Switchblade Stories #10 is a comic with story and art by Chris Askham. Ginger tries to keep it together while searching for Frankie. This is a drama comic that deals with loss, has gritty pulp vibes, and boasts a nearly all-woman cast. The leading lady here is Ginger, she is a young woman with a quick temper who was in a relationship with an older married named Frankie who attempted to flee her abusive husband. They were driving across the country but they got caught and separated. This story begins with Ginger waking up and seeing the aftermath of the violent encounter she just had. She leaves the shack and opens the trunk of the nearby van where there is a gas tank, she then heads back inside the building and begins pouring it everywhere incriminating. This takes place in a 1960’s world very identical to ours. There isn’t any real violence outside of a punch and some destruction but there is a lot of blood and some gruesomeness. This is fast-paced overall but things slow down during conversations. The tone here is noir-like and pulpy with a heavy dramatic air. Dialogue is straightforward and has an older talking style. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an revealing issue that shows us how Ginger survives without Frankie while also laying the foundation for exciting future events.

            The art here is drawn in a detailed, pulpy style that is very reminiscent of some of the earliest comics with realistic lighting and shading; there are also some true-to-life elements like missing ink and stains on the pages. Most of the color palette has a faded look to it but the range overall is decent. For scenery there are long stretches of what looks like desert as well as some plants and trees. While this story starts in a shack we’ll go to hotels, diners, and bars, along with some scenes in the streets. Backgrounds are split between showing the actual surroundings and just being a solid color. The expression level here is towards the lower end as Ginger tries to maintain a tough demeanor. We will see some rare happier emotions but this is overall irritated and angry. Faces here have a fluctuating level of detail but it is high most of the time with most of the expressions being clear. There is some gruesomeness leading to significant gore and a lot of blood but we don’t see the preceding violence. The actions scenes(there are two) are one page each and don’t go past a panel.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like dramatic stories starring women in a 1960’s-like era with strong pulp vibes and romantic yearning then this is for you.

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

R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore, sexual situations.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Haven’t seen her for awhile.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/switchbladestories/switchblade-stories-issues-1-to-10-complete/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 2, for 8% 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 – 2

“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 – 5

“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 – 1

“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.”