Krull #1

See that metal star? That's the glaive
needed to beat the beast in the background.

  On the planet of Krull, a malevolent entity called 'Beast' from space has arrived laying waste to the peaceful inhabitants of the medeval world with his horde of 'Slayers'. The being's dark fortress changes location every evening, making it impossible to garner an assault. The only hope for the planet is to fulfill an ancient prophecy that says if the oldest son and daughter from two rival clans unite in holy matrimony, then the evil one will be destroyed and that their heir will one day rule the entire galaxy. 

   But before Prince Colwyn can marry Princess Lyssa, the Beast's army interrupts the ceremony, kidnapping the girl and killing off the rest of the royal family. Only Colwyn survives and guided by a ceremonial elder, he searches for a mystical weapon called the 'Glaive', the only thing powerful enough to destroy Beast. Now king, Colwyn begins his quest, mounting an army in search of the glaive in order to make a final assault on the Beast's citadel and save his beloved Lyssa.

    The first of a two-part Marvel Movie adaptation of the British sci-fi fantasy film of the same name. Krull is from 1983 and it shows. Once Star Wars came out, studios tried to capture that same formula and failed miserably more often than not. 

   Now, I vaguely remember this film as a kid. But, I think it's because I owned the issue and probably was in the same room where my dad, his brothers, and my grandpop were watching it on HBO. Recently I was flipping channels and came across the last 5 minutes of the movie and marveled at how hokey the special effects were. I felt like Mystery Science Theatre 3000 missed a huge opportunity by not covering this flick on one of it's episodes.

   As for the comic, it was okay. Some of the plot is cliched. It's like every fantasy movie has to have the hero go off on an epic quest, meet up with an assortment of oddballs who just happen to have the exact skills needed to achieve victory, oh and yes, a damsel in distress. But there were several characters in this book that were engaging and that I sorta liked. So, this wasn't a bad read. Plus for a Marvel Movie Adaptation, the art wasn't terrible (and I've read some stinkers in my time.)

   But Lord of the Rings, this ain't.

   Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.