By: Brian Wood (writer), Danijel Zezelj (artist), Dave McCaig (colors), Travis Lanham (letters), Massimo Carnevale (cover) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: In this long-form story about the early history of Viking Iceland, one family leader tries to become an honest businessman, but can that ever really happen?
Three Things:
1. Great series in hindsight. -Who knows why, but I’d always had a blindspot when it came to Northlanders. This despite the fact that I enjoy virtually everything from Vertigo. Consider that remedied! I picked up most of the issues in one batch on eBay (see, THAT is how much I prefer single issues to those yucky “trade” things) and inhaled them… As in I read the whole thing over the course of a week. This has been a great series and even though it ends in a few issues at #50, it deserves some attention here. This series is really a collection of independent story arcs that tell various tales about the people of the north. Some are basic crime dramas that wouldn’t be out of place in an Ed Brubaker Criminal story, but others have been like the Plague Widow arc that showcased a city that shuts its doors to keep out the plague and the mayhem that ensues behind the walls. Great series! Check it out even if you must buy the yucky trades.
2. Compelling, self-contained story. – Don’t be too put off by the subtitle on the cover that says, “Part 7”. This issue is completely accessible to a new reader because it jumps forward in time from the last issue. And, that has been the pattern for this story arc that began with the first Vikings coming ashore in Iceland and has followed them through clan warfare, the formation of a city and society and the arrival of Christianity bringing us to this story. As I mention above, this issue’s story could feature in any modern-day organized crime story. Basically, you have the male leader of the family who wants to sit on the sidelines of this round of clan warfare and profit by picking up the pieces in the aftermath. He wants to “go legit” like Michael Corleone in Godfather 3. But, we all know it never works out that way as he comes into conflict with his son who is more eager to defend the family honor. We’ve seen this story before, but that’s because this clash between wisdom and bloody emotion is timeless. Wood handles the conflict very well, gives us a slightly surprising ending and in so doing, shows us how the Icelanders have changed and become a little less savage over the course of this story arc.
3. Zezelj’s art is very distinctive. – I think I first became aware of Zezelj a few years ago on the gritty and haunting crime OGN, Luna Park (wonderful read if you haven’t checked it out) and since then he’s done a few things here and there (notably that great issue of Scalped with the two old Native Americans and an excellent issue of American Vampire). He’s one of those artists who is skirting along the edges of realism, but is willing to make slight deviations from normal human anatomy when he wants to tell his story. The trick is to do that without it looking like he just doesn’t understand how to draw and he pulls it off 95% of the time in this issue. The reason I think it works for him is that he’s very careful about when to deviate and get more stylized and he doesn’t waste those efforts on elements that don’t help to tell the story. Zezelj also uses full on images of character’s faces more than most artists, in fact, I’d say this is his most distinctive attribute. There was a with those faces early in this issue where I thought, “Wait a minute, this is the same guy who drew Luna Park a few years ago.” Those full on faces are so unique because of the focus he puts on the eyebrows, cheekbones and chin. In case you can’t tell, I really like Zezelj’s art and wish we got to see more of it. He’s a gifted artist and hopefully the Vertigo editors will keep connecting him with writers.
Conclusion: A very solid issue that basically takes a classic clash between the old man of the family and the young buck and transports it into Viking times. Wonderful art from Zezelj. I wish we got more art like this.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
Follow Dean on Twitter.
Grade
Conclusion