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(otherwise known as Northlanders #18) This is out this week, part 1 of 2, illustrated beautifully by Danijel Zezelj and Dave McCaig. This is what I said on Newsarama:
....the Valkyries are pure fantasy, and the Norns, the Fates, are a way to humanize the cold, hard facts of how life unfolds... I mirrored a lot of these ideas into my three characters, three wives of dead men who allow fate to guide their actions in escaping from a hundred Saxons trying to kill them.
The research involved in this was incredibly difficult. Meaning, I couldn't find out what a Danish wife at the time would be thinking. The Sagas hold some information but those are just stories and lyrics and often written decades or even centuries after the events being told happened. I found a few slim volumes on every day life in England at the time, and using that and contrasting with what I knew about the Danes, I was able to make a decent approximation. I utterly refused, refused, to follow stereotypes or refer to other fictional depictions for reference. Even if I ended up failing, I wanted to be as true to facts as I could. I've written a lot of comics with female characters, and based on feedback and reviews I seem to do a good job of it, of not writing women "like a typical man would" as it is said, especially with Local. I felt like one misstep here would unravel it all, so I tread very carefully.
But society back there was horrendously sexist, and that needed to be addressed. The women couldn't simply be empowered by picking up a sword... too often in pop culture women are shown as "strong" simply by kicking someone's ass or talking with a foul mouth. I wanted to go deeper than that. Certainly my three characters pick up swords but they don't view it as a feminist act. If anything its a process they put into the hands of fate, and the choices they eventually take reflect an inner strength irrelevant to how much blood they shed. I'm proud of this.
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Hell Yeah - been on this one since Number 1!
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CommentAuthororwells_eyes
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
@Brian
Sometimes splash pages kind of throw me on the narrative of a story. But goddamn, those two are unbelievable. Is that tree meant to be Yggdrasil? Gorgeous stuff.
I really dig what you're saying about female characters. I think most of your books would pass the Bechdel test with flying colors. I've given the Local collection to two women, very different, who both identified with Megan in really deep ways. Can't wait to see this book. -
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- CommentAuthorWill Ellwood
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
I can't wait to pick this up.
I've also been reading since issue 1 and I am really looking forward to the second Sven story. -
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CommentAuthordorkmuffin
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
AHHHH I love Danijel Zezelj! I'm totally sold on this comic. -
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Bu...guh....woah.... diggin' it.
I've been anxious for this one since I heard you mention a while back that Zezelj was on board for this arc, but then again, that is how I feel every month about this wicked title.
Stoked! -
This series is marrying amazing art to great writing every single issue. Awesome stuff.
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I've been loving this since the beginning, trying to sell it to my friends on the tagline "Like HBO's Rome but with VIKINGS". Which isn't entirely accurate, but the amount of research you've obviously put into this is fantastic. Both the characters and fight scenes make it worthwhile. I'm sorry to see Ryan Kelly go, but the new guy looks good so far.
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This looks really interesting, & the artwork is awesome. I will be getting this.
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@redex Ryan is great, yeah, and he's drawing the current DMZ arc. Actually, it seems like I'll have him locked up for at least the next year, if not further than that.
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CommentAuthorfilthy ring
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
This looks great! I bought the first arc... I'll have to start picking this up again. -
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CommentAuthorRootfireember
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
Brian-
I remember you tweeting about this a bit ago. Looks like you've come up with something absolutely gorgeous, unique and very far from trite. Can't wait to read this.
Thankyou so much for making such a wonderful series! -
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That's got an authentic and human feel to it, enough to help me connect with my inner Viking. I really need to start checking this book out...
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CommentAuthorBrendan McGinley
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009
I read this and wanted to drop you a note saying how much I love your ability to make the past immediate in this book. Everyone's so damned human. -
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@Brendan McGinley - that's the idea! thanks for recognizing it. i also make a point to have any research I do be invisible to the reader, the last issue notwithstanding, which helps as well.
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Looks like Dave McCaig is earning his keep. Those colours are gorgeous.
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CommentAuthorJason_Thibault
- CommentTimeJun 23rd 2009 edited
That looks amazing. Between Northlanders, Luna Park and what we've got cooking up (not telling yet), Danijel zezelj fans are going to be very happy this year. -
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Looks like another series I will have to pick up. I read Local this year and picked up DMZ trade #1 yesterday lunchtime, at the recommendation of my LCS guy, and devoured it at my desk in one sitting.
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CommentAuthordorkmuffin
- CommentTimeJun 24th 2009
@brianwood, I cannot get back to the US soon enough. You are TAUNTING me. -
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Oh, holy shit. Please do not ever stop doing these stories. If they were just brilliant or just beautiful I could handle it, but...