Swords & Sorrows is a comic written & lettered by Conner Bartel with art by Atagun Ilhan. A reluctant assassin fights his master in hopes of leaving the guild. This is a combat-heavy comic with bloody violence and self-destructive drama that takes place in Japan. The main man here is called Rat, he is an assassin who had been disillusioned with the practice for some time and he now wants to leave. His master is unnamed and he has a joking personality and a drinking problem. This story begins with the master stumbling into the home he shares with Rat while mumbling about the traps not being set. He then sees Rat sitting at a table with a drink prepared; Rat asks him to have a seat and begins a discussion with his master about killing. This takes place in Japan as evidence by shrines and presumably the writing displayed around the home. The violence is very bloody with gruesomeness but no gore. The pacing is a bit faster than normal with a serious and somewhat somber tone. There are many violently intense moments driven by light drama. The dialogue is conversational with a proper-like talking style and no word-heavy pages. This is an intriguing issue about a man wanting to leave a violent and heartless lifestyle by any means necessary.

            The art here is very detailed and drawn in a serious, slightly rough modern style. This is in black-and-white with heavy shading. For scenery there are winding landscapes with cliffs, trees, and rivers. The main location is the home shared by these two assassins which has a sizable outdoor area with a Shinto shrine. The backgrounds do a good job of showing the actual surroundings but occasionally it’ll be a solid black or white. The expression level here is below as both of these leading men are very stoic and unflinching. Emotion seen here are usually aggressive from anger to pained yells. The faces have a good amount of detail and the different expressions very clearly. The weapons used here appear to be katanas, throwing stars, and some physicality is used as well. There are some gruesome attacks that lead to a significant amount of blood. The action scene is lengthy with a decent flow, multiple angles, and standout moments.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like Japanese assassin stories that star two men and that features desperate and somber bloody violence then this is for you.

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

R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Do you remember what you said to me?”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/conner/swords-and-sorrows-a-one-shot-comic-about-assassin/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 22

Violent Pages: 9, for 41% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 1, for 5% 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.”