Crone #3: You’re Toxic, I’m Slippin’ Under

Crone #3 finally answers the remaining questions I had about the history of Bloody Bliss and the identity of D’Kayde. The hesitance I still held from the first issue finally went out the window. My fears that the story would be far too derivative of Red Sonja were washed away. This is not a story about Red Sonja. This is not entirely even a story about Bloody Bliss.

This is developing into a story about toxic masculinity, in a way that is well handled, and I am here for it. The reveal of D’Kayde’s true history and identity plays heavily into this, as does his prior relationship to Bliss. More than that, however, Crone suddenly becomes about toxic masculinity, not just by showing us a toxic male villain, but by contrasting him with our previously introduced male heroes. It does not lecture and say all men are bad; it presents good men to us first. It does, however, show that even the most originally heroic men can be turned through a sense of entitlement and pride. 

It’s a refreshing thing to see in the sword and sorcery genre, if I’m honest. While I adore a good hero, too often there is a sense of entitlement to the heroes of sword and sorcery that goes unchecked. Crone is unafraid to truly explore that, in a way I didn’t expect when reading the first two issues. 

The art continues to be a good fit for the book, improving in this issue to the point that–for a moment–I thought they changed artists. It’s a subtle change and improvement, but it is certainly there. The blocking of each shot seems to be improving piece by piece.

Overall, I am very excited for the new turns that Crone is taking. For the first time, I am actually looking forward to future issues to see how this issue’s ending cliffhanger plays out. Regardless of which path is chosen, I do think that it will be more interesting from here on out. It always makes me incredibly happy to be proven wrong in this manner.