El Cid is a big legend in Spain, to the point where some people even think he actually exists. He’s even equal to Arthur in some respects. It’s pretty sad that the comics featured in “Eerie Presents El Cid†don’t do the man justice.
This collection has nine stories El Cid stories that originally appeared in “Eerie Comics.†All center on various adventures of El Cid from fighting a troll to catching a thief. These stories read like 1980s sci-fi/fantasy movies such as “The Beastmaster.†There’s not much substance these stories except lots of Spaniards fighting supernatural beings and women in almost no clothing. It does try to be with the narration but it only makes it cheesier than it already is.
The narration also tries to make the story read like it’s a medieval folk story being told by El Cid himself, but it’s not interesting to read. It gets tiring after only a few lines and kills off any tension the narrator tried to attain.
What made movies like “The Beastmaster” watchable is that at least it had some type interesting, if not so bad they’re hilarious, fights, monsters and dialogue. These stories have neither of these. As with the narration the dialogue is not interesting to read and tries too hard. The fights are a bore and the monster designs are as basic as they get.
As for the art style, it’s your classic “Eerie Comics†black and white style that looks like the old “Tales from the Crypt†comics. Except here they try to imitate the style of the 1980s sci-fi/fantasy movies. As with the rest of the comic, it’s not interesting to look at or creative or new.
“Eerie Presents El Cid†is a collection of uninteresting comics that are even void of cheese. If they had some cheesiness to them they may be interesting, but they’re played straight and try way too hard to be serious and fail at it.
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