“Barbaric” #1 is a cold shower after a run on a scorching hot day. “Barbaric” #1 is your favorite food cooked just right, sending you into a Proustian kick of nostalgia and bliss. “Barbaric” #1 is the moment your playlist shuffles to the perfect song, the one you were just thinking of. What we mean to say is that “Barbaric” #1 scratches that universal, nigh unnamable itch that’s felt when things come together in the perfect way. If you’re a fan of fantasy, adventure, and sexy pulp comic glory, then “Barbaric” #1 will take you there. Hell, if you wandered into your local comic shop blackout and woke up the next morning clutching the first issue of this story, there’s a good chance you’d find something in here worth gushing over. More to the point, “Barbaric” #1 is exceptionally well paced, masterfully drawn, and very, very fun.
Cover by Nathan GoodenWritten by Michael Moreci
Illustrated by Nathan Gooden
Colored by Addison Duke
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Reviewed by Kobi BordoleyOwen the Barbarian has been cursed to do good with what remains of his life. His bloodthirsty weapon, Axe, has become his moral compass with a drinking problem. Together they wander the realm, foredoomed to help any who seek assistance. But there is one thing Owen hates more than a life with rules: Witches.
Welcome to the skull-cracking, blood-splattering, mayhem-loving comic brave enough to ask: How can a man sworn to do good do so much violence? Hah! F***ing with you. It’s just…BARBARIC.
To start, let’s lay out what the emotional tenor of this story is, because it’s very specific and works very well. At a glance, “Barbaric” #1 looks a little “grimdark.” I mean, there’s a demon-headed axe guzzling blood on the cover, for god’s sake. This thing looks brutal. And it is! However, “Barbaric” #1 lacks some of the pretention you’d find in titles like The Last Gods or Birthright. That’s not a chide against those stories — they’re awesome for sure — but the narrative they go for is more one that’s unforgiving and very apocalyptic in design. “Barbaric” may reach those levels further down the road, but based on the first issue, we’re dealing with a story self-aware, not in a slapstick goofy kind of way, but in an ironic and beautifully sarcastic way.
The first few pages of “Barbaric” #1 are rife with the kind of bravado and humorous swagger we’re talking about. The story opens in the fighting pits of Gimesh, a city that looks kind of like Minas Tirith in Tattooine with a splash of Carthage. A bootleg Xerxes from 300 looking opulent and dilettante lord is announcing that a great gladiatorial battle will take place, and the center of the action will be his champion, the barbarian…named Owen. Owen, our main protagonist, promptly tells the lord to fuck off, dispatches his foes, then slices and dices the lord before walking out like a bamf.
So, that’s the energy “Barbaric” #1 gives. Note that all of what we described above is much more clever than we’re doing it justice. It’s important to note that “Barbaric” #1 isn’t as simple as a “disaffected badass vs. everybody” type of story, because there’s also a moralizing talking axe (who drinks heavily). The crux of the story, which we discover through a beautiful flashback scene, is that Owen’s been cursed to only harm those who do evil, and it help when asked. What may be another hero’s obvious creed is a crock of horseshit to Owen, who very eloquently states, at one point midway through “Barbaric” #1, that his life used to just be drinking, fucking, and fighting. A simple life. Instead, he has arguments with his talking battle axe about what crimes are worth killing over — which is a lot of fun for us.
In terms of plot, “Barbaric” #1 pics up in the final third as new characters are introduced, but what we really want to talk about on that front is the art. “Barbaric” #1 is gorgeous, and the depth of detail Gooden puts into this is astounding. From the start, we get sweet worldbuilding scenes that set the tone for the story. We see a smattering of humans and fantasy races that fall somewhere between orcs, goblins, elves, and various anthropomorphized entities. Things aren’t quite Guillermo Del Toro creature workshop level, which works well for “Barbaric” #1. This is a fantasy world, but it’s characters are more lithe, sexy, and dangerous than ponderous and whimsical.
Continued belowOur main protagonists look slick as hell too. Owen looks like a cross between buff Patrick Rothfuss and the kind of dude at the hardcore show with massive gauges who knock out the skinhead before standing at the back of the venue nodding along. That, and he’s got a wicked, dynamic looking head of hair and beard to boot. The action scenes in “Barbaric” #1 are fluid and clearly drawn. Our eyes are never overloaded, and we follow the fighting easily. The yet to be named female protagonist Owen meets at the end of “Barbaric” #1 also has a great design. We don’t know the extent of her powers yet, but she’s able to turn her tattoos into physical weapons, taking them sticker style as they snap into corporeal blades. There’s one especially well drawn moment when she rips some shuriken off her ribs and proceeds to headshot some zombies. It’s great.
From a color perspective, there’s not a speck of ink misapplied once throughout “Barbaric” #1. Duke lays on the black outlines heavy when they’re necessary, which helps animate actions sequences and lends gravity to major moments. Duke also effectively uses background colors, and there are a few panels where a character sits against a full white panel, or a full red panel, that really help get emotion beats across. There’s good use of color opacity too, with flashback scenes and memories veiled in a faint sepia that adds a lot of depth to the story from a rhythmic perspective. The colors, linework, and Campbell’s lettering really turn “Barbaric” #1 from a good story to a spectacular one that’s extremely readable.
There’s really not much detracting from “Barbaric” #1, and we’re not just saying that because a bloodletting battle-axe with garnet eyes hovers above us Pit & The Pendulum style. “Barbaric” #1 is really just pure gasoline. The match has been lit, and we’re hope this fire burns for a long, long time. “Barbaric” #1 has our attention and is a standout comic in the genre for 2021. Check this one out.
Final Verdict: 9.8. Furious and funny, this story is pulpy yet epic, grizzled yet jovial, and we just want more.
