Written and Illustrated by Andrew Kranke
Published by Image Comics
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book.
From first glance, it looked like something that was like Conan or Kull. I enjoyed those characters and those worlds upon occasion so I figured I would dive on in.
I had never heard of this before and just flipped through it, just to dive in and see this world. I really liked what I saw of the artwork and decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed at all, and I actually really enjoyed this book.
Bloodrik is a barbarian.
Let’s get that out of the way first. He resembles a lot of the barbarians that we have seen in comics before. But, as I read this book more, you start to realize that writer and artist Andrew Kranke has a lot more on his mind than typical barbarian fare.
It’s very different for reasons that I will get into later. But from the beginning, Kranke takes a different approach with his writing and his art. We also get to see a bit more of the character that Bloodrik is. It is really a cool character too, one that is set apart from the aforementioned Barbarians.
When we first see Bloodrik, he is on the hunt for some food.
It is a little hard to come by, and he is very hungry. One of the biggest obstacles is that this is a hellish landscape that is hard to travel across. Kranke makes the most of the environment and puts a lot of detail into it. It is almost like this environment is its own character in a sense. It only adds to the richness of the book.
So let’s talk about the script now: there really isn’t too much of one. There is very little dialogue in the book, and that is good for some of it. However, because of that? It makes the book a little thin to read. You could probably flip through this book in about twenty minutes or so and get a full comprehension of what happened. There isn’t a lot of story for sure and what is there is extremely basic and almost simple.
Bloodrik goes through this landscape and eventually encounters an adversary.
That is literally most of the plot of this book. It didn’t bother me so much though as the artwork is extremely compelling. The storytelling and the graphics are super wild here and incredibly fresh. It is worth the price of the book by itself. Watching Kranke establish these wild setups is honestly a lot of fun. He moves the story around so quick and crazily that it is quite addicting. His artwork truly is stunning, and it is unlike any that I have seen in quite awhile.
With the right mainstream character (Batman; Spider-Man), he might have gained fame easily but I am glad he didn’t go in those titles. It is a lot more exhilarating to read this book and to see him take his shot this way.
By the end of the three chapters here, I wanted more immediately. It goes by quick for sure and it is definitely too quick. I felt like I was just getting my feet wet into this world and then it was over. Maybe they should have waited for more issues to come out before releasing this paperback. For a story about a barbarian, the one thing that was really missing was a lot of meat. There are three backup stories that are shorts.
Depending on your point of view, they may deeper the character of Bloodrik for you, or it might taint it a bit. They aren’t necessarily essential to the main story but the artwork is definitely accomplished. There are some nice moments to be had in them, but again, they aren’t necessarily essential.
Overall, this is an entertaining and addicting experience. It is a thrill ride that cuts short just when you’re having the most fun. But that’s okay. Writer and artist Andrew Kranke will have my money to read the next chapters that follow. He’s obviously taking the story and character to a great place, and I can’t wait to see where that is. I’m also interested to see how his artwork develops, as he is obviously majorly talented.
RATING: B
You must be logged in to post a comment Login