Astonishing Comics presents the all-new Swords and Sorcery collaboration Kor-Drath: The Reckoning, the first book in an ongoing Fantasy Adventure series. The indie comic details the epic quest for the Stones of the Elements by Kor-Drath, a warrior of the Red Lion Barbarian tribe, and his lover, Adryana, a shaman of the Black Eagles tribe, sister-tribe to his own. Written and illustrated by Andy Smith, creator of 1st Man, and published artist for Marvel, DC, Image, Acclaim, and Cross Gen Entertainment, co-written by Dennis Turner with colors by Nanjan Jamberi and letters by Steve Dutro.
Kor-Drath’s adventure takes place in a land called The Shattered Reach, where long ago, all the races: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Holfok with the help of the mystical Q’melia and their Stones of the Elements, fought against the despotic race of the Dracos in a great cataclysm and made them flee into the shadows.
In the aftermath, the world flourishes, and the aforementioned races each settle into their homelands, with humans scattering everywhere and those that settled in the hills and mountains eventually becoming the legendary 11 barbarian tribes.
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Kor-Drath: The Reckoning opens with the fierce Red Lion tribe embattled against a rival Barbarian tribe, the Anacondas. Kor-Drath’s Jarl (Chieftain) is injured in battle, and Adryana, a long-haired redhead from the sister tribe of the Black Eagles heals him with her Shamanic magic.
It’s revealed that Adryana and Kor-Drath are lovers in well-done yet tasteful, steamy love scenes and that they desire to be formally joined by the leaders of their tribe. Readers learn that Kor-Drath’s mother died at his birth, and his father died in battle. Adryana talks of her father; the last thing she has as a reminder of him is her circlet, which possesses a large green gemstone.
The Shaman of Kor-Drath’s tribe sends them on a dangerous errand to slay a Wyvern and retrieve its scales for a spell component for a powerful ancestral spell of protection. They handily defeat the Wyvern, but that night, Kor-Drath is set upon and paralyzed by the shape-shifting Succubus, Lilineth, disguised as Adryana, demanding the location of Jordgorn, the Earth Stone of the Stones of the Elements. Fortunately for Kor-Drath, Adryana breaks down the door and chases Lilineth away with her magic.
Simultaneously, the Red Lion Tribe is beset by the Anaconda tribe once more. Still, this time, they are led by the infernal Necra-Knight, a powerful Necromancer that has turned the entire Anaconda tribe into undead warriors. Necra-Knight also quests for the Earth Element Stone, Jordgorn.
Andy Smith and Dennis Turner weave a tale with Kor-Drath that readers may find comparable to Robert Howard’s Conan The Barbarian, Kull, and Bran Mak Morn, or Lin Carter’s Thongor of Lemuria.
The art is high-quality in Kor-Drath. Readers have come to expect from Andy Smith and his previous wins of the two installments of 1st Man! It will remind Readers of the Conan comics of the 1980s. Dennis Turner co-writes a story worthy of the old-school Swords and Sorcery Guild of writers. Jamberi nails it with vivid coloring, and Dutro pulls off the lettering WITHOUT overloading the pages with a forest of speech bubbles!
The magic is epic, the battles are bloody and graphic, the sex is steamy, and the antagonists are malevolent and evil! Turner and Smith pepper their story with a healthy homage to sci-fi and fantasy quotes for fans of those genres. Backers that missed this comic should hope that the creators offer it as an option on their next campaign for this action-packed series.
Kor-Drath: The Reckoning is recommended for readers 18 and up because of the graphic violence, nudity, and tasteful sexual content.
Rating: 8 out of 10: A good buy for adult fans of the Swords and Sorcery genre!
What do you think of the indie comic Kor-Drath: The Reckoning by Andy Smith? Leave a comment and let us know.
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Any idea where to get this for those of us just hearing about it? I missed the IndieGoGo
There’s a link to Andy’s Twitter account at the bottom of the article. A lot of these Indie Artists offer it usually as a perk when they come out with the sequel.
I checked the shop on Andysmithart.com but it is not offered there. I was able to get the 1st Issue of 1st Man when he put out Issue #2, so keep your eyes open for when he and Dennis come out with the sequel! Follow that Twitter/X account!
Looks great
It was, I had my wife asking to look at it before I was even finished!