Check out the new world filled with giants, magic, and a protagonist who is a jack of all trades. Find out if Sylv can find work in The Last Barbarians #1 by Image Comics!
THE LAST BARBARIANS #1
Writer: Brian Haberlin and Hannah Wall
Artist: Brian Haberlin
Colorist: Geirrod Van Dyke
Letterer: Francis Takenaga
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 15th, 2023
Previously in The Last Barbarian: Welcome to a new series where you are rewarded for being specialized in a field. Sylv is an outcast because she is good at many things but a master at none. Now she takes care of her seven-foot-tall disabled brother, and she can’t find a job to support them both.
The Last Barbarians #1 starts with Sylv stealing an artifact with her brother, Shadow, and a hedgehog friend named Hedgy. The antique cracked, and the buyer tried to barter by stating he didn’t want the item. Losing her temper, Sylv breaks the statue on the ground, which blacklists her name from getting future work. To gather her thoughts, Sylv wanders into the Credulian Wastes, where she meets a giant and briefly tames it to keep her safe. Heading back into the city, Sylv is behind on rent and is unable to get meaningful work. Getting drunk, Sylv meets Falk, an older gentleman who tries to hire her. Despite the warnings about Falk from her friends, Sylv and her brother take on Falk’s job, meets a fellow warrior, and head to his ship for departure.
The art style was the first thing I gravitated toward for The Last Barbarians #1. These pages are aesthetically pleasing. The armor’s shine, the weather detail, and the shading of the people and background provided context and nuance to the story. Sylv also proves to be an interesting protagonist. Her inner monologue provides an engaging unreliable narrator and a complicated three-dimensional character. Despite the amount of text on the page, I never found myself upset by the pacing and realized I wanted more. Thematically, Sylv is in the fantasy gig economy and is struggling to keep herself afloat.
But perhaps what caught my attention the most was this idea of specializing. My personal philosophy is that we should strive to do great things. To do great things, you must become nearly obsessive about an objective. That is to commit hours to write a book or be a peak athlete for sports. Perhaps even studying a subject to death and contributing new thoughts. And it is interesting to see a book that actively rejects that idea. It gives me some food for thought, even if the story isn’t designed to make this the primary focus.
The creative team accomplished an excellent comic book with The Last Barbarians #1. I am on board, and I appreciated most of the creative decisions made here. The striking visuals and nuanced writing entice me to the next issue. 5 out of 5 stars for The Last Barbarians #1 by Image Comics.
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The Last Barbarians #1 gives me everything I want from a new comic with stunning art and complex but not overbearing writing.
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