The rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian have bounced around from comics publisher to comics publisher the past few years. But when you really think about it, anyone can do a barbarian story. All you need is a big shirtless dude with dirty hair, a weapon of some kind, some dirty-sexy people in loincloths and maybe a wizard or two.
The question is, how do you tell a barbarian story and make it memorable?
Vault Comics’ Barbaric takes the swords-and-sorcery-and-sandals subgenre and adds a healthy dose of humor (and even more swears), channeled largely through a talking, grinning, skull-faced ax named … wait for it … Axe.
This week, the publisher launches the third volume of Barbaric, subtitled Hell to Pay, which sees our supporting cast continuing their adventures while lead barbarian Owen adjusts to life in Hell.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as Vault has planned an entire year’s worth of Barbaric stories, spin-offs and specials.
Check out an extended preview of Barbaric: Hell to Pay #1 below, and for more on the next year of Barbaric storylines, listen to Moreci and Gooden on this recent episode of our creator interview podcast, WMQ&A.
BARBARIC: HELL TO PAY #1
Synopsis: Barbaric is back and headed straight to hell in an all-new arc so big and bloody, it’s getting an extra issue!
While Owen tames a dragon with an old friend, Soren and Steel cross paths with someone else from our cursed barbarian’s past … who isn’t looking nearly as friendly. Hell hath no fury like a woman stabbed through the heart by an ugly f***ing orc.
Oh, wait! Who’s carrying Axe?
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Nathan Gooden
Colorist: Addison Duke
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Designer: Tim Daniel
On Sale: 1/18/2023
Cover A & B: Nathan Gooden & Addison Duke
Cover C: Corin Howell & Addison Duke
Cover D: Maria Wolf & Matt Harding
Cover E: Tula Lotay
Cover F: Darick Robertson
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
