If you haven’t been reading it, Skullkickers is a hilarious take on fantasy adventure by Jim Zub. The story follows two mercenary adventurers who always get in over their head and cause as much as trouble as they prevent. This is a series known for its comedic riff on the fantasy genre, its awesome art, and intense action. What’s been so awesome about this most recent arc of stories, though, is that Zub has managed to fit in some real drama and character growth amidst the violence and humor he’s known for.

This issue is the climactic end to the most recent story arc and sees our heroes fighting a battle against mind-controlled pirates on a ship that’s being attacked by the Kraken. Thank you, Jim Zub, for giving me the opportunity to write that sentence. This issue is action packed and has a very funny narration running throughout it. What’s great about this narration is that it isn’t one of the characters but actually the writer commenting on the crazy stuff going on in his own book, even critiquing himself for not writing a funnier issue.

As always the art provided by Huang and Coats is a perfect blend of silly characters and awesome violent action. I especially liked the monster design, as Huang has managed to give the Kraken and the Thool incredibly expressive faces, which helps sell the humor in the issue.

Skullkickers is perfect for fans of fantasy adventure or just anyone looking for a fun, violent read that will leave them in stitches. The first two arcs are collected in two trade paperbacks or in one hardcover with a bunch of additional content, so it should be easy to catch up on the story if you need to. Even better, the next issue is a standalone that they do after each arc called Tavern Tales, and it is a great jumping on point for the series.