Broken Frontier

Thulsa Doom #1 surprised me.

I had no idea the character would be interesting without a leading character like my beloved Red Sonja or the almighty Conan. But the very first pages of this very first issue prove that Thulsa as a leading character can stand on his own two slithering feet. This time around he himself is not the engaging ring-side character, but the lovely but deadly Lady Ancasta and the mighty yet friendly warrior Mallius are the intriguing characters (or maybe cannon-fodder, but we will see about that in later issues for sure!) with the good or bad plans for our leading snake-loving character!

The first thing that attracts my attention is the pensive, contemplative pose and expression of Thulsa, on the amazing-as-always Alex Ross cover as well as on the inside-cover credit page. It oozes strength and power and sets a stage for the rest of the story as well, within mere seconds I might add!

Next thing that I notice is the fact that the art is looking really good! Nice composition and the introduction of Thulsa is like a striking cobra, which adds to the character for sure. Some other Dynamite Ent. titles sometimes seem to be missing an inker, but in the case of Thulsa I am glad to see completed artwork, since this is essential in my reading pleasure.

The introduction is the villainous Lady Ancasta is more brutal and in your face (pun intended!). I wish I would have had more information in regards to Atlantis and the persona of Ancasta, since clearly somewhere it is chronicled, but unfortunately it feels like an in-crowd moment and in my case I am lacking in the hinted chronicles. But even without a backpack this introduction of the evil Ancasta as well as the other creepezoids is well-executed and truly delivers -surely also via the amazing visuals *wink* - for the reader!

The art team of Lui Antonio with just stunning colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr. is a winning combination and I hope they will keep this level of top-notch quality.

Dynamite Entertainment is trying to do amazing things with various titles and Thulsa is without a doubt carried out with love for the medium. Respect!

All in all I can hardly wait for the next installment of Thulsa!