Northlanders #31

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli

This is a strange arc.  Prior to this arc, Northlanders has stayed focus on historical accuracy and realistic portrayals of life in the Norse period.  With this arc, Wood is introducing some of the old gods, as Erik, our protagonist, has frequent conversations with one god.

This leads me to ask if Erik is crazy, or if this is a shift in tone for the series.  Regardless, it's a good story, as the consequences of Erik's actions last issue (slaughtering a delegation of Christians and burning their half-built church) are explained to him by Ulf, the man who was berating him at the start of the arc.

Wood has chosen to focus on an interesting part of European history, and I'm interested in seeing how this conflict between the Christians and the Norse will play out.  In a lot of ways, this story works as a counterpoint to the earlier arc, The Cross + The Hammer, which had an Irishman resisting against Viking invaders.