drive-by readings: Swordsmith Assassin #1

Swordsmith Assassin #1 (Boom!) Andrew Cosby Michael Alan Nelson Ayhan Hayrula Andres Lozano Johnny Lowe John Cassaday/Laura Martin (cover A) Joe Corroney (cover B)

so there's this Japanese swordsmith who spent most of his life learning from his father, a legendary swordmaker of his time, and applying capitalist principles on their craft to enjoy the fruits of their labors. in other words, its also about the money, baby!!! turns out not vetting your customers (like those greedy gun shops) can result in crazy stuff. you know, like somebody coming back to use your own tools on you. which is what happens to Toshiro Ono, current single man, as his family is slain by a thief wielding one of his own swords personally purchased from him. now, surviving his own bumbling attempt at revenge, he makes it his current vocation to track down all his swords and make sure they're never used. kinda like Tony Stark and the first Armor Wars. so what's he doing telling his tale of woe to a German general right smack in the middle of the Franco-Prussian War? is he going to be able to politely take the general's sword without a hitch? or is he going to take on the whole Prussian army to do it?

drive-by readings: Dead Run #2

Dead Run #2 (Boom!) Andrew Cosby Michael Alan Nelson Francesco Biagini Matthew Wilson Marshall Dillon Eric Canete and Andres Lozano (cover)

this title caught my eye in its opening issue, with its Mad Max/futuristic tale of a courier (Nick Masters) forced to go through a "Dead Run", a mythic route thru the wastelands between San Francisco and Los Angeles, to deliver some contraband goods in exchange for his kidnapped sister. tagging along is Becki, the teenage firecracker daughter of the only man who's ever survived the route. Nick and Becki survive the a pack of mutant bikers called drones (who rule the radiated wastelands) thru some quick thinking, but fall prey to a land mine on a diversion road. the bickering pair may follow the cliche of eventually becoming partners, but it works here. i just don't get the monologue Nick has to deliver when he discovers Becki's been taken by the locals. i guess that would work in film.