REVIEW: Brides of Helheim #1

STORY BY: Cullen Bunn
ART BY: Joelle Jones
COLORS BY: Nick Filardi
LETTERS BY: Crank!
COVER BY: Joelle Jones
PUBLISHER: Oni Press
COVER PRICE:$3.99
RELEASE DATE: Wed, October 1st, 2014

REVIEW:

From Oni Press, writer Cullen Bunn and artist Joelle Jones comes the Brides of Helheim the story of an immortal warrior denied his place in Valhalla wondering the land as an undead draugr. Tasked with helping two villagers fend off the monster that is plaguing their lands Rickard sets off to battle once more.

Joelle Jones pencils in this book are simply stunning; adding in the great work by colourist Nick Filardi this book is absolutely beautiful. The colourist opts for a very simple “block”“ colouring effect that really helps Jones pencils shine through with their high attention to detail and beautiful sweeping vistas. I really found the character design for Rickard appealing, this guy looks like he could kick some serious ass! Over muscled but not to Hulk proportions he stands as the quintessential Viking warrior and looks positively awesome. The action scenes are also framed really well allowing the reader to feel every punch and sword slash in truly brutal fashion.

Bunn delivers a really great first issue, allowing us the see this warrior from the eyes of the two villagers who have gone searching for Rickard for help, really helps us get a sense that even though he has a terrifying visage he is a noble warrior at heart. Allowing us to see a glimpse of this world, the wonders and horrors that are contained within, it makes you wonder especially with the cliff-hanger ending just what Bunn has in store for the reader and where this story is going next. With the addition of the witches you can“t help but wonder that they are not all they seem and that they are not the allies that they first appear to Rickard, whilst Bunn also devotes some time to the supposed villain of the story showing that before this tale is done there will be plenty of twists and turns.

Brides of Helheim is a great first issue and a comic that has a massive amount of potential. Bunn sets up the key players of this story and shows us just how awesome his creation is in Rickard. You are not given much in the way of character development but, I feel in an introductory issue such as this you do not need too, Bunn lets the characters speak for themselves at why this book should be read.

3/5

By Matt Deery

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Matt Deery

Matt Deery is an avid comic reader from the UK, relatively new to the writing scene but, enjoying being part of the Comic Crusaders team and getting to talk about some the books that I adore. Will read almost anything Marvel, with Spider-Man and Iron Man being my all time favorite comic book characters and has recently found a love for Image and Valiant books and generally anything Sci FI or Espionage related. Check out my twitter @brujah69ad if you want to stop by and talk comics, video games or movies!