crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
4.0
You don't need to be familiar with anything in the Valiant Universe to pick up this series.
Imagine an immortal Conan The Barbarian. He fights to protect his village, his nation, the world, the universe. He "dies". When he "dies", he recuperates in the presence with his first love, and his children, all of whom died tragically thousands of years ago. He gets to relax and enjoy their company, and then he has to fight his way through a Hellscape in order to return to the world of the living.
This book could have easily been cloying or boring. Instead, I enjoyed the back and forth between the peaceful family scenes, and the escape through Hell. I also really appreciated that, apart from mentioning that Mister Darque (the worst villain in the Valiant Universe) was the one who killed him, we see him battling a whole new set of demons, and when he wakes up, we're presented with a completely different scenario from when the character last "died".
I'm excited to see where this series goes.
Imagine an immortal Conan The Barbarian. He fights to protect his village, his nation, the world, the universe. He "dies". When he "dies", he recuperates in the presence with his first love, and his children, all of whom died tragically thousands of years ago. He gets to relax and enjoy their company, and then he has to fight his way through a Hellscape in order to return to the world of the living.
This book could have easily been cloying or boring. Instead, I enjoyed the back and forth between the peaceful family scenes, and the escape through Hell. I also really appreciated that, apart from mentioning that Mister Darque (the worst villain in the Valiant Universe) was the one who killed him, we see him battling a whole new set of demons, and when he wakes up, we're presented with a completely different scenario from when the character last "died".
I'm excited to see where this series goes.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
I appear to be in the minority of people who've been reading The Wrath Of The Eternal Warrior. I loved the premise of the previous volume, and was very intrigued to see where "Labyrinth" would take the story.
Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the balance of serene family moments and escaping a torturous hellscape in "Risen", I didn't at all care for the melodramatic family tension or the escaping a torturous labyrinth in this volume.
It's tough to write a cool, calculating villain in comics. Their plots need to be incredibly complex, and their intelligence needs to either be absolute genius, if you're going to play the story straight, or incompetent buffon, if you're going for either humor or a Silver Age feel. I found the villain in this book boring. I didn't care about their motivation. I didn't think the labyrinth that they set was at all interesting. And I thought the family aspect fell completely flat.
The art in the fifth issue was such a departure from Valiant's usual style. It had the urgent violence of [b:Crossed, Vol. 1|7720278|Crossed, Vol. 1|Garth Ennis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1268653282l/7720278._SY75_.jpg|10467414], and the wild movement of [a:James Stokoe|452015|James Stokoe|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. I like it, but I don't think it really fits with the other parts of the series. I also thought this entire issue could have been better served by being just three pages long.
The rest of the Labyrinth story either needed to be longer and show us a more complicated, intriguing labyrinth, or compacted into a single issue. It was precisely the wrong length for the story.
I don't know who to recommend it too, though, again, it seemed to be a big hit with other people reading the story.
Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the balance of serene family moments and escaping a torturous hellscape in "Risen", I didn't at all care for the melodramatic family tension or the escaping a torturous labyrinth in this volume.
It's tough to write a cool, calculating villain in comics. Their plots need to be incredibly complex, and their intelligence needs to either be absolute genius, if you're going to play the story straight, or incompetent buffon, if you're going for either humor or a Silver Age feel. I found the villain in this book boring. I didn't care about their motivation. I didn't think the labyrinth that they set was at all interesting. And I thought the family aspect fell completely flat.
The art in the fifth issue was such a departure from Valiant's usual style. It had the urgent violence of [b:Crossed, Vol. 1|7720278|Crossed, Vol. 1|Garth Ennis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1268653282l/7720278._SY75_.jpg|10467414], and the wild movement of [a:James Stokoe|452015|James Stokoe|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. I like it, but I don't think it really fits with the other parts of the series. I also thought this entire issue could have been better served by being just three pages long.
The rest of the Labyrinth story either needed to be longer and show us a more complicated, intriguing labyrinth, or compacted into a single issue. It was precisely the wrong length for the story.
I don't know who to recommend it too, though, again, it seemed to be a big hit with other people reading the story.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
4.0
If you enjoyed the first volume of [b:Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, Volume 1: Risen|28159932|Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, Volume 1 Risen|Robert Venditti|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539783611l/28159932._SY75_.jpg|48172715] but found volume two wo be a bit of a mess, as I did, then this is a welcome return to form. It turns out that all the backstory for the villain we met in volume two really didn't matter to the overall story, you could completely skip it, and just read volumes one and three, and have the whole story.
This is another story dealing with the Eternal Warrior's relationship with his first born son, and adds in a very bare bones Heirarchy Of Hell storyline akin to Sandman/Lucifer.
I recommend it for fans of Conan fantasy comics.
This is another story dealing with the Eternal Warrior's relationship with his first born son, and adds in a very bare bones Heirarchy Of Hell storyline akin to Sandman/Lucifer.
I recommend it for fans of Conan fantasy comics.
haunshaul's review against another edition
5.0
This might be the best run in the entire Valiant canon.
jsjammersmith's review against another edition
4.0
If a man falls, why does he bother picking himself back up? I'm not sure I can offer a universal answer, but I can at least find my own answer.
Robert Venditti sets up a fascinating and sheerly epic character in this first volume and I can't wait to see where the Eternal Warrior goes from here. dying over and over again at the hands of demons and monsters is a fascinating premise, but the reason the man stands up and continues through the pain is why I can't wait for the second volume.
Robert Venditti sets up a fascinating and sheerly epic character in this first volume and I can't wait to see where the Eternal Warrior goes from here. dying over and over again at the hands of demons and monsters is a fascinating premise, but the reason the man stands up and continues through the pain is why I can't wait for the second volume.
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