SOLOMON KANE: THE SERPENT RING part 1: Dead Man's Promise.
Abramo Bensaid is writing to his wayfaring brother Paolo Laurenti, whom he has not heard from in 1.5 years. Abramo mentions Paolo's employer, Rolando Zarza (thorny shrub in Spanish), a Knight of Malta.
Kingdom of Ndongo, Africa.
Paolo is attacked by the owners of the artifact that he has stolen. Eight of Paolo's helpers and one marinheiro (Portuguese sailor) are murdered. Paolo shoots at his aggressors with his flintlock and flees to the safety of a Portuguese caravel sailing ship.
The Barbary Coast.
Solomon Kane (aka The Sword of Vengeance), the wandering Puritan from Devonshire is now a "Sea Dog", a privateer on an English galleon (Captain Wheeler's ship: The Reprisal) in the service of Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth I).
Wheeler, who has a license to attack and capture vessels belonging to "enemies" of England, decides to attack the Gaviota (seagull in Portuguese)... a Portuguese caravel.
Always the pious hypocrite, Kane kills multiple marinheiros... while pondering the morality of being a marauder.
Desiring to end the bloodshed, Kane tries to locate the captain of the Gaviota, but he shoots Paolo Laurenti instead in self-defence. Kane, begging for forgiveness, is given by a dying Paolo a Set statuette (similar statuettes have been seen in Conan the Barbarian #18). Kane promises to hand deliver Paolo's stolen statuette to Laurenti's bro, Abramo in Venice.
Ghetto Vecchio, Republic of Venice.
We are introduced to Jewish father, Abramo Bensaid and his brilliant daughter, Diamanta.
Biblioteca Marciana (Yes, the public library in Venice, Italy).
Diamanta is returning a "borrowed" secret manuscript concerning the Benedict of Alignan to her father Abramo.
Abramo is a scholar, an archivist and a secret mystic that works for the procurator of the library, the Marquis Di Fiore (a Blood for Dracula (1974) homage?).
Tavern of the Lagarto (lizard in Spanish), Naples (the capital of the Crown of Aragon).
Nico informs Don Zarza that his expedition has failed, the Gaviota has been sunk by the English... but a damaged English galleon (that is missing one of its lifeboats) has just been seen south of the city.
Kane was the one who purchased Captain Wheeler's missing lifeboat. Solomon then traded the boat for a Murgese (an Italian riding horse) and some coins.
Furlo Pass (the Grand Canyon of Italy).
Solomon is ambushed by Zarza's men. Kane kills them all... but gets shot in the left quadricep.
São Manços mission, Jesuit ministry up the Kwanza River, Kingdom of Ndongo, Africa.
Jesuit priest Father Goncallo asks Dahami to recite the Prayer for Generosity by St. Ignatius of Loyola (the founder of the Jesuit order).
Mbondu and old Tujaru are the ones in charge of finding who massacred the helpers and the sailor.
Tujaru discovers the remains of one of Paolo's attackers... and runs away in terror.
Mbondu looks at the thing that terrorized Tujaru and he cannot believe his eyes... it is the carcass of a Serpent Man (straight from the King Kull tales).
Ghetto Vecchio, Republic of Venice.
Diamanta and her father find a wounded Kane inside their home. Solomon presents the Set statuette to Abramo.
À suivre.
What I did like:
Spinning out from the pages of the Savage Sword of Conan magazine, it is the first Solomon Kane solo series in 15 years!
Kane's shimmering green silk sash of Oriental workmanship is unambiguously green.
A nice blend of swordplay and sorcery. This is how supernatural historical fantasy comics should be done.
Patrick is planting too many seeds for just one tiny miniseries. This limited series could easily grow into an ongoing book.
Cyriacus of Ancona, the Italian Father of Archaeology mentioned.
Sebastian, King of Portugal; Henry, King of Portugal and Portuguese Inquisition mentioned.
Benoît d'Alignan mentioned.
Italian wedding soup/Minestra Maritata mentioned.
Roman emperor Vespasian, the Ostrogoths and the Lombards mentioned.
Natural Magick/Magia Naturalis by Giambattista della Porta mentioned.
Judah Loew ben Bezalel mentioned.
Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and Golem mentioned.
Harpies and Cyclopes from Greek mythology mentioned.
Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi of Kongo alluded to.
Two Angolan giraffes appeared!
Exposing Kane to different religions is always interesting.
Monsters and Missives. A letters page in the very first issue!
Fantastic variant covers by J. H. Williams III, Dan Brereton, Mike Mignola and Andrew MacLean.
"He crawled on his belly." Get it? A serpent crawls on its belly.
Solomon Kane fought Dracula twice during his Marvel comics days.
What I did not like:
The Staff of Solomon and N'Longa, the fan favourite African shaman are MIA.
Where is the fabled Serpent Ring of Yiggseth/the accursed Ring of Thoth-Amon?
Not one panel is dedicated to The Phoenix on the Sword or The Haunter of the Ring.
The Serpent Men are revealed much too soon (on page 3)!
The Serpent Men would leave one of their own behind, to be discovered? Doubtful.
Kane should be an ectomorph, not a mesomorph.
Patch keeps it chaste. This is a MATURE READERS book, the celibate Solomon should be tempted from time to time.
Only 4 issues?! Why are limits imposed on my entertainment? This should be an ONGOING series.
No way to contact the letters page!
Only one variant cover features a woman.
Conan the Barbarian does not appear on any of the variant covers. A lost opportunity.
No "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)" homage! No one gets bludgeoned by an oar.
No advert for Shaun Hamill's upcoming novel: Solomon Kane: Suffer The Witch!
I give it a 9/10. This is a divinely drawn and passionately plotted first issue that should not be missed! Patrick Zircher is firing on all cylinders, this mini-series is clearly his magnum opus. Don't be a cold-hearted snake, support Patch, the Puritan, Heroic Signatures & Titan Comics. Drop everything and go purchase this well researched labour of love, today!
