Rex Mundi #1
	Story Title: 'Crown and Sword' Writer: Arvid Nelson Art, Colors & Back Cover Art: Juan Ferreyra Letterer: Arvid Nelson Cover Art: J.H. Williams III Co-Creator: Ericj Editor: Scott Allie Published by: Dark Horse Comics
	Reviewed by: Bruce Logan

As a general rule, I shy away from anything having anything even remotely to with religion and/or politics. Put the two of them together, and I’d rather have my nipples pierced…with a hot poker. Still, why did I pick up this title? Well, mostly because of the reviews I’ve got about its previous run. Then under the ‘Image Comics’ banner, I couldn’t bring myself to pick up midway…or for that matter towards its end. However, now with a new start in a new place (Dark Horse), I decided to dip my toe and try it. After all, it is not as if it is a monthly, or is it. (I only ask because the last page says that it ‘To be continued in TWO months’).

Anyways, how did I fare on this trial run? Well, it came out as a mixed bag, both in the story and in the art. While on one end, I enjoyed the whole secretive mood, I was completely lost in the details (mostly because of my lack of back-info about the plot). Similarly, in the art, the ‘day’ scenes came across as clear and (most of the time) well inked and colored. On the flip side, the ‘church hearing’ setting seemed a little too dark and blurred…although even that became clearer towards the end. Still, even though its not in the same league as ‘Y The Last Man’ it managed to hold up quite well.

Moving onto the plot, and I am still trying to properly pronounce more than half the names, the main ‘hero’ character, Julien (I am not going into last names. Takes too long to type), is undergoing a trial…the exact reason for which I take were dealt with in the previous run (with ‘Image’). Still, as expected in any such setting, his goose is as good as cooked, this time literally. Why? His ‘sins’ are to expatriated with fire until he is dead. Hence, the cooked goose.

At the same time, David-Louis, the Duke of Lorraine is faring much better. Not only does he win the battle, the palace, and take the previous king into custody, he is all smiles at seeing corpse (suicide) of Sir Charles Martel.

As for the ending, Julien gets some much needed help from Father Eugene Calvet and some woman he calls ‘Gen’. I later found out that this Gen is Genevieve Touran, his (as well as Duke of Lorraine’s) lover.

Conclusion: All the problems of (trying) jumping on midway, and even though its not to my preferences, I didn’t feel all that sorry at having spent $3 US (got it from Detroit) on it.

RATING: 7/10