Vikings vs Unicorns isn’t a bad comic, but it is late to the versus party. The story may be different, but the end result is two demographics fighting each other. Really the concepts success depends on your sense of humor as you’ll either laugh at the title or possibly sigh. For me, I was a sigh. Again though, it’s not a bad comic book, but it’s not one that I would seek out. The concept is basically what the title says… Vikings are taking on Unicorns. Why? We learn towards the end of the issue. The beginning of the issue we see a small group of Vikings going after a Unicorn that turns out to be a foulmouthed creature. See that’s the swerve, instead of being the cuddly unicorn you’re familiar with, they’re pretty much bastards.
The plot unfolds some more after the battle ends. A shapeshifting unicorn returns to base to report the death, while the Vikings go to seek their pay from the town nearby. There’s a very long bar fight and then we see the future… well not us, but the mage character.
It’s not as if the creators are looking to have a long running series with this concept, which is good because it really doesn’t have the legs to stand on. Personally this is a concept that’s really a one and done and so even having three more issues to follow seems excessive. We know that the Vikings and the Unicorns will continue to fight. There will be more swerves and the one Viking effected by their rainbow blood will somehow be the key to beating them all or not. It doesn’t particularly matter because the point of the story is humor and not the outcome.
Stay for the jokes then. I suppose that’s the real, real point of the series, but since the foulmouthed unicorns didn’t surprise me in the least the rest of the jokes fell flat I won’t be staying. Humor is subjective though so depending on your humor you could find this book funny as all hell. I didn’t. The only part that made me moderately smile was the excess of cats that appeared later on in the issue. Otherwise the narration was tolerable, but trying way too hard to be funny. The dialogue wasn’t very good and read like a lot of exposition. There were never really any conversations just people delivering information and sometimes getting yelled at for not understanding the information.
The art is okay. At times it was actually pretty good, but other times it really struggled. The opening and the battle was the issues strongest point. The ending in which a lot of exposition happens is definitely the weakest part. The bar scene in general seemed pointless and while some Kickstarter contributors got a chance to be a part of the story, there was little else happening.
Overall, you’ll know if this comic is for you based on the title alone. If you chuckle, then it’s for you. If you read this review hoping that someone took the concept and made something hilarious and great, this isn’t it. It’s a basic comic. It’s not all bad, but it’s not all good either.
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Writer: Jim Tramontana Artist: KC Anderson Publisher: Egghead Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Mini-Series; Print
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