Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Highlander Origins Kurgan #1 (of 2)
Dynamite Comics
Jerwa, Rafael, Lopez & Bowland

Highlander had a run in the range of fifteen issues that ended about a year ago. When I saw this in the solicitations I shook my head. Five bucks for a comic within a franchise that cant seem to make a story without using a character that died in the first movie 20-some years ago. Well, thankfully, I was dead wrong about this comic. It’s entertaining, interesting and padded in the page count. Is it worth five bucks? Well, it’s a very good story, so it very well might be.

The story actually begins with Kurgan as a child. Kurgan seems to start out as an adopted child who is quickly separated from his family during a flood and found by a second one. It’s not clear if he “dies” in this encounter or not but his new family seems to have mixed feelings about him.

His new father takes him to a pit where he is expected to die battling a wild dog. Kurgan finds out that he is a fighter at such a young age and beats the animal. His father then kills the child anyway. Except, Kurgan cheats death and gets his revenge.

Years pass and Kurgan meets an immortal. Much like Macleod, Kurgan is introduced into the world of being immortal by his new mentor. His mentor trains him and shows him, in battle, the Quickening that occurs when another immortal’s head is taken. Kurgan develops a bond, much like Macleod did, but Kurgan has evil in his blood that he can’t seem to overcome.

The story feels very much like a standard villain’s story. People wrong him early in his life and the child never has a chance to live a normal life. However, this story differs in that when Kurgan finds his mentor there is a brief time where it seems he will rise up above his checkered past. It makes the finale interesting because you know he turns villain but it just isn’t clear where it exactly happens.

The comic has strong artwork. The Kurgan child looks very much like the Kurgan adult, except he doesn’t stick his tongue out and flicker it at people. It’s a real clear resemblance. The comic is limited in its fighting but there are some scenes where it can show off a little bit. I think the boy fighting the dog had the most interesting art.

You are either a fan of the genre or you aren’t. If you aren’t this probably isn’t the story to jump on with. However, if you are familiar with the franchise and the character I think this is a comic that is well written and visually flawless. This is a very good comic for the Highlander franchise.