More Sword, Sorcery And Humour Abound In ‘Barbaric: Hell To Pay’ #2

How hard can to be to take down a species known as the Frog People? Even in Hell? Well, it would appear it’s quite hard as Owen and fellow companions take on these amphibian antagonist in Barbaric: Hell To Pay #2. And, as this is very much a parody of the whole sword and sorcery genre, our hapless hero isn’t as good at getting out of scrapes as those literary giants like Conan who came before him. Indeed, he seems to read every situation incorrectly. Resulting, as they say, in hilarious consequences. And rather violent ones too. 

Meanwhile, away from Hell in a sharply contrasting snow-covered mountainous landscape we catch up with Owen’s cursed, and very talkative, axe and his travelling companions. In just a handful of comic books, Michael Moreci and Nathan Gooden have certainly populated their barbaric once-upon-a-time world with a good variety of various characters. It’s both a strength and a boon, allowing the two co-creators to plunder Owen’s past and present to create a more dynamic tale, as we flit from Owen to the axe and back again with both battling it out with blood and bodies – human or otherwise – flying and falling everywhere.

Moreci provides a script that is a knowing parody. It’s clearly a genre he loves, but because of this knowledge and understanding, it’s also a good old-fashioned sword and sorcery epic too. All brutally and beautifully realised by Gooden, with good humour and gory battle in equal measure. And, unlike the aforementioned Conan, we get character development too. Owen is no one-dimensional brute but a man of complexity, even if he just doesn’t know it yet.

In this oversized issue we don’t just get witty warfare, and as the narrative moves forward so too does Owen, to pastures new but dangerous. As does his axe. And oversized issue with two parallel and enthralling storylines that’s a fun read with art to match. 

Barbaric: Hell To Pay #2 is out now from Vault Comics