Review: Barbaric: The Harvest Blades
One of my favorite recent series has been Barbaric. While I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy, it was a fun spin on the genre and tropes. Owen, the barbarian, is cursed to help anyone who asks for help. He’s also limited by who he can kill which is determined by his axe who only he can hear talk. He has found peace until a mysterious group comes to ask for his help. Barbaric: The Harvest Blades gets Owen back on an adventure and into a bloody battle.
Written by Michael Moreci, Barbaric: The Harvest Blades is a fun read. There’s nothing too deep about this one-shot. It has jokes, action, and monsters. There’s a lot of all three. And it does it all well. Owen and his axe continue to bicker. The reveals throughout the trip are interesting enough. It’s a comic that’s fun. It’s nothing earth shattering but it’s fun.
The entire concept really comes down to how much you enjoy a smartass axe that loves blood and a barbarian who loves money and sex. The first volume had some really interesting and smart things to say, but this one-shot just takes the concepts and rolls with it to have fun with the genre we’ve seen so much from.
The art by Robert Wilson IV is good. Wilson is joined by Addison Duke on color with an assist by Andrew Misisco and lettering by Jim Campbell. Like the story itself, the art is good. It’s not as strong as the first volume but when the battle begins there’s an almost comedic take by the art team as to how much blood they can splatter. The character designs are good but like the story itself, there’s nothing that really stands out to me and excites. It’s good though.
Barbaric: The Harvest Blades is a fun comic. It’s one you’ll enjoy reading but it’s also one I’m not going back to and reading over and over. It doesn’t feel like there’s some major impact beyond setting Owen on his next adventure. But, if this is what we get while we wait for each volume, I’ll take it. It expands Owen’s world a bit showing some of his past and adding in characters I hope to see more of. It takes what works from the first volume and ups the humor of it all for a nice result.
Story: Michael Moreci Art: Robert Wilson IV
Color: Addison Duke Letterer: Jim Campbell Color Assistant: Andrew Misisco
Story: 8.15 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.9 Recommendation: Read
Vault Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – TFAW – comiXology/Kindle
