Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Highlander Origins: The Kurgan #2 of 2
Dynamite Comics
Jerwa, Rafael, Lopez & Bowland

The second and final chapter of Kurgan’s origin does more jumping through the time stream and really launches him into the villain role. It’s a good look at the central bad guy from the original movie. You get thirty-two pages of excellent art, which helps provide some terrific fight scenes and some visual transformations that pushes this story to be very comprehensive. The price tag is steep at $5 but if you like the genre you wont be disappointed here.

The issue picks up with Kurgan leaving behind his dead master. He embarks on his mission to engage in the game but sometimes finds himself involved in other causes. Most of the other immortals he encounters he takes down but not all of them. As he journey rolls through the centuries he encounters two obvious problems: 1) he doesn’t own a powerful sword and 2) Ramirez.

The battles with Ramirez are interesting because one of them takes place at the Battle of Plataea, which is a flashback to a previous issue in this series and another helps to provide some symbolism of the flood that launched Kurgan’s journey in the previous issue. They meet three times in this comic and none of them is the fateful meeting in Scotland.

The issue also provides two aspects of his character that sheds him in a brighter light. One, he looks back on his master with fondness and actually seems to shape his actions based on what his master would have done. This all despite the fact that he murdered him showing that ambition is the main driver above honor. Secondly, Kurgan has an emotional bond to a love interest. Not unlike the other immortals that fall in love with a mortal he is faced with the choice of settling down with someone who will age and die or dump her before he gets too attached. Guess what he picks.

The artwork really successfully transforms him from the regular looking thug to the menacing villain that finds MacLeod. It’s interesting to watch the costume changes and the various weapons he picks up along the way. The art also manages a large cast of characters very well. The designs all have unique imagination and are very well detailed.

This comic is a fast moving story that has plenty of fights and sends Kurgan on the paths that we see many of the immortals venture down. Some of the characters that Kurgan interacts with that are immortals don’t necessarily die meaning there are more interesting stories to be told about the Kurgan and the lives he intersects with. I’m not sure what’s next for Highlander in comics but this is as good story as I’ve read in the genre in comics.

4 out of 5 geek goggles