Meet Sven, an exiled Viking prince who must return to the desolate lands of his birth to reclaim his vast inheritance upon the death of his father....
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Jan 26, 2009
Barky
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 29, 2011
Mark
rated it: 
This just became my third-favourite graphic novel of all time (behind ABC Warriors and Slaine: The Horned God). The art is intricate, capturing every detail of the (frequent) violence and (occasional) tenderness, while the script drives the story forward at a heady pace.
The year is 980 AD. The place: the Scottish isle of Orkney. Upon receiving news that his father has died, Sven returns home to Orkney to claim his father's lands and assets. Having spent the previous two decades tra More...
The year is 980 AD. The place: the Scottish isle of Orkney. Upon receiving news that his father has died, Sven returns home to Orkney to claim his father's lands and assets. Having spent the previous two decades tra More...
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Oct 11, 2011
William Thomas
rated it: 
The vikings were a visceral people. They were not the romanticised or idealized warrior, but plunderers and rapists, pillaging and burning on their raids during their own winter months. In their harvest times they would farm, but come winter, the men would leave to new shores to loot and plunder. Leave the women to the cold while they traveled to new places, saw new people, and murdered them.
Northlanders posits no new theories about the viking lands or culture. It shows them to be a More...
Northlanders posits no new theories about the viking lands or culture. It shows them to be a More...
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Sep 15, 2011
Joseph
rated it:
A collection of the first 8 issues of the Vertigo Comic series on vikings. I had gotten this a while ago (recommended by someone at the local comic shop) and finally got around to reading it. The artwork is quite good and the story (complete in this collected volume) work well and is atypical of most viking tales.
I can't tell too much without giving a lot away, but it takes place in 980 AD and starts with Varangian Officer, one of the vikings that patrol the Bosporus for the protecti More...
I can't tell too much without giving a lot away, but it takes place in 980 AD and starts with Varangian Officer, one of the vikings that patrol the Bosporus for the protecti More...
Sep 06, 2011
Sam
rated it: 
It's the 10th century AD in the cold lands of the North, the Orkney Islands. Years after leaving his village of Grimness for life abroad in the city of Constantinople, Sven returns to claim his birthright as leader of the village and the riches that come along with it. But the village has changed in the time since he left and his father's successor is a weak, cowardly, and highly superstitious leader who wants nothing but Sven dead.
Brian Wood constructs an exciting historical thrill More...
Brian Wood constructs an exciting historical thrill More...
Jun 13, 2011
Mark
rated it: 
This comic is crammed with swords, beheadings, explicit sex, and Jack Palance lookalikes (with beards) -- excellent traits, all -- but life is too short for a tedium as wretched and empty as this. Wood just can't seem to sustain an interesting or imaginative narrative here: every page features a predictable trope (don't get me started about that fucking crow) or a hilariously dumb plot "twist". Characters are stereotypes motivated by blinkered idiocy. There is no cunning or ambiguity a
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Jan 12, 2011
Kiesha
rated it:
The cover of this graphic novel has a blurb from Entertainment Weekly that says, "Vikings finally done right!" Now, Entertainment Weekly is not typically my go-to source for critical book reviews, but the eye really cannot help but to focus on the only review quote on the book cover. It helped that a passing graphic novel lover recommended this series to me once upon a time and his recommendations have yet to disappoint.
I loved the graphics and the story line. Little Sven, r More...
I loved the graphics and the story line. Little Sven, r More...
Nov 16, 2010
Eric
rated it:
This was a realy fun read and took some unexpected turns including long passages of time that you normally don't see in a comic that was a serial. I like that the writer made the main character a native Norseman instead of a complete outsider. It still worked as a proxy for the reader discover the world along with him.
What I didn't like is you never really get to go into the village very long and see what life is like there. You're kept at arms length, but do get little bits of Nor More...
What I didn't like is you never really get to go into the village very long and see what life is like there. You're kept at arms length, but do get little bits of Nor More...
Oct 09, 2010
Traci
rated it:
I picked this up because Stephen King wrote in the afterword of his "Talisman" graphic novel that he was reading this series. Of all the authors in the world, I tend to take King's suggestions the most, and I'm rarely disappointed.
I honestly wasn't sure about this one at first as the art wasn't terribly stunning and the storyline didn't seem all that clever. The more I read, however, the more I came to care about the characters and the things motivating them. While I won More...
I honestly wasn't sure about this one at first as the art wasn't terribly stunning and the storyline didn't seem all that clever. The more I read, however, the more I came to care about the characters and the things motivating them. While I won More...
Nov 15, 2009
Wealhtheow
rated it:
Good art, interesting themes, and the crappiest writing ever.
A)Brian, do your fucking research. Oh, your women are going to Valhalla? Sons are inheriting their father's kingdoms? I think not. You fucking hack.
B)Brian, women are not just holes and tragedies. Feel free to include even ONE woman who is not sexy and brutalized. You fucking fuck.
C)Brian, have you ever HEARD human speech? Or do you just copy out as many cliches as will fit into a word-bubble?
D)Brian, More...
A)Brian, do your fucking research. Oh, your women are going to Valhalla? Sons are inheriting their father's kingdoms? I think not. You fucking hack.
B)Brian, women are not just holes and tragedies. Feel free to include even ONE woman who is not sexy and brutalized. You fucking fuck.
C)Brian, have you ever HEARD human speech? Or do you just copy out as many cliches as will fit into a word-bubble?
D)Brian, More...
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Jul 22, 2009
Flint
rated it:
Frankly, a disappointment compared to his work with DMZ. It might be an accurate depiction of what life was like for a Varangian returning home to reclaim his birthright in a Norse town in Orkney--but I'm not really sure what the author is trying to communicate except brutality and how old ways are abandoned when they are superseded by new ways; a pragmatic need for national unity when faced with foreign invaders. I'm not even sure what "nationalism" would even matter to a Varangian
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Oct 12, 2009
Stephen
rated it:
I picked this up because A. I love Brian Wood's other series DMZ B. It was cheap, and I was broke and D. Because I was the only person in a small ass comic book store, and I would have felt bad for not getting anything. Well I liked it. I didn't love it. The art work is solid, and it's everything you could hope or expect from a true to life graphic novel account of vikings. It's bawdy, brutal and bloody as hell. It's also a little dry and the characters aren't exactly likable. Anyway, it was en
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Aug 03, 2011
Bought this based on reading Wood's DMZ and hearing a good buzz about it. Suffice it to say, the quality is the same, if not better. Wood's ease with which he transitions from action to narrative is one of the many reasons I will give his new works a chance sight unseen. His comics read like the teaser for great TV shows and/or movies. Add to this the excellently paired artwork of Davide Gianfelice and you get the kind of book that makes you want to dive right in to the rest of the series. Unfor
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Dec 03, 2008
Jake
rated it:
I like Vikings.
Okay, that isn’t true. I LOVE Vikings; I think they are, without question, one of the most fascinating groups of people every to rape and pillage their way across Europe (there’s a surprising amount of those, if you think about it).
All joking aside, however, I really do love Vikings. There is something about their culture, history, mythology, and overall world-view that I find deeply fascinating. I suspect some of it is a result of my Tolkien love, as he b More...
Okay, that isn’t true. I LOVE Vikings; I think they are, without question, one of the most fascinating groups of people every to rape and pillage their way across Europe (there’s a surprising amount of those, if you think about it).
All joking aside, however, I really do love Vikings. There is something about their culture, history, mythology, and overall world-view that I find deeply fascinating. I suspect some of it is a result of my Tolkien love, as he b More...
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Mar 16, 2009
Erik
rated it:
Who thought comic books don’t always have to be about men and women in tights? (Although that can be a pretty sight, I will admit.) Brian Wood shows us again that this medium is capable of just about any genre. And successfully, I might add.
Take one part Hamlet, stir in a generous helping of Beowolf, and add a dash of Prince Valiant, and you have Wood’s latest Vertigo series Northlanders. Wood’s prose moves effortlessly towards its bittersweet finish, accompanied by Gianfelice’s grac More...
Take one part Hamlet, stir in a generous helping of Beowolf, and add a dash of Prince Valiant, and you have Wood’s latest Vertigo series Northlanders. Wood’s prose moves effortlessly towards its bittersweet finish, accompanied by Gianfelice’s grac More...
Feb 14, 2012
Belinda
rated it:
what an awful piece of trash--I was excited when I found this series at my local library. I am excited no longer--Absolutely the worst written comic book I have ever read. I am a very gentle reviewer most of the time--I don't take an attitude because I have not written shit in my life time except for blogs and journals that no one cares about. So I don't tend to get arrogant about reviewing books. Published authors are already 10 steps ahead of me so I don't get an attitude. But this was eith
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Mar 30, 2009
Loyd
rated it:
Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice's Northlanders is a story of clashing cultures, the Saxons against the Vikings, Viking clans against one another, pagans against Christians, and so on. Sven the Returned is an exile come to reclaim the birthright usurped by his uncle, and his quest is is a trail of grit, dirt, and blood. He seems to inhabit a nether land in which he knows revenge won't be enough to satisfy him, yet his sense of duty requires it and pushes him to extraordinary lengths.
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Aug 23, 2009
Brad
rated it:
One viking goes back to his home island north of Scotland to kill another viking (his evil uncle) to get his gold. The plot's amazingly well-developed with violence, tactics, culture, and character development. My favorite issue was Sven's back story on how he made it all the way to Constantinople (though Brian Wood uses the term "modern times" a bit too much, even if it's to point out how advanced everybody was a thousand years ago). Judging by how the book ends, it looks like ther
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Jul 01, 2009
Pturingan
rated it:
Fkn awesome. Everybody knows that vikings are badass warriors and there's certainly a lot of badass battles in this book. I didn't know about the Varangian Guards in Constantinople before and this book got me interested in finding out about them more. The author seems to have done a lot of historical and cultural research and I can certainly appreciate that in the book. Also, both the story and art complement each other in giving the book the perfect atmosphere. Lastly, at only 389 pesos for 8 i
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Nov 24, 2009
Warnie B.
rated it:
Wow, a lot of people seem not to have liked this one very much, but it looks like they all read DMZ first, which I didn't, so maybe that's why? The art is gritty and cold and gorgeous, and I very much enjoyed the story. I get so bored with super hero comics, and I thought this was a fantastic alternative. I'm sad to see that Davide Gianfelice did not do the illustrations for the second volume though...I really think his work was a large part of what I liked so much about this book. But I'll stil
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Jan 02, 2011
Joe
rated it:
Brian Wood - Writer &
Davide Gianfelice - Artist
Norway, 980 AD
Northlanders Vol. 1 follows the story of Sven, the young son of a Norse chieftan who, after failing to protect his mother while his father is away raiding, runs away from his home on the Norse-occupied Orkney islands near Scotland. Years later, after many adventures and earning his place as a soldier in the Holy Roman Empire, Sven returns to the Orkney islands to claim his inheritance. The Norse settleme More...
Davide Gianfelice - Artist
Norway, 980 AD
Northlanders Vol. 1 follows the story of Sven, the young son of a Norse chieftan who, after failing to protect his mother while his father is away raiding, runs away from his home on the Norse-occupied Orkney islands near Scotland. Years later, after many adventures and earning his place as a soldier in the Holy Roman Empire, Sven returns to the Orkney islands to claim his inheritance. The Norse settleme More...
Sep 20, 2010
J.M.
rated it:
As graphic novels go, NORTHLANDERS VOL. 1: SVEN THE RETURNED, was a bit of a letdown. The main thing is I never actually liked Sven "the Returned," so I really didn't care whether he lived, died, sailed off yonder, or got buggered sideways. He starts out as a miserable bastard and pretty much ends this arc as a miserable bastard, despite having achieved most of what he set out to do.
I reckon some of you who have been reading my reviews are starting to see a trend in my revi More...
I reckon some of you who have been reading my reviews are starting to see a trend in my revi More...
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May 30, 2009
Minxycampbellstein
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 11, 2009
Parka
rated it:
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
Northlanders tells a savage tale of a warrior, Sven, returning back to his homeland to take back what belongs to him, or whatever that's left. In his path, he looks at his exile, sleeps with ridiculously beautiful enemies, and takes down all who opposes him, of course. The plot's written by Brian Wood, straight forward, well paced.
I like the artistic style for the comic, particularly the stylized character designs, paneling and colou More...
Nov 06, 2008
Brandon
rated it:
When I first started reading comics again, DMZ was one of the first series suggested to me, and I dove headfirst into the available TPBs. I was really excited at first but then it sort of fell off, picked up again, etc. I picked up another one of his books a few months back called Supermarket, and was really disappointed by how two-dimensional and silly the story was.
While shopping for new reads last week, I came across Northlanders and after glimpsing the breathtaking artwork, and More...
While shopping for new reads last week, I came across Northlanders and after glimpsing the breathtaking artwork, and More...
Sep 20, 2010
Alex
rated it:
NORTHLANDERS, VOLUME 1 BY BRIAN WOOD AND DAVIDE GIANFELICE: In a new graphic novel series from Brian Wood, author of DMZ and Demo, and illustrated by Davide Gianfelice, comes Northlanders, Volume 1: Sven the Returned. Northlanders offers up a fresh historical graphic novel, like that of Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze and Warren Ellis’ Crecy, as Wood brings the world of the Vikings to light with the detailed and gory art style of Gianfelice.
Sven is a disowned Viking. After his fathe More...
Sven is a disowned Viking. After his fathe More...
Aug 22, 2008
John
rated it:
A friend of mine loves Wood's DMZ, but since I came into that series too late, I tried this one. It was a bitter disappointment for something I really tried to enjoy. Angsty people in cool costumes kill each other and rut in this unnecessarily long Viking story. Brian Wood put a lot of historical research into it, but I can’t tell what for as his depiction of ancient cultures is superficial and the story relies on numerous unbelievable fight scenes. His protagonist (a Viking that doesn’t believe
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Jun 08, 2009
Michele
rated it:
"A very long time ago...in the lands we call home...these things happened."
So begins the first volume of Northlanders, the tale of Sven, a Viking warrior in 980 CE who leaves his plush Mediterranean lifestyle to claim an inheritance from the harsh cold lands of the North. But once there he encounters resistance from his uncle, Gorm, who is unwilling to hand everything over to Sven. Sven begins a one man war against Gorm and his men to get his money and his lands back.
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So begins the first volume of Northlanders, the tale of Sven, a Viking warrior in 980 CE who leaves his plush Mediterranean lifestyle to claim an inheritance from the harsh cold lands of the North. But once there he encounters resistance from his uncle, Gorm, who is unwilling to hand everything over to Sven. Sven begins a one man war against Gorm and his men to get his money and his lands back.
More...
Apr 06, 2010
Will
rated it:
4.5 STARS! Epic viking tales. This is the first and I'm totally impressed with this new series. It's quite bloody, but huge in it's scope and the world created within is vivid. It's got a harshness that is almost palpable which fits in realistically with what life must have been like for these people living in the far north during such intense seasons with so few of the amenities that we have today. The side love story was great too. I had a crush on her the moment she was introduced.
Oct 02, 2011
Sam
rated it:
Thrum. Whump! Rippp...Gish. Chop! Slurk. The onomatopoeic words in this graphic novel are fantastic. Entertainment Weekly says that Northlanders is "Vikings Finally Done Right" which really just means that half the pages drip with blood. Still, gore aside (or, perhaps because of it), I did enjoy reading the story of Sven - the Viking boy who had left home in disgrace, pillaged abroad and then returned to destroy the reign of his uncle in the town of Grimness.
