Review by Luke Williams
Big Ass Sword is unusual publication for Rebellion as, largely, they have concentrated on reprints of old material from their (enormous) UK archive. German creator Andreas Butzbach has worked on a few strips for Rebellion in the past, most notably, perhaps, on the Smash! Special from a few years ago, rather than on 2000AD. Occasionally the publisher has dipped its toe into European work that isn’t sourced from a UK title (notably, Operation Overlord, first published in France), but it’s the exception rather than the rule.
Big Ass Sword is a compilation of a series of strips, rather than a graphic novel, featuring a nameless robot carrying the titular bladed weapon and his companion, a talking robotic skull, hanging from his belt.
Butzbach cites Otomo, Bisley, Mignola as influences on this strip, which he began during the COVID lockdown. Big names all, the Mignola influence comes through, particularly strongly in the jagged linework, use of blacks (although nowhere near as shadowed as Mignola) and a love of big Kirbyesque monsters and enormous robots.
The Bisley influence is in the humour, and the extensive use of wordless panels are both Mignola and Otomo traits and, while effective, does make its 96 pages a very quick read.
Mainly played tongue in cheek, it’s a riff on the roving Barbarian strip, the nameless robot wandering around this world, righting wrongs and occasionally wronging rights, like a wise arse techno Conan. It’s redolent of Arthur Suydam’s Cholly & Flytrap in tone, if not aesthetics – indeed Butzbach and Suydam’s styles are poles apart.
As others have observed, Big Ass Sword would fit nicely in Metal Hurlant or, possibly its American cousin Heavy Metal, but it’s not really a 2000AD strip, despite it being set in a post apocalyptic / far flung desolate future landscape. As you’d expect, it has a distinctly European flavour, with simple but effective use of colour, each strip having a primary colour theme.
It’s encouraging that Rebellion are beginning to publish material from other sources, particularly as polished as this. This is a great looking book, slight, but fun. Not essential, but a showcase for Butzbach’s drawing talents, which hopefully we’ll see more of soon.
Luke Williams
• Big Ass Sword by Andreas Butzbach is published on 6th November 2025 | ISBN: 978-1837865635 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link
Andreas Butzbach was born 1982. Today, he’s a a self-taught creative working in various fields from his studio, Hangar67. Starting out as a locksmith with an urge to draw, he liked to often shake the spray-can and sharpen the pencil. In the following years, he got into advertising, movies and 3D animation. The urge to draw crazy stuff never stopped, and now he is the creator of comics such as Molekei – Last of the Amish and Six Cuts, writing and drawing horror strips for German magazines, Horror-Schocker and Welten des Schreckens.
Since then, he’s been dipping into various genres such as the Western comic, The Dude with no pants, dystopian Sci-Fi in Fantasy 3000 and most recently, prehistoric jungle adventure with, Gorrn; a love letter to barbarians and dinosaurs. Outside of Germany, Andreas has worked for Rebellion Publishing on, Scream!, Smash! and Monster Fun!
Head downthetubes to…
• Andreas Butzbach is online at andreasbutzbach.net | Facebook | Instagram | Linktree
• Comic.con: An Interview With Big-Ass Sword Creator Andreas Butzbach by Rachel Bellwoar
- About the Author
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Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.
Categories: British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews
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