The mixing of Conan the Barbarian with Marvel’s characters has generally been good. While there’s been some bumps here and there, it’s been entertaining in a fish out of water sort of way. Surprisingly, the character has fit in to the more modern times and hasn’t felt as out of place as one would expect. Savage Avengers #1 kicks off the Cimmerian’s latest adventure as it brings together a new team of heroes and takes them on a wild ride.

Written by David Pepose, the comic’s focus is to set things up and it does that quite well. With Conan at the center, the initial conflict has the barbarian taking on Set cult who has acquired a mad bomb. But, that’s really just a distraction as the main story involves a Deathlok who has been sent to take out Conan for violating the time stream. As it happens, various heroes are brought into the fold, though those specifics are a little shaky. Savage Avengers #1 does a great job of giving each hero their moments so readers can get a good sense of who these characters are and what they bring to the team dynamic.

But it’s a comic written by David Pepose, so things get twisted up a bit as the end of the comic sends the heroes in a new direction that should deliver an intriguing new take on the Conan + team dynamic.

There’s also an intriguing aspect to the comic with the news that Marvel won’t be continuing their line of Conan comics. So, with Deathlok’s mission involving Conan committing a crime against the time stream, one wonders if the direction of the comic was impacted by that decision. It’d be easy to write away Conan in the Marvel Universe by having Deathlok succeed eventually.

Pepose is joined by Carlos Magno on art with color by Espen Grundet and lettering by Travis Lanham. It all looks great as expected with the character fitting together nicely. There’s a wide mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and superheroes here and nothing feels out of place at all. Each character has their distinct look down but together the visuals creates a team that feels like they naturally go together. There’s also a solid handling of the action which doesn’t get lost as each member does their thing in battle.

Savage Avengers #1 is a solid start to the series which brings together a motley crew. It takes the Conan + team dynamic we’ve seen before and shakes it up just enough to stand out from the previous volume. It also plays with a plot we’ve seen many times (robot from the future sent back to erase someone) but does so in a way that’s fun. It’s the start of what should be an entertaining adventure and with recent Conan news, a possibility anything’s on the table.

Story: David Pepose Art: Carlos Magno
Color: Espen Grundetjern Letterer: Travis Lanham
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW