Northlanders: Sven the Returned – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Davide Gianfelice (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

For those that don’t know, Brian Wood’s Viking-themed Northlanders works in completely isolated story-arcs.  As a result, this trade actually functions more like an original graphic novel.  Wood has actually pushed for Northlanders trades to be without numbering for this very reason.

Sven the Returned is the first of these tales and in some ways, it shows.  Much as I felt regarding the first trade of Wood’s other Vertigo series, DMZ, much of this book reads like a bit of a feeling out process on Wood’s part, as he gets used to his own series.  While that’s not to say that the writing is sloppy, it does mean that everything feels a bit simpler and more straightforward than what Wood normally produces.  In fact, this book feels much more basic even than later Northlanders issues.  While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the fact remains that most of this book feels like little more than a gloriously violent, historical actioner following a fairly standard revenge plot.  While it definitely does succeed on this level, I don’t think we would have been wrong to hope for more.

Worse still, for most of the book, none of the characters are particularly nuanced.  Sven himself is essentially the unstoppable badass warrior who also wins through having a sounder tactical mind than his opponent.  Meanwhile, although his battle expertise does lead to some engaging captions, Enna is not anything particularly unique.  The same goes for the tyrannical Gorm, his murderous henchman, and Sven’s old flame…who is pretty much as stereotypical an “old flame” character as you can get – a seductress who now belongs to Sven’s enemy.  Meanwhile, you have Enna, who spends the majority of the book as the typical silent femme fatale.

That said, despite this simplicity, there are nuances.  Sven’s use of Gorm’s superstition and religious beliefs to terrorize his nemesis is well-done, leading to one of the coolest, and goriest, scenes of the book.  The clash of the old with Sven’s modernity is a nice touch.

Now, at this point, this trade may sound like a mediocre book worthy of being passed over.  That may very well be the case for the first five issues of this eight-issue collection.  However, in issue six, the book takes a sudden, massive upswing in quality in a manner so ingenious, that it reminds us of what Wood is capable of.  Wood essentially has Sven call out his own graphic novel.

Sven, around issue six or seven, comes to the realization of how pointless the entire book has become thus far, in its typical Viking characters and standard revenge/money centred drive.  Wood thus turns the graphic novel on its head by essentially having Sven call the entire tale into question.  When he does, the intelligence and depth of the book skyrockets.  Sven becomes much more of an individual and far more unique as a character, while the somewhat bland plot of earlier is completely abandoned.  The simple revenge plot is dumped by Sven as being meaningless and small and the book suddenly takes on a completely different plot, one that is far more grandiose and ambitious, treating issues of nationhood, solidarity, and culture.  Gorm becomes an afterthought, and old enemies now become friends, as their stereotypical rivalry of earlier is done away with when their roles and relationships come to be redefined by a new plot.

It’s unfortunate, however, that Wood uses a little bit of deus ex machina to create such a shift in the book.  It takes the arrival of a greater enemy in an event that is just far too perfectly and conveniently timed.  But given how much the book improves subsequently, I can’t gripe too much about this.

While the story’s quality may be divided down the middle, I can however say that Davide Gianfelice’s art is consistently amazing.  I’ve always loved his work and this book bears his trademarks.  Oddly blending an indisputably cartoony look with harsh, realistic environments and a good amount of piss and vinegar, it’s a very strange mix that leads to a wonderful contrast and a perfect balance.  That such a cartoony style is able to carry such maturity and grittiness frankly baffles me.  Gianfelice’s sprawling splashes of Orkney landscapes are also an absolute marvel, evoking a sublime effect combining awesome barrenness and sweeping beauty.  Dave McCaig’s colouring is also perfect for Gianfelice, adding a sort of grainy texture to the entire trade.

Ultimately, this is a rather strange book.  It carves out a very simple action story with simple characters and a simple plot and bumps along as such for the first 60% of the book.  Then, in the last three chapters, Sven, and hence Wood, essentially dump this all in the trash, openly criticizing it for its simplicity, meaninglessness, and pointlessness before switching to a plot/conflict that is far more grand.  This doesn’t change the fact that the first 60% of the book are nonetheless nothing special, but I do have to admire Wood for his gall and what appears to be metafictional self-criticism, as a character takes apart his own story and builds a better one.

Grade: B

*This trade collects #1-8 w/ covers.  I also recommend hunting down #20, which is a one-shot revisiting Sven and Enna several years after the events of this book.

-Alex Evans

Northlanders #20 – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Davide Gianfelice (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: A few naive young warriors hear the tale of Sven the Returned and decide to prove their worth by killing a legend.

What’s Good: As he often does in Northlanders, Wood again makes characters and readers mirror one another. The young warriors who go out to find Sven years after hearing his tale are like us, readers;  seeking Sven out again by buying this issue, exactly one year after the conclusion of “Sven the Returned.”

Anyway, much as was the case in that first arc, there’s a lot of action here, all of it brutal.  Once again, although he may be older, Sven is the battle-hardened badass, quick-witted, experienced, and both smarter and better trained than his adversaries.  The bloodshed is enjoyable and the narration makes it all the moreso, sharing Sven’s thought process, blow by blow.

Perhaps the coolest thing in this issue though, is Wood’s writing on fiction itself, or rather the formation of legends.  Sven’s final tactic this month is essentially to rewrite himself into “Sven the Immortal.”  It truly is a case where fiction supercedes life, as through establishing his own legend and his own character. Factual or not, Sven transcends reality. This comic is essentially a battle between fiction and reality, where the former overshadows the latter and the writer wields ultimate power.  Sven’s life serves to be nothing more than a series of roles, some real and some told.

This comic also again features an espousal of unity.  Where the first arc centered around the idea of nationhood, this book feels much more intimate, focusing instead on family.  Less grand perhaps, but also a lot tighter and more conducive to a one-shot.

Davide Gianfelice is just as good here as he was earlier on Northlanders. Delivering his patented blend of cartoony and gritty, this is Gianfelice at his best.  His sprawling images of the Orkney landscape are also haunting and sublimely powerful, but this time, he also gets the chance to draw some more urban environments, which prove to be no less daunting or impressive.

What’s Not So Good: On the art front, I found some of Gianfelice’s action scenes later in the book a little confusing.  I understand that he’s attempting to capture Sven’s “battle fury,” but he leaves just enough clarity to make me think that I perhaps I should know exactly what’s going on.  Instead I just get shots of Sven hitting someone or other in some manner that isn’t comprehensible.

At times, I also felt that the book was just a little bit rushed as Wood attempted to cram everything within the 22 pages limit.  In particular, I felt that having no space between the first attack and the boys’ later revenge wasn’t the best idea and would’ve perferred a bit more of a denouement.

Conclusion: A fun revisiting of an old character that can be enjoyed both as an accessible actioner and a more complex take on the nature of myth and legend.

Grade:  B+

-Alex Evans