drive-by readings: Berserker #1

Berserker #1 (Top Cow) Rick Loverd Jeremy Haun Dave McCaig Troy Peteri Dale Keown (cover)

anybody with a berserker's rage will identify with this new series from Top Cow. Farris Jorn and Aaron Bural are two diverse people with something in common - they can be sparked to go in a murderous rage given the right (unfortunate) conditions. Farris works with his girlfriend Eva in a metal factory, and always gets pushed around by his asshole of a boss (who likes harassing Eva), resulting in some sweet evisceration, the kind any hard-working peon would love to perform on their own idiot bosses. Aaron just wants to pull up stakes and leave town with his girl Courtney, but a terrible incident during a wrestling match triggers a series of unfortunate events, not the least of which is a separation of head from body of a supporting character, i won't tell you who. lurking in the background are two competing organizations, Aasgard and Midgard (whooopee - laying the Norse stuff a bit too thickly, eh), vying for the services of talents like Farris and Aaron.

the pacing could use a bit more polishing; otherwise, this seems to be an interesting (if ultra-violent) book with a nice premise. if it turns out to be a hit, a movie could be in the pipeline (property's owned by Divide Pictures owned by - cough, Heroes are an X-Men ripoff, cough, cough - Milo Ventimiglia).