Writer: Josh Vann
Artist: Simone D, #39, Armini
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 9, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99
Reviewed by Wheezy
The premise of this sounded a little crazy when I read the blurb but the reality went from normal(ish), mental, then flat out bonkers. I haven’t really encountered many books like this one, it is a peculiar read, to say the least, let's hope in a good way.
As mentioned above, the initial first few pages center around the king of a Viking tribe being betrayed by his brother and the reluctant junior son (Hrolf) being thrust into the command position who has to avenge his father’s death. Fast forward ten years into the future where it appears the final showdown is going to take place in dramatic fashion then, the pause on this comes when we are introduced to a rebellious princess (is there any other kind really?) from another tribe determined to prove herself to her people when suddenly green missiles start falling from the sky.
Naturally, Hrolf does not avenge his father at this point and coincidentally already knows the rebellious princess as they are both on the quest to kill the same man, they obviously join forces whilst learning that the things from the sky are from across the galaxies and inhibit flesh. The aliens are formed by one hive mind which happens to be the main antagonist's body as well so the mission to rid the world of aliens and the big bad become one and the same.
Sadly, there is not much more to it than that. The plot is quite generic in all honesty and it never really leans one way or another the characters stay pretty much one dimensional even after the spider king has been killed, Hrolf just wants more of the same and the Princess still wants to impress her people who a lot of a subsequently been killed. With the plot being a little thin as well, the book has to rely on action and dialogue, which, to be fair it does well. There is some crude swearing that is present if you are worried about the minors reading this one along with some quite graphic killing scenes. I mention the concern of underage readers the art looks quite cartoony in and they may lead to certain attraction to this book, this style personally does not appeal to me and I found some of the panels slightly confusing to the point where I couldn’t tell where the speech was coming from.
That being said, I never really felt bored with this it was bonkers in a way where I was still entertained, for the most part, this is definitely not here to challenge you mentally but if you want the action-themed not-quite-summer-blockbuster this will be up your street.
Bits and pieces
This book is here for entertainment only (as it should be), it will not tax your mind and sometimes that’s a good thing, occasionally I like a book to wash over me that is just crazy fun, which I think is something that is going out of fashion in the comic industry. I would be hard pushed to pay the 19.99 USD to fulfill that space on my shelf, but it was never bad to the point of offensive. There were few humorous moments but the price point alone would prevent me from recommending this, if it was in the 10-12 USD range it might be a different story.
6/10
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