Damsel from D.I.S.T.R.E.S.S. #1 is a comic written by Andrew Clemson with artwork by Maurice Mora. This is a high fantasy tale about a woman named Bec who works for D.I.S.T.R.E.S.S., an inter-kingdom agency. She’s not one of those deep undercover types but she does wear the occasional disguise. The meat of the story begins with her in the middle of a mission against a sorcerer. We get the gist of her character and personality from this encounter. There are a few backgrounders but the obvious second fiddle is Dave, a non-Knight who accidentally took part in the opening mission. Dave is clearly out of his element but he does offer an alternative look at the situations our heroine finds herself in. There’s great dialogue across the board, the story is easy to follow and the banter is witty. This is good beginning to what looks to be a fun romp through a few kingdoms.
The outfits in this comic are pretty standard for a fantasy tale. Everyone is more or less dressed like Renaissance swordfighters, with a few people wearing armor. Of course the sorcerer has a robe, but the only time we see a dress is when Bec is on her mission. The locations we visit are a castle, forest, more forest, a quick look at on office, even more forest, then we hit up a dwarven city that gives off Ancient Rome vibes. Facial expression is done excellently here. Fear, confusion, distress(heh), shock, bafflement, all of these can read on the face. Now when it comes to using the rest of the body to express oneself this comic does a decent job, but it usually lets the words do most of the work.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like women-led comics with action and intrigue and good dialogue this is for you. Fantasy fans who want to see a different/rarely seen approach to this world might enjoy this.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
PG.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“Firstly, let’s leave Sleeping Beauty over there out of it.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewclemson/damsel-from-distress
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24
Violent Pages: 5, for 21% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% 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 – 1
“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 – 1
“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.”
