Slums of the Empire City #1 is a comic written by Ryan Curtis with art by Caio Rob and colors by Kayro Rocha. A group of slum-dwelling orphans are having a very eventful Independence Day. This is a dramatic and violent comic that takes place about 150 years ago and that stars a trio of teens. The leading lady of this trio is Sadie, she is an abrasive Irish redhead with a mean streak and a criminal spirit. She is flanked by Harmon and Haley, two boys who attempt to keep her levelheaded but have little success. They’ll run across other kids like themselves and butt heads with adults who see them as riff-raff. This takes place in 1869 in New York’s 4th Ward. The theme here is hustling using mostly criminal methods. The action here is physical and bloody with some hard hits. The pacing here is slightly slower-than-average with the overall tone being like that of a period drama movie/TV show with some roughness. Things do get intense when the violence starts and during arguments. The dialogue here is mainly arguments and vulgar back-and-forths usually started by Sadie. There are some older words and slang used here as well. There aren’t any word heavy pages here. This is a comic that shows us the struggle of some young people and the things they will do to survive in a rough environment.

            The art here is detailed and has a slightly rough look to it with a focus on shading and lighting. The colors here are a bit faded with brown and gray being the most common shades and it fits this story set in the slums. The scenery is all buildings with a quick shot of the harbor. These young folk are always on the move so there isn’t a primary location but they’ll go to some seedy alleys, various establishments, chill by the harbor, and walk the city streets. The backgrounds are a split between showing the scene with its surroundings and being a color gradient. The expression level here is slightly above-average as Sadie sports some strong looks throughout. The emotions here are mainly on the aggressive and angry side. The faces are smoothly detailed with the eyes being one of the strongest features and the expressions generally coming across clearly. The violence here is bloody with some hard but non-gruesome attacks. The action scenes are usually short but involve a good number of panels.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like dramatic and rough stories that star teen orphans that live on the street and use violence and come into contact with other gangs then this is for you.

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

PG-13. Violence.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Not a gang? Then why are you always doing what I tell you…”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1393349529/slums-of-the-empire-city-join-the-gang-3-pack/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 22

Violent Pages: 3, for 14% 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 – 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 – 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.”