Swanblade: Year One by D.K. Kristof

Blending the gritty imagery of The Dark Knight and the ominous edge of grimdark fiction, Swanblade: Year One by D.K. Kristof is an unflinching tale of legacy, power, and justice served. Since taking up her father’s legendary mantle as the vigilant protector of Radion Bay, Kayla McAllister has settled into her double life as Swanblade, but a vengeful harbinger of doom has been watching and waiting for his moment to strike. Dragged into the medieval brutality of a lawless battle for the city’s underworld, Kayla and her unlikely allies must face down a sinister foe willing to cut down anything in his path. In this unapologetically dark graphic novel, hard-edged noir fiction collides with top-shelf illustration in a creative, mixed-media layout that feels like its own genre. All told, this second installment improves on its predecessor with vividly realized action, an increasingly relatable hero, and an unpredictable array of plot twists.