A Strange Mix of History, Howard, Lovecraft and The Bible
Evidently Dick Giordano agreed with the assessment I made of Arak last issue, that while the art and plotting was good, the actual scripting and dialog was lacking; because this issue, Gerry Conway and Mike W. Barr were brought in as 'scripters', and suddenly the narration and dialog is much improved.
If last issue was squarely in R.E. Howard territory with some history mixed in, this issue ramps up the history, retelling the story of Carolus Magnus' connection to the Papacy, the story of the Crucifixion, and the story of the Wandering Jew. But that's not all - there's also a degenerate subterranean race, ala Lovecraft too!
If I have one complaint, it's that the cover refers to 'The Behemoth from the World Below', and indeed the giant arms on the cover, do make an appearance - but when we meet the subterranean foes, they all seem to be standard human size... so far. The storyline isn't over yet, so we may yet meet the Behemoth.
If Arak doesn't improve beyond this level, it still will qualify as a rewarding read - but I suspect things are going to continue to get better!