Hawks of Outremer

Robert E. Howard's Hawks of Outremer #1 of 4
Adapted by Michael Alan Nelson
Art by Damian Couceiro

Action Ash
Plot: The story is set in 1190AD, during the third crusade. A warrior named Cormac Fitzpatrick finds out a friend he still owes a favour to has been killed, and a lord that had been asked for help refused. So Cormac decides to avenge his dead friend, and hack up the suckers responsible for this transgression.

Essentially this story is "What if Conan (albeit an Irish conan) was in 12th century Turkey fighting in the crusades?". I am a big Conan fan and like Howard's writing style, however his warrior characters do tend to be rip offs of the famous Cimmerian (technically Kull came first, but he's just not as cool).

Although this is the case the first issue of this series sets up the foundations for a fun little revenge tale which promises to end in epic bloodshed and lashings of gore!

I liked the writing. The dialogue and caption boxes are great at times e.g. "Conrad von Gonler I name you liar, traitor and coward, dastard, poltroon and villain! Arm yourself and ride out here on the plain!"

The artwork is good at times, not so good at others, and an all round average effort. It works well for this story but is nowhere near the level of art seen in other Howard comic book adaptions.

All in all a fun read and I can't wait to see what bloody havoc is wreaked in the next three issues.

3 and a half axe cleaved skulls out of 5