Northlanders #37

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Simon Gane

It's always exciting when a new arc of Northlanders starts off.  The book is constantly shifting through time and location with each new story, with the overall effect being that I've learned a great deal about European history in an era I knew very little about.

This time around, the setting is France, in 885 CE, and the topic is King Sigfred's siege of Paris on the way to richer spoils further inland.  There are thousands of Northmen surrounding the city, but it has held out for days against their tactics.

The story is narrated by Mads, who leads a small squad of men that have been together for a number of years, viking on their own before joining up with Sigfred's army.  Mads does not want to keep plugging away at the tower that defends Paris like his fellow countrymen, and instead scouts a more direct approach to defeating the city by taking one of two main bridges over the Seine.

This comic quickly becomes a character study, as Mads gives us a grounds-eye view of the campaign.  Much of this comic reminded me of Warren Ellis's Crecy, although it is nowhere near as wordy.  The art for this arc is being provided by Simon Gane, whose stuff I've never seen before.  He has a bit of a Phillip Bond thing happening here, and it works.  He gives us some very nice establishing shots, but also makes Mads and his crew a group of individuals.  This is shaping up to be a good arc.