Warden’s Watch is a comic written by Ken Kirk with art by Bryce Oquaye. A Forest Warden prepares to battle an invading demon. This is a supernatural fantasy comic with noir-like vibes, a sense of adventure, and creative violence that stars an old man. The man in question is nameless but he serves as the current Forest Warden and he has held this position for most of his life. He is skilled in combat and agile and he’s beloved by wildlife in the forest. This story begins with this man recounting his beginnings as the forest’s protector and how his skills have improved over the years. He also mentions how his time as the Forest Warden is coming to end. The action has a little bit of blood with some light gore. This is steadily-paced overall with some faster moments. This has a nature-focused, stoic, monk-like tone. There are some violently intense sections but it is generally chill. The dialogue is mostly narration from the Forest Warden with little spoken words. There are no word-heavy pages. This is a standalone comic that tells a story about a man that would put his life on the line to protect a forest from evil.

            The art here is drawn in a detailed, semi-cartoonish style with thick outlines and some Ben Day dot-like shading. The color palette consists of a lot of green and brown as this takes place in a life-filled forest. This forest has many long-limbed and very tall trees, shrubs, flowers, and other types of plants. It goes without saying but the forest is the primary location with the main character traveling all over. The backgrounds usually show some foliage or greenery but occasionally it’ll just be a gradient color. The expression level here is a bit above-average as there are a decent number of reactions. Emotions we’ll see are usually aggressive from anger to determination though there are some somber looks shown. The faces have a good amount of detail down to the wrinkles so all of the different expressions are clear. The Forest Warden’s primary weapon is a staff with the ability to channel energy; this causes a green hue to appear along with other potential changes. There is a bit of blood and some light gore. The action scenes tend to come in short bursts with a longer one towards the end. They all tend to flow well with a higher amount of panels.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like supernatural fantasy stories that star a lone man with determination and a sense of adventure with some violence then this is for you.

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

PG-13. Violence, light gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“A danger that she feels is too much to ask.”

 

Digital Link: https://madhundreds.itch.io/wardens-watch

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1870873486/wardens-watch-a-fantasy-adventure-comic/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 36

Violent Pages: 9, for 25% 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 – 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.”