A parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian and other classic fantasy comics, Thrud The Barbarian will bring a welcome laugh to fans of fantasy stories. As a comic strip first published in the pages of the role-playing game magazine White Dwarf, Thrud’s sound-effect laden panels (FOOM! THWOP! WHUMP!) became a staple for regular readers. The new edition from Titan Comics reprints Issues #1-5 of the limited comic book series, as well as some original single page stories. Thrud The Barbarian first came from the mind of 18-year-old Carl Critchlow back in 1981, and developed into a solid parody series.
Thrud manages to poke fun at nearly all of the conventions of fantasy stories, but does it in a wink-wink manner like Monty Python. It’s funny and quirky with in-jokes aplenty. Thrud is big and mean and dumb. He’s a barbarian after all. And he, and his free-swinging axe, are pretty funny.
