Publisher: Valiant Comics
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Editor: Tom Brennan
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Gilad Anni-Padda is the Eternal Warrior of the title; an immortal tasked with protecting a race of mystics known as the Geomancers. He’s been doing the job for 6,000 years and every time he dies he’s brought back to life to start all over again. Guess they’ve never heard of a pension plan!

This time around in Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #5 (Prelude to Labyrinth – Part 1), Gilad comes back to find himself in a hi-tech laboratory being watched by a mysterious figure who knows more about Gilad than he ought to. The answer, we are told, lies in the past, and that’s right where we go to, ancient Mesopotamia to be precise, in the middle of a massacre where Gilad’s wife is killed and his son, Kalam, taken captive. Gilad was out hunting food at the time, which was a bad move on the part of the bad guys because now he’s angry and they’re really not going to like him when he’s angry.

Apart from a gory birthing scene that those of us with tender sensibilities might want to avert our eyes from, that’s about it for Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #5 (Prelude to Labyrinth – Part 1), but for those who like to get in at the grass roots of a story, this two-part tale is an ideal jumping on point for what is to come. It’s a little like Conan but none the worse for that.

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker