Khazid’hea, or Cutter, is a sentient magical sword that’s made appearances in the Forgotten Realms novels for years. This insidious sword has driven many a good person to their death by exerting its influence over them, and now the blade is about to find a new wielder, but will they be strong enough to put the sword’s will in check or be consumed by it and become a force of death and destruction?

Cutter picks up where some of R.A. Salvatore’s Drizz’t Do’Urden books left off, with the sword being passed into the care of Tos’un Armgo, yet another renegade Drow (otherwise known as ever Drow elf). We catch up with an aged and injured Tos’un as he tries to decide which of his children, Teirflin (his son) or Doum’wielle (his daughter), are best prepared to take on the burden of the corrupt sword.

While my first impulse would be to find a way to destroy the creepy a– thing, Cutter is a fun character to have around. The sword is evil to its core, whispering corrupt words in order to manipulate those around it. Cutter’s personality and way of connecting to others is well displayed here visually, as is the means to keep the blade in check or how it takes full control of someone. Cutter brings forth the deepest and most violent desires of its wielders and, like other cursed items, brings out a lot of personality of its wielder, literally giving them an internal conflict and one that’s pretty interesting to watch unfold on the page.

While the premise and set-up shows promise, Cutter #1 is a quick read to a fault. This entire issue could easily have been a few pages worth of prologue but is stretched out with large splash pages and some time-wasting moments in between. Alas, even Salvatore’s trademark mastery of weapon choreography doesn’t fill in the gaps. The combat is equally quick paced and wastes no time, which in this case is a shame, because I’m confident Savlatore could have padded out those scenes to give the issue a meatier feel and to show off how his fighting descriptions could be adapted through the pencils and pens of an artist.

While the idea of another Forgotten Realms story, another renegade Drow story, and another Cutter story is going to seem overdone to some, to those who aren’t tired of any, or at least all, of these concepts, this is a good series to pick up as it’s following that familiar script, all the way down to Salvatore’s writing, but with enough promise to give this title hope in distinguishing itself once it’s underway.