Greg Pak and Trevor Hairsine begin their run on Eternal Warrior in a flurry of ancient Mesopotamian steel and blood as they hit the "warrior" part of the title hard! Opening in the ancient world 6000 years ago, our hero Gilad Anni-Padda the Eternal Warrior, prepares to face an inhuman enemy in the form of the Death Cult of Nergal, alongside his army and son. But his headstrong daughter Xaran also wants to join the battle and she's not taking no for an answer! I love that all of Valiant's books are tied together in a similar way to the Marvel Universe. If you've been reading X-O Manowar you'll know Gilad plays a big role in that story as Aric's former mentor while he's also appeared in Archer and Armstrong as Armstrong's brother. He gets his own series at last which starts off several millennia ago but gets back to the present day by the end of the issue though where in the timeline Gilad's story fits in with the other titles, I'm not sure (yet). All of that said, Eternal Warrior #1 is written in such an accessible way that new readers won't have any trouble picking up this story if they've not been reading other Valiant titles. Pak, current writer on Superman Batman for DC's New 52 range, is probably best known for his Marvel series World War Hulk and he brings that experience of writing heavy-duty combat comics to The Eternal Warrior, opening the series with one helluva battle scene as Gilad and his people fight monstrous (Hulk-ish?) berserkers who're aided by dark magic. It has the flavour of 2000AD's Slainé with its old world barbarian fighting and wizardry, but Hairsine's art is much lighter and clearer than Slainé's usual dark palette thanks to colourist Brian Reber. The old world action which takes up most of the first issue - is superb, both in writing and art, and sets up the series conflict between Gilad and his daughter Xaran really well. Sometimes action is brainless and arbitrary with characters seemingly fighting for the sake of it, but Pak writes it in a way that you understand the stakes and the relationships of the fighters so the reader is more involved in what's happening. As for Gilad himself, he's written in a far more interesting way than simply a tough guy who's handy with a sword, instead portrayed as a tortured, weary old soldier sick of wars, looking for a quiet life and repeatedly denied it. Hairsine draws these fight sequences really well, giving it just the right amount of savage gore without going over the top with it and making it too cartoonish. Eternal Warrior #1 is an amazing first issue that hits the ground running, setting a blistering pace for the series right from the start. Greg Pak is able to get right into the meat of the story while establishing character and tone without utilising near-constant exposition or information dumps that sometimes spoils first issues, in a masterful show of high level comics writing. He's ably joined by Trevor Hairsine who is more than capable of bringing Pak's ambitious, action-packed story to life while giving the series an appropriately epic look. Eternal Warrior is another successful re-launch for Valiant and looks set to be one of their best titles yet don't miss out and jump on board with issue #1 out this week!
Eternal Warrior #1 by Greg Pak and Trevor Hairsine is out now