Writer: Greg Pak and Shuizhu

Art: Gunji, Ario Anindito, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Travis Lanham

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11th, 2019

Lin Lie has been plagued by horrible nightmares. Is his current madness yet another nightmare, or is it real life? Plus, can Lin Lie and Shang Chi retrieve the “sword” after it’s been taken by Ares, the God of War? Let’s find out!

As Lin Lie recovers from his attack by demons we get some background in the form of a history lesson, or is it another dream?

We then get many many pages of action sequences that are worth the price of this issue all on their own. I literally struggle to write my own name legibly so I can’t really comprehend let alone put into worlds the talent on display here by Gunji.

In our second story with Sword Master and Shang Chi, we see the aftermath of the duo losing the sword to Ares, the God of War.

Although Ares is a truly physical threat, could Lin Lie and Shang Chi exploit a weakness that tips the scales in their favor? Head to your local comic shop or online store to find out!

We’re three issues into Sword Master so far and I do have a few concerns. The art in the Sword Master segment of the issues is the highlight of the series so far, no contest. The drawback is that there are SO many pages of fight sequences where there are little to no words, the result of which is a story really hasn’t progressed much at all. Also, even though these are oversized issues, having two stories per issue doesn’t help progress either story.

Final Thoughts:

We get very little in the progression of both stories, but the art by Gunji ALMOST makes up for it. This book seems to be struggling with finding it’s groove.