Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Historical comics -- Crecy, Northlanders, etc... Opinions?
Posted: Mon 13 Jul, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject: Historical comics -- Crecy, Northlanders, etc... Opinions?
Warren Ellis wrote Crecy -- a historical fiction piece depicting the famous battle from the English archers' point of view. It's actually pretty good -- seems to have been well-researched, and the artist's depiction of their equipment is reasonably period-accurate, if I recall correctly. I've got a copy, but all the images I'd use to sell you on it either have a ton of swearing (part of that is Ellis being Ellis, part of that is because he's depicting English commoners), which the mods here don't allow, or it's gory enough that people would complain.
Brian Wood's Northlanders -- about Sven, a Varangian Guardsman forced to leave Constantinople to settle an inheritance squabble back home -- is a decent piece, but I didn't like it as much as Crecy. (Not enough to cough up $10 for volume 1 of Northlanders, at least.) Wood's choice of dialogue is far too modern for 980 AD.
As one reviewer on Amazon said: "My only major complaint is Wood's use of language that you probably wouldn't have heard a Viking use, such as when Sven doesn't hear Hakkar talking to him, because he "Tuned him out for a moment".....Isn't that a term that plays off of radio and television....? Instances like that, and when Sven says he should "Call this guy on his B-S", took me right out of the story and hurt the overall mood of the book."
Edit: I took a look at the previews because of Gavin's comment, and that reminded me of something else that broke suspension of disbelief. I'm no expert on Norse sagas or morality, but setting an ambush by hiding under a deerskin with the head still on...I don't see that being considered acceptable even for a dirty, ugly inheritance squabble.
In conclusion, buy Crecy -- although it's a little expensive, since it's from an independent publishing house -- but definitely read Northlanders before you consider actually spending $10 on the first volume -- unless you can find a cheap electronic copy. (And by cheap, I mean a dollar or two.) Most chain bookstores should have a copy -- I read it over at my local Borders.
Edit: I'm going to go see if I can find one of the aforementioned digital copies of Northlanders and nose through the interior art. Gavin pointed out that the cover art...is historically inaccurate, to put it politely. I may be changing my recommendation to "don't even bother" if the interior art has similar issues.
I read the comic of "Warren Ellis - Crecy" before.
A main character of this book is a "English longbow man".
He explains some arrowhead such as "bodkin" before a battle... and he uses them in the battle.
So he finish off two wounded knights by using the "mercygiver".
* A full armoured knight is killed by stabbed through eye-slit of his helmet.
* A light armoured knight (he ware a "visorless bascinet") is killed by stabbed in a heart through his armpit.
These things are right historically that "misericorde" was used in Battle of Crecy (and other 100 Years Wars).
The cover of Northlanders proclaims "Vikings finally done right!" but thus far I beg to differ.
Unfortunately just looking through the previews we find horned and winged helmets, fantasy swords, and my personal favorite, the leather bracer. This is perhaps being unfair, but this looks like another fantasy barbarian comic rather than a sincere attempt at illustrated historical fiction.
...a Type X with a thicker-than-normal guard, and a couple Type S or Type AEs.
I took the liberty of highlighting some elements that looked wrong to me. Obviously I'm no expert but I think that the overall effect is definitely not historical fiction but rather historicalish fantasy. The sword blades appear to be diamond in cross sectionand the hilt shapes don't look like anything I'm familiar with in that era (or really any era).
That's not to say that they aren't awesome stories and well worth the read; I'm sure they're loads of fun.
The shields are also not like any surviving finds of the period it is supposed to be related to.