Sanjulián’s Queen of the Lost World #1 slashes open a sword and sorcery world right out of the Spanish artist’s work! Sanjulián is a noted fantasy artist who worked in comic books like the Warren Publishing magazine such as Eerie, and fantasy novel covers like Conan: The Flame Knife (1981). Opus Comics is the publisher and also the company of another fantasy artist master's comic book, Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer.
It is written by Leah Moore, the daughter of comic scribe, Alan Moore, and John Reppion. They are the husband and wife writing team that adapted Bram Stoker in the Compete Dracula (2009) limited series. The artwork is by Silvia Califano who also worked on the Elvira in Horrorland (2022) series. It is based on Sanjulián’s painting Dragon Queen. This is an adult comic in content, but has no labels so be warned. The regular cover is by Ariel Olivetti which has the swordswoman carrying a small dragon cage below a blue background with a queen and dragon.
A variant cover has Sanjulián painting, Warrior, of a dark-haired woman in a metal bikini with bronze shield and sword held in a gauntlet while a saber-tooth tiger prowls and pterosaurs fly above them! The story begins in a small panoramic panel of the Midnight Forest. Two brothers complain about the thorns and come across the smoking corpse of a large tusk-boar, in the foreground is the glowing eyes of an owl, impressive.
Then, we get a large panel of a woman holding a sword to one of the warrior’s neck. She wears a gold headpiece with a red gem. The pencils are dark and detailed with some great expressions. One of the brothers nervously says they were sent by the Dragon Queen looking for The Huntress. She is presented a letter with the royal seal and agrees to see the Dragon Queen. The owl flies over the night forest below the moon. This shifts to the Forsaken Plains with a rider struggling with her horse in the rain. She wears a horned skull helmet.
A zombie hand reaches out for the horse, another large panel of the horse rearing as lightning strikes down, and zombie hands reach upwards! This is a scene right out of Army of Darkness (1992)! She falls into the muddy ground and the zombie hands pull her under! It shifts to daytime where we have three dragons flying from the sun. We are told by an unknown narrator that the dragons were the rulers while ape-people were in the swamps.
We see the spires of an elaborate castle within a mountain crater and a city built around it. Incredible design. The balance of power shifted in the Age of Kings with humans taming the dragons. I like the little dragons, about the size of a puppy, being tended by uniformed keepers in circular nests in a wall. This is the Eyrie castle. A woman, the Dragon Queen, in sheer blue clothes and gold ornaments is surrounded by some green smoke and she runs in tears. This moves to a bearded advisor in red robes, Grand Vizier Senex. The small number of characters reminds me of the sword and sorcery movies of the 80’s!
He has a little dragon climbing on his shoulders. Senex tells her about message about the Aegyptian queen’s armies and the Scorpion Queen’s Catacombs. Another setting for a comic book? The Dragon Queen admits that she left the chamber of Terra Drac and the green-herb has not helped her. I love that this Dragon Queen reminds me of the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, but the Dragon Queen is very much more swords and sorcery.
In the Ossus Catacombs, the woman, Furia the Warrior, uses her sword to tear down the hordes of the undead. Love the names! She searches for the necromancer that controlled them. At the armory in Terra Drac, Busca, the Huntress is met by the Dragon Queen and Grand Vizier. The Dragon Queen asks Busca if she can find anything. She replies that only if she is paid. Senex is stunned that she holds the legendary sword, Vastator Tenebrarum, Destroyer of Darkness. She sees the spider-like, undead creature that she killed with the sword.
We have Busca asking why the Dragon Queen would need her. A large panel has the Dragon Queen on a throne of a dragon, she has a leopard cape, red bikini, and a dragon on her lap. The artwork is stunning enough to pick up the comic book. The Dragon Queen needs The Huntress to be secret and on her own for the quest. The object she says already belongs to the Dragon Queen. A lost egg of the dragon? Busca asks for a new things and we see a panel of a golden shield and armor. Furia is attacked again by a skeleton which she shatters, but then is um, held by an undead creature in robes, covered in a blue spectral glow.
He wants her as a champion. At the chamber of Magna Mater, which translates to Great Mother, is the chained, massive dragon in a two page spread. She rests as the Dragon Queen enters and walks over to her head. We see inserts of the dragon opening her eye like a way of communicating. The Dragon Queen can’t help her or understand Magna Mater, but a way rests with Busca! It is two women warriors, one sided with darkness and the other has the hope of saving the queendom and dragons! Queens of the Lost World has powerful women in a sword and sorcery world with fantastic visuals of Sanjulián!
Five Swords out of Five!
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