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Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics, Review | Tagged: ABLAZE Publishing, Giuseppe Cafaro, kull the conqueror, michael moreci, The Mighty Barbarians
The Mighty Barbarians Breathes New Life In The Barbarian Genre
The Might Barbarians is Michael Moreci's latest entry from Ablaze in the Sword and Sorcery fantasy story with art by Giuseppe Cafaro.
The Mighty Barbarians is a comic that is exactly what its title declares, a fast, unfussy axe-to-the-head barbarian series updated to feel new again. Barbarian fantasies are deceptively simple. All you need is burly, musclebound men and women with swords and axes hacking away at other swordmen, monsters and magical or supernatural creatures and you're home free. The trick is to be fun. That's the whole point of the exercise, and Michae Moreci and artist Giuseppe Cafaro totally get that.
The plot of The Might Barbarians needs big stakes to bring a whole bunch of barbarian heroes together. Thus, you have a threat making its way through several worlds, an invasion of ghouls that infect their victims to create more ghouls, turning some heroes to their side as they go. Sorceress Morgana Le Fey travels the world gathering heroes to fight after at least one legendary hero is taken. She brings together the trickster Anansi, Viking shield maiden Birka, shape-shifting Nanook, and their leader, Kull the Conqueror, in a kind of Justice League of Barbarians to fight.
The fun of barbarians is they're unpretentious heroes with no fuss or fat – they hack and slash through the enemy. When you have a band of different barbarian heroes with different styles of fighting, and tense banter with each other, you're all set. Michael Moreci, along with Justin Jordan, seem to be on a very short list of writers reviving barbarian comics and keeping them alive at this point. The trick seems to be bringing modern storytelling and dialogue to the genre. Under Moreci, the heroes of The Mighty Barbarians speak like contemporary people, and have reactions and attitudes that are relatable to readers in the present. There's a sense of play and even a bit of unpredictability that you might encounter in a D&D game these days. The plot follows arcs you expect in Sword & Sorcery genre, but it's the characters you're here for because they feel like they might be you, if you're a big burly person with a sword or axe. There's no need for a grand subtext, only a world in chaos and collapse and the friends you make along the way as you hack and slash your way through it.
The Mighty Barbarians #1 is now out from ABLAZE.
The Mighty Barbarians
7/10
A fun, no-nonsense Sword and Sorcery comic that updates the genre with a contemporary feel that revitalizes the Hack & Slash to keep it fresh and new.
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