Essential Killraven

(Marvel, 2005)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Without question, one of the strangest Marvel comics of the 70s was Amazing Adventures with its Killraven series, an oddball cross between War of the Worlds and Flash Gordon (which sure seems as if it was an influence on Thundarr the Barbarian), featuring an ex-gladiator dressed like an exotic dancer and his band of freedom fighters striking back at Martian oppressors.

What started out as a more violent version of DC’s Hercules Unbound (in turn, a variation on Gold Key’s Mighty Samson) quickly became one of the most influential series of the decade. Don McGregor worked seamlessly with P. Craig Russell to produce strangely eloquent and elegant stories like “A Death in the Family” (predating the Batman story by decades) and “The 24 Hour Man.”

Of course, there’s also an unintentionally hilarious “relevant” fill-in issue by Bill Mantlo. And, while it’s nice that Marvel included Marvel Graphic Novel #7 that reunited McGregor and Russell to tie up loose ends from the series, it suffers from being shrunk to comic-book size and printed in black and white.

— S. A. Bennett

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