Chinese Hero: Tales of the Blood Sword, Vol 7

Tales of the Blood Sword 7
Tales of the Blood Sword 7

By Wing Shing Ma (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN13: 978-1-59796-131-8

The end is in sight for the spellbindingly action-packed, yet largely nonsensical, martial arts drama from Hong Kong. In this penultimate volume the plot, as ever, is largely incidental as Hero Hua continues to defend the mystical Blood Sword from a horde of vicious and exotic villains determined to use its powers for evil.

His lost son too faces threat after threat. Whether on sleazy city streets or jungle-lost temples The Black Dragon Gang persists in its wicked plans, and around the world Hero’s friends and surviving family endure a never-ending war for survival as magic and combat blend into a whirlwind of danger.

If you need a starting context, it all kicked off when a gangster tried to steal the Sword, which Hero’s family had guarded for centuries. That fight’s collateral damage included most of Hero’s family, launching a vendetta encompassing half the planet.

The villains are thoroughly evil, masters of every fighting art and dirty trick whom Hero and his incomprehensibly wide circle of friends and associates – coming and going with dazzling brevity – must fight unceasingly to preserve the sword and achieve their vengeance. By this volume nobody really cares: if you’re already buying this series it’s because of the astounding action and incredible art.

Hong Kong comics are beautiful. They’re produced using an intensive studio art-system that means any individual page might be composed of painted panels, line-art, crayons and coloured pencils: literally anything that will get the job done. And that presumably is to enhance not so much nuances of plot but rather details of the mysticism and philosophy of Kung Fu that my western sensibilities just aren’t attuned to.

They’re wonderful to look at, but don’t expect them to make much sense, because fundamentally this genre of comic is one glorious, spectacular exhibition of Kung Fu mastery. Like much of the region’s classic cinema, all other considerations are suborned to the task of getting the fighting started and to keeping it going.

If you’re looking for characterisation, sharp dialogue or closure, look elsewhere. If, however, you want Good Guys thumping Bad Guys in extended, eye-popping ways, give this a shot.

© 2008 Yasushi Suzuki. © 2008 DGN Production Inc.