Knives? Staves? Bows? Exotic weapons? Guns? Which will Tyler Shainline choose at The School of Five Weapons? That is the looming question in the weapon driven Five Weapons from Image Comics, created by Jimmie Robinson of Bomb Queen fame (or, perhaps, infamy). How does Five Weapons hold up? Find out with another locked and loaded Major Spoilers review!
Five Weapons #1
Writer: Jimmie Robinson
Art: Jimmie Robinson
Cover: Jimmie Robinson
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
WEAPON OF CHOICE
Set in a hyperbolic world of specialized assassins, Five Weapons explores what it might be like to go to a school where you, and everyone else, were the child of some of the world’s deadliest killers. Tyler Shainline acts as the viewer’s stand in character, having just transferred to The School of Five Weapons. Shailine already has a reputation, coming from the most revered family of assassins in this world. The school is divided into clubs, one for each type of weapon (blade, stave, bow, exotic, and gun), each student in the club of their weapon of choice. These are more than your normal clubs, however, they act kind of like the different “houses” in Harry Potter. Shailine is pressured to pick a club to join by the principal, for if he does not he will not be able to graduate. The thing is, Shainline does not want to fight at all (for very apparent reasons I will not spoil here) so he has to navigate this school using his wit. The basic set up seems to be that he will defeat the president of each club, in some fashion, in each book, and it does not try to hide this fact, and as a result ends up being somewhat charming in its upfront presentation. Shainline is written as a very likable character, easy to latch on to, and it is always satisfying to see the ways he schemes and figures out whats what. The people in the book are just as crazy as the world they inhabit, ranging from the vaguely Asian knife master Mr. Sensei, to the seemingly Hasidic president of the gun club Nat the Gat, there are more colorful characters than in New Guardians. Everything about this is so fun that its going to keep me coming back for more, that’s for sure.
ART TO DIE FOR
The art is just gorgeous. It has a certain level of light-heartedness to it that matches the tone of the book perfectly. The light coloring, to the wonderful character design, everything about it helps the hyperbolic nature of the story. The only problem is the covers, they just look a bit awkward compared to the interiors. But this is hardly a concern worth worrying about.
BOTTOM LINE: GET THIS BOOK OR DIE TRYING
This book is really, really fun. I highly suggest picking it up if you are a fan of things that involve lots of fighting or assassins, or really any kind of fun violence. I really cannot think of someone this book would not work for, except for maybe diehard romance enthusiasts who refuse to read anything else, so definitely try it out. Five Weapons #1 earns 4.5 out of 5 stars overall.
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Reader Rating
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