“I’m heading out to kick some more ass, but I need an army...Anybody want to come with me?”
If you enjoy the wilder side of comics, you have to look to Tom Scioli. Clearly an artistic descendant of Jack Kirby, Scioli’s storytelling is balls-out crazy. I first came across his work on Godland, a wild take on The Fantastic Four. But after meeting him at a convention, I had to read The Myth of 8-Opus, which was marvelously weird. And then...And then he took on Transformers VS G.I. Joe. Holy Mother of Crap. I’ve been sitting on American Barbarian for a while, now. But this week, it was time.
“I’ve got God’s balls right here!”
Like some kind of 70s, Saturday morning cartoon, jacked up on some hard drugs, and pumped up with unchained comic book imagination, American Barbarian tells an odd tale. The red, white, and blue haired warriors who have traditionally defended a good kingdom have produced an ultimate incarnation. When a giant, evil, Egyptian Pharaoh with tanks for feet roars across the world, only one man can stand in his way. Well, one man and a bunch of other weirdos he recruits for the efforts.
“R-E-V-E-N-G-E-!-!-!”
It kept reminding me of weird stuff like the Thundarr The Barbarian cartoon and Killraven comics. But with Scioli’s particular brand of over the top weirdness. It’s a refreshing bit of fun that absolutely revels in the comic book medium, blazing with colorful splash pages and likes of insane dialog. A must read.
-Matthew J. Constantine
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