Blood-Stained Sword

Fantastic artwork by Ben Templesmith

A good comic has both good story and good art to tell it with. The story here is good: japonisme moderne (OK, I'm a sucker for it), revenge, and white-hat hacking. The good guys win, the ladies have good roles, and the bad guys get something bad.The art is what drew me in. I'm a nut for fine prints, and most of the style is like etching with heavy plate tone, almost monoprint. Drawing is strong and more expressive than realistic, a stark linear style. Color is daubed on, like an etched plate inked au poupee. Color is restrained too - black linear drawing plus one "plate tone" in each panel, and maybe a little highlight color. My only disappointments came from breaks in this strong style. Some scenes, esp. pp13-15, tried a soft focus that just broke the mood. Also, the background color, what I've been calling 'plate tone', is different in different panels on a given page rather often. Send this artist back to Ms. Tree! There is strength in restraint, and this work can be stronger than it is.I don't recognize the names of these artists. Perhaps this is their early effort. I certainly hope so, because I want to see this work in mature form. That will certainly be worth waiting for.//wiredweird

i liked the artwork by Ben templsmith the story is a paint by numbers,honest i worked out the twist and plot from the start