Sian: Thief of Khor-Shavarah #1 is a comic written and drawn by Craig A. Taillefer. Sian is tasked with stealing very valuable items from dangerous clients. This is a fantasy supernatural comic all about thievery that stars a woman and features drama, light violence, and stealthy moves. The leading lady for this tale is Sian, she is a very skilled thief with a strong reputation who doesn’t have time for any nonsense. Her weapon of choice is a dagger and she likes to walk around wearing a cloak. There are two unconnected stories here that focus on Sian’s adventures. The first is “A Tale of Two Thieves” and it begins by following a barbarian named Brannagh as he travels through the city in search of food. He enters a tavern where, while drinking, he overhears a quest being given. When the client leaves he takes their seat and begins a conversation with the person who took the job. The second story is “The Eye of Jar-Jargathar”, this one begins with Sian reveling in her latest theft. She goes to visit a reliable fence named Peilar, but he only offers her five gold pieces whereas she thinks her loot is worth twenty. What ensues is a physical altercation. These tales take place in the large city of Khor-Shavarah where all sort of fantasy occupations and objects are common. The violence here is mainly physical with no blood and light gore. The pacing here is steady overall with the speed picking up during action sequences. This has the tone of classic sword and sorcery comics like Red Sonja and Conan. The intensity is heightened due to sneaking, violence, and danger, along with a bit of drama. The dialogue here is mainly conversational(there are some occasional thoughts from Sian), has decent back-and-forth, and the talking style is in Proper English which is common for this genre. There are more or less a few word-heavy pages here, but they are spread out. This is an exciting comic that shows its sticky-fingered lead in two different adventures; these tales will give us a strong look at her character and capabilities.

            The art here is drawn in a very detailed, realistically-aimed style reminiscent of classic comics from the 70’s and 80’s. This is in black-and-white and it features strong lighting and shading. Aside from a rushing river there isn’t any natural scenery. There isn’t a central location here as Sian’s escapades take her all over the city from taverns to palaces to towers and strange rooms. These places have different looks and vibes which can make them feel unique. Sometimes the backgrounds will show the actual surroundings, other times it’ll be a white or fuzzy gray. The expression level here is above-average as the looks tend to change on a panel-by-panel basis. The emotions on display here are annoyance, happiness, anger, irritation, confusion, sadness, and shock. The faces here have a high amount of detail so nearly all the expressions come across strongly and clearly, even the subtle ones. The weapons used here are usually bladed like daggers and swords though sometimes hands and feet are used. The violence isn’t bloody but there is some light gore. The action scenes come in bursts and tend to flow well. A lot of characters here regardless of gender are lightly clothed; there are relatively equal amounts of skin showing.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like fantasy supernatural stories that star a woman who is a skilled thief and that features drama, light violence, and especially stealth then this is for you.

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

R. Violence, light gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“And won’t I be glad to see his gold.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/craigtaillefer/sian-thief-of-khor-shavarah-1/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 48

Violent Pages: 9, for 19% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 2, for 4% 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 – 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 – 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 – 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.”