The Mighty Barbarians #4 // Review
Anansi, Morgan le Fay, Kull. They’re all really, really powerful. So why send just a few demons after them? Clearly, the one who sent them was looking to send a message. It’s a warning from a powerful mage. Y’know...some people call ahead or text. Others send a vicious group of taloned demons. The group of heroes has their hands full in The Mighty Barbarians #4. Writer Michael Moreci continues a thoroughly enjoyable high fantasy with artist Giuseppe Cafaro and colorist Barbara Nosenzo. Moreci and company charge into some very well-rendered aggression that is accented by some beautiful magic and a little bit of comedy.
The wizard in question is a guy named Sharajsha. The advance warning he’d given the heroes was likely intended to instill some level of concern in them. It didn’t. It didn’t exactly give them time to prepare for the advance of the monstrous horde that they would have to face. There’s a power in and within the wizard that far overpowers anything that Morgan can do on her own. Thankfully, though...she’s not alone. There IS a bit of chaos and craziness on her side, and the enemy may have brought at least one potential heroic weapon to the battle with him.
Moreci wastes little time in getting right into the heart of the conflict. There IS a bit of interpersonal drama between Kull and Birka in an idle moment early on, but that’s interrupted mid-panel by the wizard’s assault. Moreci’s dialogue is crisp and witty. It can be difficult to juggle everyone in an ensemble. Nanook and Anansi aren’t given a whole lot of time on the page, but Morgan has a particularly heroic moment, and Birka is given a test of inner strength that comes across with considerable intensity and might be one of the single strongest moments in the issue.
Again: sometimes, the simplest solutions can be the most powerful. A profound internal struggle against evil mind control takes the form of four vertical panels as Birka deals with the struggle through a series of close-ups. It’s got a significant amount of impact. Cafaro pummels the panels elsewhere with more traditional fantasy combat. Big, beefy guys slash away with swords and axes. Nosenzo’s colors are radiant when the power of magic lashes out of the darkness in a very dramatically immersive evening combat between two very powerful opposing forces. It’s beautiful stuff.
The team has one more orb to get to complete their quest. They’re going to need to raise an army. Morgan seems to have some sort of handle on that, which should be a fun element to explore as the series progresses. Moreci marches the adventure from one cover to the other in a slow, confident rhythm that feels suitably powerful. There’s charm in such potent simplicity. Given the general speed with which Moreci moves, it’s difficult to imagine there being a satisfying end to it. Every member of the ensemble of heroes seems like a great deal of fun on some level.
