Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring #3 - Titan Comics

SOLOMON KANE: THE SERPENT RING No. 3, July 2025

Captivatingly transporting his audience to the “dark edge of the Kingdom of Ndongo”, and a deadly rendezvous with an ancient cult of devilish Serpent people, Patrick Zircher’s penmanship for Issue Three of “Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring” is absolutely top notch. Indeed, the American author’s handling of the Early Seventeenth-Century Puritan is so entrancing, that many within this mini-series’ audience probably felt as if Robert E. Howard himself was whispering the storyline in his ear, and the Dayton-born writer simply capturing what he heard on paper; “But proceed. Wisdom, like the wind, cometh from all quarters.”

Spearheading these successes has to be the persistent aura of danger surrounding the comic’s quite considerably-sized cast, with little love shown between many of the adventurers – most especially Mbondu, who despite living on the dangerous lands upon which Rolando Zarza now seeks his fortune, is given no respect for his expert knowledge whatsoever. In addition, the shape-shifting Father Goncallo is repeatedly shown to be as treacherous as the snake deity he worships, and any onlooker is never at ease whenever the false priest is pencilled disconcertingly lurking in a panel’s shadows.

However, by far the book’s biggest achievements has to be its two action-packed set-pieces, which whilst rather short, are still crammed full of tense desperation. In fact, this twenty-three page periodical’s plot does a grand job in keeping its readers constantly on their toes worrying as to which characters will actually survive long enough to reach beyond the Stones of Pungo and Andongo. Such uncertainty genuinely is palpable, particularly after the rogue Nico Cassini is pencilled painfully taking an arrow straight in the arm, and Kane himself is left for dead after being bitten on the shoulder by one of the High Priestess Sha-Kabet’s fearsomely-fanged pet reptiles.

Bewitchingly, Zircher also provides ample examples of his prodigiousness as a top tier illustrator. There is simply so much to admire within this publication’s layouts, from the adrenalin almost dripping off of the adventurers as they fend off a ferocious volley from a tribe of natives with their muskets, through to the crystal clear hatred in Mbondu’s eyes whenever he casts a glance at the truly despicable Zarza. And few bibliophiles will surely forget the artist's truly awesome sketch of Diamanta and Solomon seeing their first African elephant up close and personal.

Writer/Artist: Patrick Zircher, and Colorists: Pete Pantazis & Patrick Zircher