The First Kingdom Vol. 1: The Birth of Tundran HCPublisher: Titan Books
Release Date: September 2013
Price: $24.99
Creator: Jack Katz
Format: 208 pgs., B&W, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1782-6010-8
Age Rating: N/A (Adult due to content issues)
ICv2 Rating: 2.5 Stars out of 5
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." That Princess Bride quote would have been the mantra of a good editor going over the script for The First Kingdom. Jack Katz spent years creating this quirky and visually stunning work, the reprint of which will span six hardcover volumes. The problem is that the quirkiness often gets in the way of telling the story. Katz didn't want to use word balloons or standard page layouts, or in many cases, standard, comprehensible English. Word misuses are very distracting as the story progresses. Even almost-correct words are abused slightly in cases like the command "Descend him into the pit!" No, really.
The artwork is sometimes brilliant, a bit like Alex Raymond mixed with Jack Kirby.
As far as story, a nuclear war has destroyed much of the world, and what comes back from this disaster is a civilization of men and gods who seem to have lost the concept of clothing, other than loincloths and decorative codpieces. Monstrous man-eating creatures abound, migrations and struggles occur, but things happen entirely by writer fiat or the intervention of the many "gods." Well into the story, Katz announces that humans in this horrendous environment have a much longer lifespan, because of the volcanic dust that had blocked out the sun after the nuclear war. What?
Full frontal nudity and attempted rape put this in the adult category. Buy it for the art, and try not to get frustrated by the story.
--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
