Welcome back for an all new edition of Parlay Points, the complementary blog of the ODPH Podcast. For this edition, I’m checking out a book highly recommended by our friends over at Comic Book Keepers: Barbaric #2 by Michael Moreci & Nathan Gooden for Vault Comics. Early spoiler: there is a LOT of great things with this book, so lets take a deeper dive into this series, shall we?
Image courtesy of Vault Comics
(Creative team: Michael Moreci, Nathan Gooden, Addison Duke, Jim Campbell and Tim Daniel).
Release date: July 28th $3.99
There might be partial spoilers here
“Barbaric” is the story of Owen, a barbarian with a curse & a bad ass Axe. The curse: to do good, even though he might not be a “good” person. The axe: is alive, named “Axe” & has an issue with drinking. The story: FAN-EFFING-TASTIC! Let the adventure begin!
As we jump into issue 2, we catch up Owen, Axe & Soren (a witch) recapping briefly previous events. Whee is this taking place? Inside of a pub. From here, Soren takes center stage & breaks down the threat they face along with learning more about her background. From there, we get taken on a wild ride thru the mission at hand & left with a solid cliffhanger for next issue.
There is a lot to enjoy with this book. Moreci’s writing flows so well with these characters. The back & forth between all 3 characters is so well done. The humor is well placed & it’s perfect pacing between the Soren flashbacks. Never once did the issue feel like i jumped around too much. Owen’s reactions to Soren’s magic talk is priceless. He might not be the perfect hero for the job, but you know he’s ready to step up for a fight. Readers will so appreciate Axe’s commentary as well.
The rest of the book delivers on BIG action. Gooden & Duke bring this magical world to life with ease. The action scenes carry that “big fight” feel on every panel. Even with the more emotional moments of Soren’s past, Gooden delivers strong work each page & perfectly compliments Moreci’s writing. I was a big fan of the detail with the church scenes. With all the action going on, everything was well presented.
Overall, DAMN, this was a fun book. Huge action, great banter & where we go from here is anyone’s guess. Moreci & Gooden put together a wild, unpredictable ride with very entertaining group to lead the readers on this adventure. Make a point to check this book out at your local comic shop. You won’t be disappointed. Barbaric #2 drops July 28th.
Let me know what you thought of the book on Twitter . Until next time, Thanks for reading.