Hexagon Comics: Kabur #5: Arianrod

 

KABUR #5: ARIANROD 

by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Manuel Martin Peniche, Juan Roncagliolo; cover by Philippe Xavier.

7x10 squarebound comic,

 76 pages 

b&w
ISBN-13: 978-1-64932-226-5. 

US$12.95.

https://www.hexagoncomics.com/shop-kabur-5-arianrod.html

21. THE DEMONS OF ARKHANAL
22. THE COMING OF ARIANROD 
23. THE CAULDRON OF THE SESSEVAR 

Portfolio: by Caza, Ladrönn, Mike Ratera.

As this “season” of Kabur opens, the beautiful Lagrid is kidnapped by monstrous beasts sent by Selinor Psah, the Sorcerer-Sultan of the far-off city of Arkhanal, located at the other end of the Earth, on the southern tip of the Gondaxan continent.

Kabur embarks on the long journey that will require him to cross mountains and jungles, deserts and seas, to rescue his beloved. But as soon as he has begun, he already faces new, terrifying dangers, such as the renegade Fomor Ghool, maker of men, and the beautiful Arianrod, mistress of the sword of fire and ice…

This classic, epic, heroic fantasy saga continues under the pens of writer Jean-Marc Lofficier and artist Manuel Martin Peniche and Juan Roncagliolo Berger.

The book starts off with a story illustrated by Berger and it is a nice clean style that works well and I have to admit that, generally, the only barbarian comics I ever read were the 1970s Conan and King Kull (all stolen from my collection at some point) and other than that there was Atlas (Seaboard) and Wulf the Barbarian. So it has been interesting reading these Kabur books where the character is "new" -at least to me.

Following Berger's art comes Peniche and his style of solid black and white and clean line art. Philippe Xavier's cover had led me to think that this would be over the top muscle man action which it really isnt and I know that the cover art is the sort barbarian comics fans go for -it also used to sell lots of videos and DVDs! There is also a 4 page artists portfolio.

Everything you could possibly want is here with the beautiful barbarian women. scheming sorcerers, lots of sword play and fight (well, d'uh!) and this fills out the story of Kabur (see how the character was resurrected in the future in Kabur: The Red Star  -reviewed here: 

 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/10/hexagon-comics-kabur-red-star.html

My expectation is that this series should be successful if enough of the barbarian fans know about it.  The stories and art are what you expect from a quality publisher and the overall production from paper quality to binding is also top notch -it may be something you expect in this day and age but often rarely get. 

Recommended.