Writer/Artist: Dale Berry, Daerick Gross Sr.(i)
Publisher: Studio G
Studio G was kind enough to send me a copy of Moonlight Cutter to review. The story takes place in China during the period where Mongol hordes roamed the plain and introduces Shen Hua Yen the Moonlight Cutter a name shared by him with his sword.
Moonlight Cutter appeared in Studio G's Kung Fu Warriors, but most including myself likely never encountered the comic book or magazine. Dale Berry however briskly introduces the reader to his hero, and easily eastablishes the setting without depending on needless exposition. He lets the characters speak for themselves.
Although in essence a new character, the way in which Mr. Berry dialogues and handles the artistic composure of the characters creates a genuine resonance. He walks the walk and talks the talk of a hero. However, he is a disturbed hero haunted by his work and the spirits who guide him. Mr. Berry shows that Moonlight Cutter's crusade is a noble one, but it is costly for him personally. These emotions he conveys without a heavy hand.
The plot is a familiar one to anybody having a fleeting association with Hong Kong sword and samurai films, but Mr. Berry uses conventions such as possession and the exotic backdrop to good effect.
Where Mr. Berry excels in terms of the plot is in the depiction of hyperkinetic movement. Wirework didn't originate in the orient, but no other region has made more use of the technique in films than that area of the world. The way in which the actors seem to defy gravity can if not done well look ridiculous: case in point The Heroic Trio a so-called classic film that I believe inspired Joel Schumacher's Nippleman Forever. In Moonlight Cutter, Mr. Berry restrains himself from making the work an entire martial arts battle, and the scenes in which he employs near air-combat rather than outlandish look graceful.
Daerick Gross Sr.'s inks increase the depth of well developed muscle and accent the contrast between black and white. He sinks in cheeks to express age, and he gives the book an overall polished, professional look.
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