You put a guy with a sword in one hand and an axe in the other rocking a hoodie on the cover of your comic book, and I’m probably going to read it. The question is, is Wrath of the Eternal Warrior a good wrath, or one you should skip?
Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1 (Valiant Entertainment)
Now that’s a god-damned cover.
Full disclosure: this is one of my first ventures into Valiant comics, so I’m unaware of the long backstory that goes along with the original run of Eternal Warrior. I think that actually helps me here, as I’m reviewing this book off of it’s own merits and not on nostalgia.
Suffice to say? I’m intrigued.
First up, any book that helps out people like me who are coming in cold with a “Why our main character is a stone cold badass” infographic? +5 points:
Yes there’s a watermark — but LOOK HOW COOL THIS PAGE IS.
Gilead, a gifted warrior who upon dying, somehow returns to the world to kick more ass and find more bubblegum, wakes up in his own home, after a nightmare about fighting a sea of evil creatures, armed with only an axe.
I LOVE the artwork in this issue. Raul Allen and Patricia Martin are fantastic — they make excellent use of negative space, hard lines, and real life characters. Look at these panels:
Is there a Wrath bed and breakfast? I want to wake up like this.
Simple depictions of the homelife of our immortal asskicker are just as compelling and well laid out as the ones of him taking his axe to someone’s skull:
AND MY AX!
Is It Good?
I’m in. The premise is great. Amazing warrior slowly gains more and more tactical and battle skill, dies, comes back, repeats process. This is a set-up issue so there’s not much more than scene setting going on, but I can feel the backstory pushing at the margins and I’m interested in seeing this badass of epic proportions get out there and smash some skulls.
Still, that scene setting is interesting in that it shows us the softer side of our skull-stomper, as he is surrounded by his loving wife, several kids, and all the good smells and foods of home.
As a dad myself, there’s only a few things as wonderful as your child rushing to your bedside when you wake up, to climb in and cuddle with you before rushing off to do kid things. It’s refreshing, and concerning, that we see this side of our warrior, because does this foreshadow some terrible events to come?
We’ll find out. Pick this one up, it’s going places.
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