CSBG Archive
Northlanders #1 Review
Brian Wood’s Viking comic book came out this week, and it was a good read, with nice artwork by artist Davide Gianfelice (with yeoman coloring work by Dave McCaig).
One thing that stood out for me a bit with the first issue was how the first issue did not really stand out, at least not the way we have grown used to expecting from Vertigo first issues (including Wood’s DMZ). Wood is taking a much slower paced, subdued first issue, and it is an interesting stylistic choice that I hope pays off. In that regard, it reminded me of Jason Aaron’s similarly different first issue of Scalped, a book that did not get really moving until the third or fourth issue. Northlanders has more going on in its first issue than Scalped, as Scalped did not really start moving until issue #3 or #4 (but when it did get going, it REALLY got going), but it still felt a bit more subdued that typical Vertigo fare. In fact, what it struck me as was that Wood was almost playing off our sense of dramatic history, in that we know stories LIKE this one, of the young man forced to come back to the home he thought he left behind – with no intention of sticking around – until fate intervenes. We know that story so well that Wood can almost write the story impressionist-style, trading on our sense of what we THINK will happen next, and play off our preconceived notions to cause the reader to want to see some more.
As I am sure many folks have mentioned already, the characters in the comic talk in varying dialects – from an English approximation of what actual Vikings talked like at the time, to modern vernacular. It did take me out of the story for a bit, but then I got used to it, so it’s not a big deal.
Gianfelice’s art was quite nice, especially the way he captures the settings (particularly a gripping first page that shows quite nicely how puny “civilization” was at this point in time – and the eerie nature of traveling in the days of triple-digit years. I think McCaig’s colors add a lot to the tone of the series, especially the way he highlights certain colors (primarily red) to really help the art pop at times.
Gianfelice is a solid storyteller, and he picks up on the level of violence Wood clearly wants to establish for this comic, but while Gianfelice’s fight scenes were filled to the brim with manic energy, I wish he would try some larger panels, as the sword fights, while energetic, were at times a bit TOO restrained by the panel layout, to the point of it almost becoming obscured.
The hero of this arc, Sven, has a hard personality to really get to know in one issue, but he is intriguing enough that it is worth seeing later issues to see where it all goes.
For the first issue…
Recommended.
9 Comments
Corey
December 10, 2007 at 11:21 am
I liked it too. I think you’re right in that it wasn’t a killer of a first issue but it was intriguing enough to keep trying, I think. Sven definitely has lots of issues so it should be interesting to watch his journey.
My biggest problem with it was that as a Viking comic, we were removed from the classic Viking setting, the sea, after the first scene. I think that’s playing into my slight let down. It’s like a pirate comic starting with the main character leaving his ship and crew, and going back to his home village. Or a war comic starting with a soldier going home on leave. Where’s the viking-ing?
Brian Cronin
December 10, 2007 at 11:37 am
I think that, too, ties into Wood apparently feeling that we, as readers, should know from his history that we should have faith that he has a plan, and all that sort of stuff will addressed.
It’s a risky choice by Wood, and I hope it is one that works.
Brian Wood
December 10, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Funny, I don’t really consider the sea to be a Vikings natural habitat. Not any more than land, anyway. Their ship-going was so practical… the used it like a tool, to get places, to move material around and to unload troops. They didn’t live on them like pirates did (they were quite small, and they packed people into it, elbow to elbow). They spent virtually all their time on land, save for the few that were the explorers and charters, I guess. Acquiring more land was the whole point of it all.
This really isn’t a stereotypical Viking story, which should be obvious by now. Be warned!
Even though it dispenses with the iconic images and ideas of Vikings that we’re all used to, Northlanders is more accurate to history.
bri
Brian Cronin
December 10, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Fair point, Brian, especially as pointed out in the beginning of the first issue, where you demonstrate how open the seas were at this time.
Brian Wood
December 10, 2007 at 1:49 pm
No doubt there will be more sea-scenes, in both this arc and beyond, but I just don’t think that without them front and center this is any less of a Viking book.
bri
Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Dec. 11, 2007: It’s beginning to look a lot like Dullsville
December 11, 2007 at 1:10 am
[...] [Review] Brian Cronin on the first issue of Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice’s Northlanders. [...]
Rick Rottman
December 11, 2007 at 5:24 am
Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t care for it. I thought some of the dialog was bad. Sven has a “girlfriend� Does that make him her “boyfriend� I also thought Sven thinking the Viking settlement smelled like a sewer to be odd since I don’t think they had sewers back then. At least he didn’t think it smelled like a restroom on a Greyhound bus. I also didn’t understand how Sven got his hands untied. I noticed they were tied up in front of him and then I noticed they were free. I didn’t see how that happened. I spent far too much time trying to place when that happened. It took me out of the story.
Brian Wood
December 11, 2007 at 7:25 am
They had sewers in Constantinople, where he comes from. I think the Romans probably invented them at least a thousand years previous.
-bri
Corey
December 11, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for posting, Brian Wood. Just to get the sucking up out of the way, LOCAL is amazing! Truly.
My knowledge of Vikings is definitely limited and probably exclusively based on stereotypes. So, I’m sure that fed into my expectations of it being mainly sea-based.
I didn’t mind the dialogue quirks. I think if it were so faithful to how they actually spoke back then, it would either be indecipherable or too alien to connect with. Maybe there’s a happy-medium but I felt it was fine and didn’t really think an adjustment is needed.