Swashbucklers: the Saga Continues #3 - Featured Reviews 

“Swashbucklers: The Saga Continues” #3

By | June 8th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

In the tradition of the space opera, no adventure is complete without a grand battle against a vast and seemingly unstoppable enemy. “Swashbucklers: The Saga Continues,” due its nature as a sequel, hasn’t had one of these yet. Mostly dealing with the fallout of the previous series, that all changes this month. Alliances must be formed, traditions must be broken, and the powers of our dear captain must be explored if they are to survive this new old enemy. Minor spoilers ahoy.

Cover by Butch Guice
Written by Mark Guggenheim
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Colored by Chris Sotomayor
Lettered by Taylor Esposito

The Colonizer Empire was created to fight a threat from beyond the stars, but now that the Colonizers have fallen, their ancient enemy has resurfaced. And where does Raader and her crew find themselves? The last place they would expect to be: on the bridge of Colonizer ship!

As fun as its been to read, the first two issues of “Swashbucklers” haven’t been anything stellar. Mostly concerned with introducing readers to the world and events of Mantalo and Guice’s original series, it’s felt a little directionless. Like it’s picking up the pieces left by its predecessor and slowly building something new but the pieces aren’t fitting together and the glue is getting all over their hands and it kind of looks right but…this metaphor has gotten away from me, hasn’t it?

What I’m trying to say is that it’s felt a little shallow. The characters are more archetype than character, the story is more epilogue than prologue. For those who have read the original “Sword of the Swashbucklers,” most likely this isn’t a problem. They’ve had 12 issues with Captain Raader and Servitor and so this is, as the title presents, a continuation of those adventures. For all others, this connection is not there so all that remains are the trappings of this genre.

That’s not to say these are not done well. Despite my griping, I enjoyed every page of this issue. Each archetype is performed with thought and ingenuity and there are enough mysteries and twists in the narrative to keep me wanting more. As I brought up in the intro to this, the creative team seems to be finding its footing, storywise. There is a new big bad, bigger and badder than the Colonizer Empire (a bit on the nose, I know).

It gives an immediate focus to the overall story and a clear picture of where their going next. The political ramifications of the fall of the Colonizer Empire and Raader’s place fighting against/for the new regime could have been interesting but that would require a lot more world building and a much slower pace than the series has had so far.

This next statement might seem strange considering the preceding paragraph but bear with me. “Swashbucklers” issue 3 is too restrained in its art. Artistically, this has been a problem with the whole of the series so far. Mutti does a fantastic job of making (most) characters unique, making action pop, having space feel both empty and filled at the same time and making the world just the right amount of dirty.

Yet the art is too restrained. There is a shine to the coloring, a shine to the faces, that, due to the digital nature of the comic’s creation, makes the world feel flatter and less real. A statement that seems odd, considering this is a story about alien pirates, but I stand by it. This flattening of the world also tempers the grandness of the story and the genre. Guggenheim’s script is there, having the right balance of dramatic narration, over-the-top exclamations and melodramatic events.

Yet the art is too restrained. It does not support the script. Posing goes only as far as it needs to, facial expressions don’t change and when they do, it’s only in small ways. There are moments when Mutti is able to capture the right amount of drama though. It is two panels, right after Servitor has been killed. All aspects of the project, lettering, coloring, art and writing, click for these two panels, among others, although this is the illustrative one.

Continued below

It’s a close-up on Captain Raader’s face. In the background, orange and red smoke obscures everything else. Her face is bathed in shadows. She is silent for the first panel. The second pulls in closer. Her head is tilted down and she whispers, “no.” Despite the lack of true facial changes, the emotions of these panels are conveyed perfectly, with gravity and drama. The next panel, on the next page, continues to support the drama. It is unfortunate that the panel following that one cannot match. Raader’s face, once again, is flat. Emotionless. Bland.

The designs for this evil race of alien are bland as well. They are like stick bugs: brown and featureless. A mob for our heroes to push through. The in-universe story around them is fearsome but we have not been shown this and, as such, have nothing to fear.

I have not read the original “Sword of the Swashbucklers,” I do have it on my shelves, but, after reading this series, I have a greater desire to read it then I did before. The world and the characters have gripped me in spite of the problems I’ve listed. My only hope is that, in future issues, we slow down and get the chance to learn more about our crew as a crew, instead of this inbetween.

Final Score: 5.7. A disconnect of tone between the art and writing holds back this enjoyable issue.


Elias Rosner

Elias is a lover of stories who, when he isn't writing reviews for Mulitversity, is hiding in the stacks of his library. Co-host of Make Mine Multiversity, a Marvel podcast, after winning the no-prize from the former hosts, co-editor of The Webcomics Weekly, and writer of the Worthy column, he can be found on Twitter (for mostly comics stuff) here and has finally updated his profile photo again.

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