drama, and sexiness then this is for you.

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

NC-17. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, nudity, sexual scenes.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Are you sure you’re a pirate?”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/etherealcomics/crimson-sails/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 10, for 42% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 3, for 13% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 4

“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 – 4

“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 – 3

“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 – 5

“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.”