Written by husband and wife Matt Hawkins and Jenni Cheung, and illustrated by Linda Sejic, Swing tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young Asian woman, her sexual maturing, and more.
The story starts with Cathy Chang leaving home for college, and away from her domineering mom for the first time. Once in college, she loses some of her inhibition and meets Dan Lincoln. Her first romance blossoms!
As Cathy and Dan marry and proceed through life, things get too predictable; they fall into a rut. When Cathy suggests they try having sex with other partners at a Swing club, it’s nerve-wracking for them both. Will they continue on this road, or make a U-Turn back to the comfort of the ‘tried-and-true’?
The content is obviously for Adults only, and there are some graphic sexual situations displayed. That probably goes without saying. What I WILL say in reviewing Swing is that the story of Cathy and Dan’s early lives could have been edited and abbreviated. The ‘swinging’ doesn’t actually start until page 83, which, as they say, leaves a LOT of ‘foreplay’ before the main event.
The back story, intended to help us understand the characters, means well. We do ‘get it’. We care about them, we relate to them; but reading about their journey is not as exciting as it could be. We are here to see drama, and action. Get our pulses pounding from the start! That’s what comics are all about!
The art is well rendered, if a bit restrained. There is no strong cinematic quality, exaggeration or, well, drama, beyond the basic story. The figures, poses and backgrounds are well drawn, it’s just not as powerful as the possibilities offered by the subject matter; this book is about trading sex partners for sexual adventure!
In addition to the main Swing story (93 pages), there is a 12 page preview/promo of Blood Stains comic book, and 11 pages of small panel previews of another upcoming comic book entitled Sugar, which is also sexual in nature. There is also a Swinging Glossary, and more text information on Swinging, if you tend to be interested in learning more.
Image Comics, Top Cow, Swing volume 1, $9.99 for 132 pages of content, Adult
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