Sylv and her broth Shadow have saved Malcom, but her entire party is surrounded by mystery! Find out if she can see through the lies of Falk in The Last Barbarians #4 by Image Comics!
THE LAST BARBARIANS #4
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: May 17th, 2023
Previously in The Last Barbarians: To make money, Sylv takes a job with Falk to recover a small kid that Falk claims he is related to. The kid named Malcom seems to have extraordinary healing abilities. They now travel with Anka, Wax, and Wayne throughout their journey. However, they have hot pursuers on their trail as they head north.
The Last Barbarians #4 start with an attack by a group of Plaguers, zombie creatures that can infect by a simple touch. The group attempts to retreat, but Malcom uses magic to cure the plaguers, which is thought impossible. After a day of travel, they head to a tavern for the night to eat and sleep. There Sylv finds Dracos drunk and abandoned his army post after watching his platoon die. Drunk, he declares his interest in Sylv before passing out.
Suddenly, Dracos becomes a Plaguer, and the whole tavern is in panic as people quickly change. During the chaos, Malcom is knocked over by the crowd and unconscious. The party retreats until they encounter the people tracking them to recover the kid. However, the hunters find the plaguers and change, and even Wax gets affected. Falk tries to heal Malcom while the group is slowly surrounded.
The Last Barbarians #4 greatest strength is Sylv. She is a great character, and her inner monologue provides excellent insight into every situation. But the plot doesn’t keep up with the protagonist’s strength, and the support characters are one-sided. For example, Dracos turns into a plaguer then we fight him, then other people turn into a plaguer, and then we react. Then Wax turns into a plaguer, and the group reacts, and then the bounty hunters turn into a plaguer, and then we react. It is impractical to use the same plot point over and over and over again for the second half of the book. This pacing overshadows the fact that the concept of Plaguers and Malcom’s healing abilities is interesting! But instead, we focused on this same zombifying process rather than moving the plot along.
The art is good here, but sometimes the background shifts from semi-realistic to hyperrealistic, and it is a little off-putting. But I think the facial expressions, character designs, and special effects are well done.
The Last Barbarians #4 has a great protagonist, and the plot isn’t bad. But the way the comic is paced, and structure needs a little work. I like the main character, so I keep returning to the comic, hoping it will improve. That said, this comic is a 3 out of 5 stars.
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The Last Barbarians #4
The Last Barbarians #4 has a splendid protagonist but isn’t executed as productively as you want.
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Christopher Rondeau is a storyteller based in Tulsa, OK. Finding himself with little work, he ended up creating a job as a Game Master full time on the internet. Chris spends most of his days reading everything he can, writing bad fiction, and watching old Digimon cartoons with his daughter. Sometimes you can find him Dungeon Mastering a podcast or streaming on twitch. Recently, he has completed his Master's degree with a focus on collaborative storytelling. Find out more at https://rondeaucreator.com