Northlanders #49 – Review

By: Brian Wood (writer), Danijel Zezelj (artist), Dave McCaig (colors), Travis Lanham (letters), Massimo Carnevale (covers) & Mark Doyle (editor)

The Story: A young buck tosses the clans of Iceland back into warfare.

A few things: 

1. Tight and classic story. – As I mentioned last month, I have a hard time commenting on the episodic structure of Northlanders because I bought the first 47 issues off eBay and inhaled them.  But, once again the story in this issue would be very “new reader friendly”.  It’s just a classic story of a clan patriarch being put out to pasture so that the upstart son can go start a war with another clan/gang/group.  But, what really makes this issue sing is the wonderful way that Wood and Zezelj handle the upstart’s wife, Freya.  She is smart, strong and respected by the men, and she’s a little afraid of what will happen if her husband’s war goes poorly – He will die a “glorious” death on the field of battle while she will probably die beaten and raped inside a burning house (or some other horrible death).  In many ways, she is the real power of their relationship because while her husband only understands how to attack, she understands subtlety and she plans ahead.  It reminds me of how someone once told me that women are better horse riders than men because men are accustomed to overpowering things with brute force. So they try to do the same thing to a horse, only you cannot overpower a 1200 pound animal… Women, on the other hand, are accustomed to using guile and leverage because they haven’t lived their lives just overpowering things, so they are better equipped mentally and physically to deal with a horse.  That’s kinda Freya, she’s doing all the work behind the scenes to help her husband in his struggles.  Throughout this series, the women of Northlanders have really stood out and Freya is a wonderful addition to the cannon.

2. Wonderful art from Zezelj. – Again, I just love Zezelj’s work.  Returning to the theme of Freya, I think it’s Zezelj’s art that sells he power and capability.  Here she is, the small woman in a land of hard men and she is getting things done.  Surely any of these guys could beat the hell out of her if they wanted to, but they better kill her because she’s going to get right back up and maneuver someone else into burning down your damn house and killing your family.  She’s a complete bad ass and it almost all comes from the art.  There’s just something about the way Zezelj draws faces with the slightly sunken eyes and cheeks that tells you that Freya is a hard woman.  But, it doesn’t stop there. Zezelj is nailing all the other scenes in this book: the wind-swept rocks, the battles, etc.  Kudos also to Dave McCaig for coming up with colors that set the theme for this issue: Lots of blues and grays.

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Rachel Rising #6 – Easy choice.  I love that the groundrules of Terry Moore’s super-natural, reanimation horror-story are becoming clear.  Something weird is clearly going on that makes all these ladies rise from the dead, but I’m also looking forward to learning what the story is about.  Moore is a rarely gifted storyteller in that he’s good enough that I don’t have any desire for him to hurry up.  Take your time, dude!  And keep drawing because the art is incredible.

Most anticipated this week: Saga #1 – Yippie!  A new Brian K. Vaughn comic series with art from the outstanding Fiona Staples.  That should be awesome!  But, selection #1(a) would be Saucer County #1 about UFOs by Paul Cornell and the also-outstanding Ryan Kelly.  It’s a great week for new, creator-controlled comics.

Other picks: Northlanders #49, The Unwritten #35, Blue Estate #10, Secret History of DB Cooper #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #7, Fantastic Four #604