Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman # 6
Written by: Joshua S. Henaman
Art by: Andy Taylor
Colors by: Tamra Bonvillain
Published by: Brewhouse Comics
Reviewed by: Kristian Horn
The word that describes the latest and final issue of this run of Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman is COMBAT.
When I reviewed the fifth issue of this series I noted a particular event that occurred that I felt would drastically change the narrative voice of this series. I wondered how the comic would proceed because the event that transpired seemed to be such a grand change in the scope of the book. I was actually a bit concerned because I didn’t know how the writer of the comic would be able to pull off the final issue of his series after taking such a bold storytelling step. This concern arose mostly out of the fact that the main character, Bigfoot himself, never really seemed to be the lead narrator in his own story. Sword of the Earthman was very much a series that depended on the characters surrounding the lead protagonist to tell his story. So when the big event occurred (which I refuse to reveal here) in the penultimate issue I was a little dumbfounded as to how a character like Bigfoot, who doesn’t really speak during the whole run of the series, would be able to tell his own story.
Looks like I didn’t need to be concerned. See, the one thing I forgot, the one thing I didn’t realize while reading this comic is that while everyone is talking about what Bigfoot is doing in the book Bigfoot himself is actually acting on events. And brother does he act out in this issue.
The long and short of it is that what Henaman and Taylor give us is a knockdown-drag-out-sword-and-sorcery-old-school-dungeons-and-dragons-Conan-the-Barbarian-take-no-prisoners-ass-kicking-bloody-balls-to-the-wall-kickass-take-no-prisoners-hide-the-children-cover-your-eyes-hold-on-it’s-gonna-be-a-bumpy-ride-grit-your-teeth-and-pray-it’s-gonna-be alright-smakdown.
In other words Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman gives its audience what it wants.
Honestly, this is the perfect climax for a book like this. It’s quite literally a full comic of bloody sword fighting…which is perfect and absolutely fitting for a comic about a Bigfoot creature stranded on Mars and fighting a rebellion against oppressive overlords. I mean, what else would you want out of a comic whose central character is a savage beast who carries a sword???
Henaman is smart enough to know that for much of the run preceding this issue he’s already done all of the world building and character development that needs to be done. He’s saved issue six for the big fight and I’m here to tell you that it’s a heckuva big fight indeed. This issue is a sword fighting/barbarian lover’s dream. The final issue is the ultimate throw down that fans of this series have been waiting for with an added twist at the end just to keep things interesting.
Andy Taylor’s work really continues to excel in this issue. It’s a real treat to see how his style has grown and developed. The imagery is crisp and clear here and you can see a real difference in his style between the first and this sixth issue. While I did have some minor gripes with the panel progression this series as a whole proves that Taylor is really someone to look out for in the future.
So while this is the final issue of this run of Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman it doesn’t seem to be the end of the line for the series. Writer has left a bit of an open ended finale with this chapter which means there will be more Bigfoot barbarism to come sometime in the future. That makes me happy because I’ve felt that this was one of the most refreshing ideas to come along in indie comics in a long time.If there’s more swordfighting Bigfoot to come then I’m all in.
