20 cool psychedelic comics to read after seeing Thor: Ragnarok

American Barbarian cover (Image via IDW Publishing)

19. American Barbarian

While the art of American Barbarian is plenty strange, the series gets a fair chunk of its psychedelic strangeness from its concept. All of that, plus the unexplained commitment to red, white, and blue hair makes for some serious suspension of disbelief. Doubt in reality is encouraged, too.

The bones of the American Barbarian story may sound familiar, especially if you’re a fan of high-octane science fiction movies. It features Meric, the titular barbarian and the youngest of seven brothers. They’re led by their Pa, a grizzled warrior and patriarch whose family has protected its peaceable kingdom for generations.

Too bad, then, that the kingdom is ruled by a too-comfortable man. He’s not at all worried about the approach of Two-Tank Omen, a giant undead pharaoh with — yes, seriously — tanks instead of feet.

Two-Tank Omen

Given that the tale is set in a brutal “post-post-apocalyptic world”, Two-Tank Omen makes quick work of the kingdom. Pa and his sons all die in battle, save for Meric. He swears revenge and carves the word onto his hands. Sure, “revenge” is only seven letters, but that just leaves two fingers and a thumb to hold more exclamation points.

So, Meric takes his magically-appointed weapon, the Star Sword, and proceeds to wreak havoc. He does so in a landscape that’s turned so far past 11 that the dial has broken and is now bleeding color and noise.

Everything — the sentences, the art, the plot — looks and feels as if it ends with multiple and exciting forms of punctuation. It’s the concept of an interrobang and vision trip turned into a comic series. It’s exciting and wild and fantastic.