ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Barbaric: Axe to Grind,’ Issue #1

Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 is published by Vault Comics, written by Michael Moreci, art by Nathan Gooden, colors by Addison Duke, and letters by Jim Campbell. Owen, his talking axe, and Soren are faced with new challenges and more bloodshed than they could ask for. But the stakes are high for the group as they prepare to meet an old foe from Owen’s past. But before that can happen, they need to pick up another body to add to the party.

Having not read the previous Barbaric series, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting into beyond the obvious swords and sorcery vibe of the cover. What I found was an entertaining opening chapter that threw me into the middle of the bloody mayhem from the word go while also building up the story to come. With its opening moments, Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 does a great job of establishing the tone of its story. Beyond the blood everywhere, the reader is showered with loads of harsh language and more than one giant vampire nipple. This hard R rating energy never lets up through the course of the book. So, if this isn’t your style of fantasy, you should probably jump ship now.

While the brutal visuals and crude language may leave the strongest impression, that’s not all this book sets out to deliver. As the opening battle passes and the story settles into its true focus, Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 offers some solid character moments as Owen and others are allowed to showcase who they are beyond the means to shed blood. These moments are well handled and provide a nice contrast to the wilder side of the narrative.

The line art provided by Gooden does a great job of leaning into the book’s wilder moments. When the carnage comes calling, Gooden shows an excellent grasp of how to create kinetic, action-packed art. While the action parts of the story are incredibly strong, the story’s quiet moments don’t land as well. They are good, and they get their points across well, but they just feel a bit more basic in the framing and point of view than in the more exciting moments.

The coloring in Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 shows plenty of skill as well. Duke has a great eye for when to let a scene’s natural colors shine in a panel and when to override those colors with something more fitting to the emotions of the characters. This helps a couple of moments pick up a little extra oomph in their delivery. Lastly, we have the lettering. Campbell’s letters deliver a strong clarity to the story’s flow while also bringing a bit of extra flair to the proceedings. The letterer does a particularly good job scaling the sound effects throughout the story. This scaling keeps all the crashing and growing intensity of certain moments clean, allowing the reader to appreciate just how big a bang, crash, or slash really is.

When all is said and done, Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 is off to a solid start. If you like your fantasy tales with a bit of edge to them, this series could be something worth checking out.

Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 is available on August 17th wherever comics are sold.