Comic Book Review - War Priest

Rob reviews War Priest...

War Priest is a story of a warrior priest who travels a dystopian world filled with monsters and demons.

'In the distant future, North America has changed in every conceivable way. Several separate nations have been formed and Kingsland is one of them. Kingsland is a Theocratic/martial nation ruled by High Father Solomon III. King Solomon was divinely chosen to rule and has taken Solomon as his name. The nation is divided into 12 Wards and each is ruled by a War Priest who answers directly to the High Father. Each War Priest is chosen by the High Father and takes the name of an Apostle of Jesus.

Matthias is the War Priest this story focuses on. (Matthias was the Disciple chosen by the other 11 after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.)

He is sent to the 9th Ward in search of its War Priest, Thomas.

What he finds may change everything...'

Writer Richard Kemp weaves a great tale throughout this opening issue. We're thrown straight into the action as Matthias' mission takes quite the turn. What starts as a simple search for a fellow War Priest soon turns into a blood-soaked battle between God's and Demons - and everything in between. What makes War Priest interesting is that for the first half of the story there isn't any speech. Kemp gives us Matthias and his thoughts and it works incredibly well. We get to see first-hand what drives Matthias to do what he does, and his insight into this new world. There's also a strange fight with an Aligator - because why not...

The second half of this 37-page opener deals with a mystical world called Wokiconze. This spirit realm is where the real danger lies and can also be bent and shaped by whoever conjured the connection. It's here that Matthias finds the Witch Conjurer, Anne Howard and Thomas - the missing War Preist. It's isn't long before the real threat emerges and soon Matthias is quite literally fighting for his life. 

The action comes quick and fast as Matthias deals with this new threat. There's plenty to enjoy as the two warriors battle across various locations whilst trading words and clashing swords. There's plenty of exposition as the fight serves to bring up Matthias questionable past, as well as the motivations of the High Father - Solomon III. 

When it's said and done, War Preist is an excellent read. Richard Kemp has created quite an interesting world which mixes fantasy and religion. It almost feels akin to something seen in both Dark Souls and Bloodbourne as Humans, Gods, and Demons clash with each other. The artwork (also by Kemp) is dark and brooding which shapes this quite bleak world incredibly well. The only real issue I have is that on occasion it's a little too dark. Matthias is an interesting character and already has quite a lot of potential to grow. Add in a cliffhanger ending and War Priest is shaping up to be a fairly decent fantasy romp. 

Rating - 8/10 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev