Review: Savage Avengers #1 – Streets of Rage
The Savage Avengers are back for a second volume with Streets of Rage, a new number one issue from the creative team of David Prepose (writer), Carlos Mango (art), Espen Grundetjern (colors) and VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). Conan remains a man out of his time, mystically transported from his native Hyborian Age to the mean streets of modern-day New York City. Despite the temporal shift, Conan continues to find that his long-time nemeses still pose a problem after all these years. Conan kicks off his night slicing through members of the followers of Set, a cult armed with a madbomb and hellbent on kickstarting the Eldritch God’s rebirth.
Things go sideways in a hurry for Conan when his time traversing exploits put him on Deathlock’s radar, who is set on erasing the Cimmerian from existence before he does further damage to the timestream. Conan and Deathlock’s battle allow the madbomb to go off and the ensuing chaos piques the curiosity of Daredevil, the Black Knight, Weapon H, Anti-Venom and Cloak and Dagger. The Savage Avengers’ skirmish disrupts Deathlock’s time travelling circuitry and the team finds themselves lost in the Hyborian Age.
Streets of Rage is a smooth, entertaining read. The new additions to the team’s roster introduce an interesting dynamic to the mix and flips the fish out of water trope on them instead of Conan. Prepose hints at some interesting subplots for a few of the characters that promise to add intrigue to the series moving forward. While Issue #1 is dense with regards to text it’s anything but a talking heads book. It is loaded with action and the art team of Mango and Grundetjern use every inch of the page to their advantage. The colors really compliment the detailed artwork and a second pass at the issue reveals just how much there is on the page. Kudos also go out to Lanham whose letters never seem to overcrowd the pages while facilitating the storytelling.
Savage Avengers #1 is a welcome return to the team and good jumping on point for those who’ve missed Volume #1. An interesting time travelling premise, a revamped roster and a solid creative team has Conan and his crew headed in the right direction, even if it’s back in time.
