Interview: The Mighty Barbarians Are At The Gate
Mar 07, 2023
Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen
From Michael Moreci (Barbaric) and newcomer Giuseppe Cafaro (Aspen's Soulfire) comes The Mighty Barbarians, a superteam consisting of some of fiction's greatest "skull-cracking warriors!" Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
PREVIEWSworld talked with writer Michael Moreci to find out more.
PREVIEWSworld: Let’s start off with some insight into your own history of sword and sorcery. How did you get into the genre as a fan?
Moreci: Like most people who grew up in the 80s, sword and sorcery were always around—Conan, Xena, Beastmaster, all these classics were really part of the culture. My interest started there, and games like Hero Quest and of course D&D, then took off from there.
PREVIEWSworld: What made you want to set this story around the fantasy genre?
Moreci: I’m not sure it’s a conscious decision on my part. The idea’s inception was inherent to the genre—bringing together these characters of myth, legend, and specifically, the fantasy genre screams fantasy itself. Plus, it simply has that feeling of the kind of pulp fantasy stories I love, particularly the Robert E. Howard variety. This story feels like an old fantasy paperback, in my opinion.
PREVIEWSworld: Catch us up to speed. What is the story about?
Moreci: It’s really simple: An evil is spreading across multiple dimensions, and only a group of various warriors can stop it—you’ve got Kull, the barbarian king; Nanook, the master of bears; Morgan le Fey, the sorceress; Birka, the Viking; and Anansi, the shapeshifter.
PREVIEWSworld: Is this more Tolkien sword-and-sorcery or Heavy Metal sword-and-sorcery? Or is it both?
Moreci: I’d say a blend of both, but leaning more toward the Heavy Metal variety, particularly in voice and attitude. Again, we’re going after that pulp feel, leaning into a story that’s big and filled with adventure and larger-than-life characters. We do have our strong fantasy elements, but character comes first.
PREVIEWSworld: Tell us about your collaborators on the book. What made Giuseppe Cafaro the right artist for the job?
Moreci: He’s just so great. We needed someone who is dynamic and fluid but can still tell a great story, and Giuseppe does this tremendously. His action leaps off the page, and he animates his characters so very, very well. The book looks incredible, thanks to his work.
PREVIEWSworld: In terms of audience, who would you say the MIGHTY BARBARIANS is for?
Moreci: Anyone who likes big, no-holds-barred comic pulp storytelling, like I do with Barbaric or like Robert E. Howard did with Conan and Kull. The story is meant to feel like a throwback to those 80s sword and sorcery stories I love, while also feeling modern and unique in their own right. I think readers are going to have a ton of fun with this one.
The Mighty Barbarians #1 is available to preorder now with PREVIEWSworld Pullbox! It hits comic shops on April 19, 2023 from Ablaze!
Keep an eye on PREVIEWSworld.com's Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram for more artist spotlights!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
When an unstoppable force starts consuming one world after another, sorceress Morgan Le Fey uses her magic to assemble a team of skull-cracking warriors who must somehow work together to save all of existence. There's the young trickster Anansi, Viking shield maiden Birka, the shape shifting Nanook, and their leader, heir to a fallen kingdom and mightiest of warriors, KULL!
Though their alliance is uneasy, they will do whatever it takes to cut the heart right out of their mutual enemy, leaving a path of ruin through everything and everyone that stands in their way!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
When an unstoppable force starts consuming one world after another, sorceress Morgan Le Fey uses her magic to assemble a team of skull-cracking warriors who must somehow work together to save all of existence. There's the young trickster Anansi, Viking shield maiden Birka, the shape shifting Nanook, and their leader, heir to a fallen kingdom and mightiest of warriors, KULL!
Though their alliance is uneasy, they will do whatever it takes to cut the heart right out of their mutual enemy, leaving a path of ruin through everything and everyone that stands in their way!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
When an unstoppable force starts consuming one world after another, sorceress Morgan Le Fey uses her magic to assemble a team of skull-cracking warriors who must somehow work together to save all of existence. There's the young trickster Anansi, Viking shield maiden Birka, the shape shifting Nanook, and their leader, heir to a fallen kingdom and mightiest of warriors, KULL!
Though their alliance is uneasy, they will do whatever it takes to cut the heart right out of their mutual enemy, leaving a path of ruin through everything and everyone that stands in their way!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
Kull leads the brave band of warriors on a treacherous journey back to his homeland in search of information on the mystical objects that will help them fight their enemy. But this only puts them on a longer, darker path to the heart of the underworld and into the clutches of Hades himself!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
Kull leads the brave band of warriors on a treacherous journey back to his homeland in search of information on the mystical objects that will help them fight their enemy. But this only puts them on a longer, darker path to the heart of the underworld and into the clutches of Hades himself!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
Kull leads the brave band of warriors on a treacherous journey back to his homeland in search of information on the mystical objects that will help them fight their enemy. But this only puts them on a longer, darker path to the heart of the underworld and into the clutches of Hades himself!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
They're barbarians. They loot, they plunder, they conquer. That's what they do, and they do it alone...until NOW!
Kull leads the brave band of warriors on a treacherous journey back to his homeland in search of information on the mystical objects that will help them fight their enemy. But this only puts them on a longer, darker path to the heart of the underworld and into the clutches of Hades himself!
Before The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men, before it all...stood The Mighty Barbarians!
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Troy-Jeffrey Allen is the producer and co-host of PREVIEWSworld Weekly. His comics work includes MF DOOM: All Caps, Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91, Fight of the Century, the Harvey Award-nominated District Comics, and the Ringo Awards-nominated Magic Bullet.
