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brnineworms's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
3.0
Dagger Dagger is not a cohesive anthology. The cover promises “dark fantasy and sci-fi” and editor Al Gofa coins the term “blood-fi” to describe these works. “Blood-fi” to me invokes those manga where characters explode with more blood than could possibly be contained within a human body, and enemies are viscerally torn apart (something like Berserk or Fist of the North Star). By comparison, the comics in this anthology really seem to be holding back; in fact, there are many comics which barely feature blood, or don’t at all. They do all touch on grisly subject matter like slavery and warfare, but these are major themes throughout science fiction and fantasy literature, so I don’t think this book is especially “dark.”
The individual comics are fine, largely mediocre. I did like the art of The Monastery by Goran Gligović, Angelic Missile by Linnea Sterte, and Yesaul by Artyom Trakhanov and Artem Dumov. I’ve been a fan of Sterte’s work for a while but I’ll make sure to check out those other artists as well.
I think that’s ultimately the main goal of this anthology – to highlight some comic creators and give them exposure. The book literally ends with the Evil Wizard following all the featured creators on social media and being inspired to create their own comics. If that’s what Dagger Dagger was aiming for, it did succeed.
CONTENT WARNINGS: war, violence, execution, slavery, injury, fire
robin_dh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Amusing (the Weight of Shame, Long Live the King), Reflective (Colony Blues, Opal), Romantic (Pigfoot and the Sorcerers), Righteous (Aberrant, Death to the Wizard King!), Transcendent (Angelic Missile, Yesaul, The Monastery, Mercy, as yet through Blood) and seldom bad (Orc Speed, La Tecnica Obscura)
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