Dark Knights of Steel #10: Queen Takes Knight

Tom Taylor has, once again, managed to imbue this high fantasy slasher with some moments of profound emotional power. I will not lie: if you have a child, this issue will give you nightmares. A parent’s worst nightmare is being unable to protect their kid. Being made to live through that moment (even vicariously, even guarded as we are by the thick, high battlements of fiction) is almost more than any sane person can bear. The fact that this particular loss is depicted with such brutal realism only makes the agony more exquisite. I am going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

You’ll notice I’m being vague about which child is murdered in this story. I have no desire to unmask too many spoilers. Take this as a content warning, and take heart that the violence within these pages was crafted with a purpose, and although it is as graphic as the rest of this series has led one to expect, it is not gratuitous. Taylor’s superpower is his radical empathy, and he uses his ability to transfer that empathy to his readers to tremendous effect. 

Aside from this meditation on parenthood and war, we are treated to character-defining moments of grief and friendship and the sight of four queens working in tandem to save their known world. Taylor never allows his grasp on the essential elements of who these characters are to slip, even for a moment, while somehow always managing to overturn the collective expectations of what we think we know. 

Yasmine Putri’s art is, as ever, nothing short of breathtaking. Her scenes of battle are brutal enough, but it’s the quieter moments that leave one gasping. Arif Prianto’s color work is as subtle and nuanced as any in a Pre-Raphaelite painting. These artists work together exceptionally well. 

This was another exceptional installment in a series that shouldn’t be slept on. It is a work of art in every possible sense.