This was goddamn nuts and I loved 90% of it!

Sang is a killer. He's also a half blind and mute kid who's trying to just be a normal kid. However, after his master is killed he cuts off the arm of a drug lord and runs away. The drug lord puts out a bounty and all these gangs start to head out to kill him. Sang must survive, with the help of a mother-like figure, to go against all these gangs plus fight back against the drug lord himself.

This is both intense and funny as hell. The dialogue is just enough to build the characters and world plus the humor hits high for me. I also loved the art, over the top and cartoony but just perfect for this series. The pacing is well done, feeling like a movie, and by the end I was wanting more. The only negative is maybe it takes a bit to get sucked into this wacky world and also the main villain is pretty typical save the ending.

Overall, great stuff. Ed Brisson knocks it out of the park here as making a very funny story mixed with heart and extreme violence. A 4 out of 5.

"Homage to Takashi Miike films with THE BALLAD OF SANG, the story of a child assassin raised in violence and out for revenge after his master is murdered."

-A kid assassin being hunted by a crime lord?! Count me the eff in! The artwork is absolutely stunning, the story of course Im biased as I love all movies by Takashi Miike, is such a fun read! Great work and would totally recommend to anyone I know!

'The Ballad of Sang' by Ed Brisson with art by Alessandro Micelli is an homage to the films of Takashi Miike. Which explains to completely over the top amount of violence inside.

Sang is a deaf child who is really good at killing. When he chops off and takes a warlord Minchella's arm, that warlord puts an ever increasing bounty on him. This pits one ridiculous gang after another against Sang. There are biker gangs and roller derby gangs and hipster gangs. Sang finds allies and chops his way through the rest.

It's a very visceral story and the overblown violence is cartoonish. The art style feels like it was drawn quick to match the story pace. Sang's ultimate reason for going after Minchella felt like a blown payoff and took some of the drive of the story away from me. It's not a very deep story, but I liked this quick cinematic read.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A kid assassin is being hunted by the local crime lord for cutting off and stealing his arm. It's full of over the top, graphic violence at least from what I could make out. The art is terrible, very dark with more motion lines than skill. The violence reminded me of Luther Strode. I gotta say I was disappointed given this was by Ed Brisson. His work is usually much better than this.

This was an interesting story, but really too dark for me. And not really in a graphic violence sense (though this certainly is violent), but more just in the fact that many of the panels were illustrated in such a way that made it difficult for me to figure out what the heck was going on.

I didn't hate this, but I didn't love it either. So 3 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.

Ultra-violence courtesy of an unassuming-looking child is not exclusive to Hitgirl et al, but this book only suffers by coming so late to the party. There is a bit of novelty, in that he's mute, and the helpful sidekick who guides him from one fight to the next as he is sought by the Big Bad is a grown woman. But there's also the scuzzy-gang-of-the-month aspect, too, as every issue a separate collection of unlikeable drop-outs face the "oh you tried to kill him and failed? well, we really can't care too much" problem. Luckily there is just enough story-telling nous to make sure something much better enters proceedings, and the end result is actually quite likeable. Not a great book, but one you would do well to stick with. It would have been better if it didn't make you doubt the worth of seeing it out, though. A slightly begrudged four stars.

If something is described as an homage to Takashi Miike, of course I am going to read it. And in this case, it is an accurate description. Sang is mute, but he is one of the most foulmouthed and sassy characters you will encounter in a comic this year. A whole lot of brutal fun.

The Ballad of Sang starts as a bloody, action-adventure revenge tale and morphs into the tragedy of a child forced to become a monster instead of a normal kid. This world is incredibly violent, filled with themed street gangs who want nothing but money to fuel their shady dealings. The story is well-done, with solid pacing leading up to a big reveal.

At first, Sang seems like a willing participant in the violence, intent on killing anyone who gets in his way. His skills are unmatched by the adult criminals who underestimate him. The reveal of his origin story is truly tragic and leads to a deeper understanding of the pain Sang is trying to work through. He never backs down from the war to be free from his oppressors. The villains are maniacal to an almost cartoonish point, which pairs well with the stylized violence portrayed during the fight scenes.

Most epic is the gang of roller-skating women who fight to save their community center. They are hardcore badasses and eventually become the only allies Sang has ever had in his corner.

The art is intensely violent, filled with panels of epic fight scenes that are expertly crafted. The plot requires a lot of movement and the artist captures that motion well. It’s a style that is perfectly matched to the story.

While this is an incredibly bloody tale, The Ballad of Sang is ultimately a journey to find freedom from oppression. It’s a story of pain expressed through violence as Sang fights the men who have stolen away his childhood.

Review will be published on 3/21/19: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/03/21/the-ballad-of-sang-book-review

This was such a cool and weird graphic novel. It’s hard to explain but it read like an action movie. It is high in violence and gore, which usually turns me off, but it didn’t in this case.

I loved this book. I'm a big fan of Takashi Miike and graphic novels with over the top violence, and this won me over. I've requested a purchase in my library, both for fans of Miike but also movies like The Raid or John Wick. The art style really grabbed me and I look forward to future works!

I received an ARC copy from Netgalley.
Rating is 4/5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this graphic novel the violence of it totally reminded me of the fairyland graphic novels and the two I read of those I enjoyed. I will continue to read these as they come out and I recommend you to check out The Ballad of Sang.

actual rating: 4.5

I almost feel silly for giving this book such a high rating, but I just had such a good time reading it that it would feel wrong to round down. There are probably almost infinite other pieces of media that you could compare this to, but I'm going to go with The Warriors for the story line meets I Hate Fairyland for the extreme cartoonish violence and general art style. I'm sure it isn't for everyone [there's a lot of body parts and blood flying all over the place], but I thought it was a really fun revenge story that also had some really great characters and character relationships.

Bloody, colorful, and violent.
The Ballad of Sang follows Sang, a hit man raised by the one who kidnapped him once he was a kid back in the streets of his home town.
With no voice, he communicates with nods, signs and with writing.

After a mission gone wrong, with his now master and 'father figure' dead, Sang see's himself on the run as the mob gang is after him, putting every group in the city after the bounty of his head. Him and the stolen arm he carries now with him.

It was a nice read, fast, with lots of colors and fast paced action. But even with how I'm very so in love with action, my man do we have lot's of blood around; We can put all the 12 Golden Cloths, as well the Silver and Bronze ones from Saint Seiya! That's how much blood is around.

We meet more characters as the groups go after him, the rollerblade gals who want to use the bounty money to help the community center, the rock and roll dudes, the hipsters. Lot's of mob henchmen. But Sang is not backing down, and he will go to it until the end.

This is a gritty, bloody, and unrelenting graphic novel. There is a lot to love here. Deep story and a great art style.

Well...

Hmm...

Er...

That is to say...

The art is absolutely stunning. The story reminds me of a Kill Bill on a crack mixed with steroids. It's ultra-brutal, bloody, and fast. The plot is thin, but if you dig the convention that shouldn't be a problem.

Worth reading as long as you don't approach graphic novels too seriously and extreme violence doesn't trigger visceral reaction in you.

Electric art and enjoyable story punctuate The Ballad of Sang. For comics fans, this is a wonderful journey and one that I can recommend if you are looking for a solid graphic novel read. Most enjoyable.

Bloody as all heck! But if you enjoy Kill Bill, you’ll love this! It’s fast paced, and Sang , a most tragic but very spirited and intensely lethal child warrior, steals the show and a bit of your heart by the end. I hope to see more of him. Without ever saying a word, he is likely the most clever, witty, utterly crude and sharp tongues mute you will ever come across, to say nothing of his skills with a blade. And his friend Lucy is almost as big a kick. With an entire city of low life’s and mercenaries hunting them down on a massive bounty, you’d thing it would be in no way a fair fight for a kid and hardcore older lady, but I think the odds are stacked so high in their favor it’s barely a match up at all.

This was an interesting premise, Sang is a child assassin who is looking for revenge for his mentor's murder. It was definitely way more gory than I had anticipated, but that's just me, the brutality in the artwork fits the overall story. I liked the attention to detail of the other gangs who were sent after Sang and was pleasantly surprised by the ending. I would definitely recommend this title.

In my opinion, Ed Brisson is really good writer. I loved his Sheltered, I have read some X-Men stuff, and some of back-issues of different kind of series. And I always liked it. The Ballad of Sang is no exception. Art seems pretty good to me, though some people may say it is somehow ugly. I liked facial expressions, also the way how the illustrations look kind of alive when blood is splashed. I liked how Sang communicated, all the gangs and their actions. Some issues are filled with violence and humour (sometimes those lines are super-cheesy, but I liked that too), some of them are more like "ok, let's see what to do next". The reason why Sang was fighting with bad guys all the time is funny and unexpectable, ending was really nice. If you liked brutal funny things like SexCastle, or if you're fan of movies like Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins or ninja movies in general, I recommend this.

A gentle (not) but wonderful homage to the cult film director Takeshi Miike. What marks his films particularly are depictions of violent martial arts action-drama.
The Ballad of Sang is a fitting tribute to the often bizarre worlds he creates in his movies, the dark arts of his samurai themed epics as well as films more family friendly and dramatic.
Sang is a young killing machine who wields a sword with the venom of a samurai warrior. His master uses him to carry out threats, intimidation and contract assassinations. However, the impetuousness of youth means he gets carried away and oversteps his physical mandate leaving a debtor dead rather than scared and ready to settle his dues.
This brings trouble to his master's door and Sang tries to intervene but must run away. Since the gangster, out of pocket by Sang botching the job, wants financial recompense.
With a palette of rich primary colours to create a vivid comic strip the illustrations come alive with lots of reds as blood is split by the combatants in what because a war of attrition. Contrast this with linking graphics in subtler pastel hues you have a rich and vibrant script.
With a price on his head there are lots of criminal elements prepared to capture the kid. Sang's story and his engaging personality however brings a few helpers along the way to protect him and fight his corner. Unfortunately, although his struggle seems to be one of revenge against the criminal that destroyed his relationship with his master. It ultimately comes down to a final face off. The ultimate theatrical set piece is of movie climaxing proportions.
A simple bright and engaging story littered with rough hoods and interesting characters. Sang is like a feral beast at times but we share his quest to vanquish the bully of the story. Amid the tension and violence there are exquisite moments of humour, throw away lines with genuine comedy and sublime pathos.
A graphic novel of the highest quality and a read of supreme creativity and delight.