A Near-Perfect Epic: Reviewing ‘The Karman Blade’ #3

At first read, The Karman Blade #3 seems like an odd tangent in an otherwise flawless story. On a second reading, its brilliance shines through.

Perhaps this fantasy miniseries is better read in one sitting as a collected volume rather than in four monthly installments. Or maybe Ian Bertram’s illustrations are so breathtakingly beautiful that they distract from Darcy Van Poelgeest’s excellent script. In any case, it took me two readings plus a look back at the previous issue to finally understand all that was happening here.

Spoilers prevent revealing too much but as shown in the last chapter, Anatta — the young well digger who carried the blade — was seemingly killed by a stranger. That stranger took the sword and entered the Kingdom of Kalu. Now we learn the stranger has married one of Kalu’s twin daughters and eventually goes on a quest to kill the other so that his own twins may ascend to the throne.

If all that sounds like the original story has been warped, don’t worry. Van Poelgeest has a plan. And she and Bertram are executing it flawlessly.

Bertram continues to amaze with his artwork. Everything is rendered beautifully. Bertram has a style that makes everything, including clothing, look organic. That’s appropriate as everything seems to come alive here, even in the face of so many deaths.

Van Poelgeest and Bertram prove in The Karman Blade that stories don’t need to be straightforward to be enjoyable. The series also treats us to a near-perfect epic that is a feast for the eyes as well as the mind. The only downside is that is only one more issue left for us to enjoy.

The Karman Blade #3 — written by Darcy Van Poelgeest, illustrated by Ian Bertram, colored by Matt Hollingsworth, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou — is available now in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.