Thrud the Barbarian

Initial publications The character of Thrud was created by the then 18-year-old Critchlow in 1981 while he was at foundation art college. His graphic design tutor, Bryan Talbot, gave him the project of producing a comic strip. At the time, Critchlow was reading the Conan books by Robert E. Howard, and this inspired him to produce Thrud. The initial five-page strip was published in comics fanzine Arken Sword. When Critchlow moved on to art college in Liverpool, Thrud made a further appearance in the comic ''Dead 'Ard, which Critchlow co-authored with artist Euan Smith. Dead 'Ard also featured a strip titled The Black Currant, subsequently re-published in the 26th and final issue of the Warrior'' comic anthology. The Black Currant would later appear as one of Thrud's many enemies. White Dwarf On seeing an advertisement in White Dwarf magazine asking for cartoonists, Critchlow submitted some of his Thrud strips and was hired. and issue 105 in September 1988. During this time, the black-and-white single-page strip was voted "Most popular feature" for three consecutive years. In 1987, a collection of Thrud strips was published in a Thrud the Barbarian Graffik Novel by Games Workshop. In addition to strips that had been printed in White Dwarf, this anthology included a re-drawn version of the original Arken Sword strip Full-length comic Once the Thrud strip had run its course in White Dwarf, Critchlow worked on other comics including the Judge Dredd/Batman crossover story The Ultimate Riddle, first published in 1995. His work on this story was fully painted, and while considered impressive was also criticised as being forced, confused Critchlow was developing a new style based on line-drawings with computer colouring, The cover images for each of the first four comics were hand-painted in contrast to the computer-coloured line art used in the comic itself. ==Fictional character biography==

An origin story for Thrud was printed in the Thrud the Barbarian Graffik Novel. The story tells of a group of mercenaries who, lost and searching for a pub, stumble across an abandoned baby in a deserted village. The mercenaries decide to raise the baby as one of their own, teaching him how to fight and drink beer. At the age of five, Thrud is sent to Crom the Destroyer Orthodox Pagan Infants School, where he towers above the teachers and his fellow students. When one of the children shoots him with a pea shooter, Thrud's reaction is to kill and maim twenty-seven pupils and three teachers, leading to his expulsion from the school. Choosing to return to the wilderness rather than his adoptive parents, Thrud lives alone until, one day, he stumbles across a hidden burial chamber. Finding a small helmet and a large axe, Thrud arms himself. Finding gold and gems, he decides to return to civilisation with his newfound wealth, quickly establishing himself a reputation as a violent warrior. Many years later, Thrud the Barbarian becomes Thrud the King, but finds the mundane duties of kingship tiresome without opportunities to fight. To put a halt to Thrud's constant mutterings of, "Kill! Death! Maim! Mutilate! Destroy!", the wise men of his kingdom collect stories of heroism from around the land and read them to him long into the night. ==Characterisation==

Endowed with the strength of a rhinoceros, the speed and agility of a jungle cat and the intelligence of a garden snail, Thrud is a one-dimensional character while remaining ignorant of plot points. Depicted as an barbarian with a hugely exaggerated, muscular physique and a very small head, and dressed in large furry boots and a loincloth, Thrud is a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian. Thrud is also a heavy drinker, frequenting ''The Hobbit's Armpit'' tavern and regularly causing mayhem when he is unable to have his desired flavour of crisps. These and other annoyances often cause Thrud to invoke the author of the Conan the Barbarian books with the battle cry, "By the sacred jockstrap of Robert E. Howard you'll pay for this, Hellspawn!" ==Supporting characters==

The Black Currant First appearing in ''Dead 'Ard and Warrior'', The Black Currant returned again in issue 3 of Critchlow's self-published Thrud the Barbarian comic as the leader of a group of bandits laying siege to a small town. The Black Currant is depicted in heavy black armour, wearing a helmet provided with a pair of exceedingly long, horizontally extending horns. Carl Critchlow Critchlow himself appears in a number of Thrud strips, occasionally as a narrator although more often as a drinking companion for Thrud. Critchlow depicts himself with lank hair and a large cap pulled down low over his eyes. in the Thrud the Destroyer story. Croneman is depicted as resembling Arnold Schwarzenegger, a common satirical target in the Thrud strips and comics Croneman the Cimpletan Croneman claims to be the mightiest barbarian of the northern tribes and honorary chief of the savage bezerkers of Nid. Known also as Amoron, the Wombat, he is a slayer, a reaver, a corsair, a usurper, and a conqueror. Depicted as resembling Schwarzenegger, he is also a bodybuilder with a very silly accent. Seeking revenge, Lymara attempts to poison Thrud with a bottle of Acme "Mammoth Poison", but succeeds only in putting him to sleep as part of The Three Tasks of Thrud series of strips. Subsequently, Lymara joins Thrud as one of the group of mercenaries brought in to fight The Black Currant in Thrud the Destroyer. In this latter series of strips, Lymara is depicted with oversized breasts barely covered by an off-the-shoulder leather bra. To-Me Ku-Pa To-Me Ku-Pa (a name phonetically similar to that of British comedian Tommy Cooper) is an evil necromancer who regularly crosses paths with Thrud and is depicted as a bald man wearing a large cloak. Thrud first encounters To-Me Ku-Pa in an early White Dwarf strip and is turned into a frog. Subsequently, in The Three Tasks of Thrud, To-Me Ku-Pa takes advantage of Thrud's drugged state, following Lymara's failed assassination attempt, to hypnotise him and force him to obtain three items necessary for a spell. and Imperial stormtroopers. To-Me Ku-Pa also appears as the villain in issue 1 of the full-length Thrud the Barbarian comic. ==Merchandise==

A range of Thrud merchandise has been produced since the character's inception, including a Thrud T-shirt and badge as well as a series of miniatures. Citadel Miniatures produced five different metal miniatures of Thrud, starting in 1984 with a "White Dwarf Personality" miniature. Three numbered limited edition miniatures followed consisting of "LE12, Thrud the Barbarian", in 1986, "LE19, Thrud and Female Admirer" in 1987, and "LE104, Thrud scratching head". Thrud was also introduced as a Blood Bowl player and Jervis Johnson commissioned an appropriate miniature. Heresy Miniatures has also produced three Thrud miniatures, On 29 March 2007, another limited edition of 1000 resin miniatures was released. ==Reception and awards==

Thrud the Barbarian was one of the best loved pieces in White Dwarf over the five years that the strip ran, being voted "Most popular feature" for three consecutive years Overall, the comic was deemed a success, with even the more negative reviewers awarding it 6 out of 10 In 2006 Thrud was nominated for the "Favourite Colour Comicbook – British" Eagle Award, but lost out to 2000 AD. ==Legacy==

In October 2002, four months after Thrud issue 1 was published, Critchlow returned to 2000AD using his new computer-drawn style. His first story was the Judge Dredd, Out of the Undercity story written by John Wagner. The new style was initially well received by 2000AD Review and seen as a marked improvement over his previous fully painted style with clearer figures and atmospheric colouring. 2000AD Review's criticism of Critchlow's subdued colouring continued with the 2003 Lobster Random story, No Gain, No Pain. By the conclusion, however, Critchlow's style was recognised as being truly unique and even the previously criticised blues and greys were seen to work well when used with other coloured elements. The artwork in two further Lobster Random stories, Tooth & Claw in October 2004 and The Agony & the Ecstasy in April 2006 was again very well received. Tooth & Claw was praised for its character designs while Critchlow's style in The Agony & the Ecstasy was said to be easily recognisable, having "volume, colour and verve". ==References==