Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Frank Frazetta’s Swamp Demon
Image Comics
Ortega, Medors, Fotos & Hanley

I am a sucker for one shots and for sword and sorcery comics. Add in that I enjoyed the Death Dealer very much and I was a shoe-in to like this issue. Sure, there isn’t going to be a ton to get vested in because it’s a one and done comic, but I liked it anyway. To be fair, the story is a little light, but the art is why you buy a comic like this in the first place and the art rocks.

This comic takes place a few centuries before Death Dealer. It only matters because two players from that series appear in this comic. The Druid, Dreovid, returns in this comic with two of his Druid buddies. They are looking for some sacred place when they find a pack of demons hanging out there instead. They run.

One of the demons, is the three headed monster that the Death Dealer would later battle. He seems to be in charge of the others. The Druids fight back but are eventually overwhelmed. As a sacrifice, one offers himself up to the swamp to become a demon to fight on the Druid side.

This sets up the end battle and lays the groundwork for future stories. Basically, the three headed monster is kept safely away from the good demon and we learn how Dreovid lost his sight.

This comic wastes no time with getting us into the action. By the second page the demons are introduced and we start seeing blood. The comic moves along quickly, but has enough dialogue to give some background on some of the creatures getting introduced. It’s a little odd that the three headed guy doesn’t seek out some immediate revenge, but maybe he didn’t like the other demons in the first place. Who knows?

The artwork is where this thing is happening. While Death Dealer was very dark, this comic is only slightly dark in tone. It has a wide range of creative creatures in it. Another impressive aspect of the art is the backgrounds. While at first glace they don’t look too detailed, it turns out that the trees, swamp water and vines all have very unique looks to them making the scenes very full. While the comic contains some blood and guts, it’s not too bad. One complaint I would have was that telling apart the Druids was a little difficult, but they really don’t matter much anyway.

Obviously these kinds of stories aren’t going to have much meat on them in the way of story, but this one gives a strong effort. I am very interested in this little universe. I hope to see more of this time period prior to the Death Dealer with more demons and wizards. This comic is very good. I recommend it to anyone who loves horror-like art and a good old-fashioned sword and sorcery story.

3.5 out of 5 geek goggles


Frank Frazettas Swamp Demon (one Shot)