A KING’S VENGEANCE #1 – Review

A KING’S VENGEANCE #1, from Scout Comics on December 22, 2021, begins a future fantasy tale about a King obsessed with destroying the evil spirit who’s possessed his son and taken over the world.

The Details

• Written By: Davila LeBlanc, Peter Ricq
• Art By: Peter Ricq
• Colors By: Peter Ricq
• Letters By: Peter Ricq
• Cover Art By: Peter Ricq
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: December 22, 2021

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Was It Good?

A KING’S VENGEANCE #1 is an odd fable set in an unknown, but likely future, setting where kings and knights wage combat in mech armor that looks like something out of a Warhammer campaign. They ride domesticated raptors, their swords have shotguns worked into the hilt, and their prime enemy is a young prince possessed by a malevolent being with deadly psychic powers.

If any part of that description floats your boat, you’re in for a good time. What makes this fable odd, and not simply awesome, is the art style. More on that in a minute.

LeBlanc and Ricq have created a story that brings readers in to meet King Olric when he’s at the end of his quest. In scriptwriting terms, we start with the “Dark Night of the Soul” phase of the story. It’s an unusual starting point for an epic of this scale, but it works for two reasons. First, the creators put in an exceptionally concise synopsis on the first page that brings readers up to speed quickly. It’s a well-written synopsis and it’s brief enough to drop readers right into the action with no blind spots or feelings of confusion.

Second, the art perfectly sets the scale and stakes of the King’s quest right on the first art page. You see the cost of life, you feel the enormity of the obstacle facing the King, and the brevity of the synopsis allows readers to focus on just the key characters without feeling like the story is small.Now, a quick word on the art. The character designs are very reminiscent of something you would find on Cartoon Network shows such as Regular Show and Adventure Time. When you have a comic with action and adventure dealing with mature themes, heavy action, and bloody violence (e.g. limbs ripped off), you don’t expect to see an art style like something out of a cartoon geared for a YA audience. To be clear, the art isn’t bad, but if you’re familiar with where you typically see this style of art, there’s a temptation to think “this looks like it was drawn for kids and tweens but the content is not appropriate for kids and tweens.” In short, it takes some getting used to. However, once you get used to it, everything about the composition works beautifully.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

As mentioned in the review, we begin with a one-page synopsis of the drama well after it’s begun. King Olric’s wife was enchanted by an ancient evil named Mozdial to be resurrected. In her enchantment she offered up her son, the Prince, to become Mozdial’s host body. The story picks up with a years-long war by King Olric to end Mozdial’s reign and avenge the Queen and his lost son.

Standing at the base of Mozdial’s stronghold, the King has only a few of his warriors left. They are surrounded by thousands of corpses from both sides of the conflict. The few men loyal to the King are demoralized and choose to return home, leaving the King to press on to confront Mozdial alone.

King Orlic fights his way through the few remaining dinosaur riders guarding the entrance and strides into the throne room to face Mozdial and his elite generals alone. Mozdial, inhabiting the Prince’s body, is unconcerned with the King’s approach. With a simple wave of his hand, Mozdial/Prince shows King Orlic that he never posed a serious threat.

We conclude the issue with a bloody display of Mozdial’s power, King Orlic treated like trash, and the arrival of a mysterious figure to clean up the mess.

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