Pathfinder

by Laeta Kalogridis, Christopher Shy (Illustrator)

Five hundred years before Columbus, barbaric Viking invasions ravaged North America. Pathfinder is the story of a young Viking boy left behind as the only survivor of a shipwrecked expedition. A stranger in a strange land, the boy is raised by a tribe of American Indians - the very people the Vikings had sworn to destroy. When Vikings again storm the eastern shores, waging another barbaric campaign, they slaughter the tribe that adopted the young man. Now he wages a violent personal war to stop the Vikings' trail of death and destruction.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Comics Manga, Native Americans, Comics

149 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2006

Reviews

[Laura Scribner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in an effort to branch out from what I normally read, but I’m not sure if it’s just not my thing or of this was poorly done (or if it was a combination), but I did not like this at all. I felt like the artwork was weak, and didn’t propel the already minimally narrative provided.

[Melissa Helton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't seen the movie, and it's an interesting concept for a story. I needed it to be longer and more in-depth to really be invested in the characters and plot. The style of the art made it feel like a cold, gory video game. Between everything being so dark and the font so little and the pages so shiny, it was at times difficult to read.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how I haven't already seen the movie for this tale, but hope to do so soon.

Quick epic saga, elements of Westerns along with Norse tales. Great tale, and really cool art. I highly recommend it!

[Bruce Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was interesting, but a little difficult to digest. the story was fine, but nothing too interesting. I thought maybe this would be more in depth than the similarly mediocre movie, but here we are.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

story meh. art gorgeous. movie to be seen.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alt history about a Viking foundling hundreds of years before Columbus who saves the Wampanoag from a different Viking raider crew after he grows up. So/so, simple pop take on both cultures.

[Literarykittens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and beautiful art. Would have liked more character building before the action.

Spoiler for the end: why does he go off like Bambi's dad though lmao

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pathfinder" is a graphic novel by Laeta Kalogridis (story) and Christopher Shy (artwork). Shy's work caught my eye from a trilogy he is doing with Michael Easton (the soap opera actor), called "Soul Stealer". I found a copy of this one, and paid a total of $4.00 for it. The actual book cost was $0.01, making me decide to get it.

The book is based on the movie by the same title, which Kalogridis was the screenwriter. If I understand her forward in the book, Shy was working on the movie project in coming up with ideas on how they wanted the movie to look, and they decided to put together the graphic novel as a side project.

From Booklist via Amazon.Com, the description is as follows:

After the Viking ship he is on runs aground on the coast of North America, a stranded young boy is taken in by a tribe of Native Americans. As he grows older, he is keenly aware of his differences, and he can't seem to cast his past aside. Then the Vikings return and slaughter the Indians, setting the boy on the road to his destiny as Pathfinder and the seeker of justice for his chosen people.

The description was part of a quick review. One of the first things said of opinion in the review was "hauntingly beautiful" regarding the artwork. I agree. It appeared that some of the work was done with pictures of real human faces with the artwork used around them. Regardless of the method, the artwork is stunning. The story? Well, not so much. It had potential.

The problem is that the artwork carries the whole story. There is very little dialog at all. And what words appear in the book are few and far between. It only took me half an hour to read the entire book. And the story wasn't as encompassing as I had hoped. It almost seemed that it was their storyboard work with a few words thrown in.

I am still looking forward to "Soul Stealer" given Shy's artwork. It is really something to admire. Very dark and haunting, making you want to look away at times, but not being able to do so. And I have heard that the story within "Soul Stealer" is very good. For the price of this book it was worth getting a peak at his artwork from another story. And it has driven my desire to see the movie, which I am sure will take a few years for me to get around to.

[Rick Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphic novel adapted from the movie screenplay.

A viking ship is wrecked on the North American coast, and the lone survivor, a young boy who was a prisoner in the hold, is rescued by a Wampanoag woman. He is given the name Ghost and is taken in by the tribe, but is forced to fight for his life when the viking raiders return to pillage what has become his home.

The painted artwork is visually awesome, although there are occasional moments when it can be difficult to make out the details of the action. Still, the book has a lovely look that is dark and yet beautiful.

Unfortunately, the story falls into a rather tired cliche. The vikings are cruel and heartless monsters, the native Americans are helpless against viking weapons and armor, and it's the adopted white guy who is able to pretty much singlehandedly save the natives from their doom.

There was a mix of character interaction along the way, with the main character's love interest having by far the best role in the book, but strong roles for her and for the mentor-figure pathfinder weren't enough to salvage the overdone plot tropes.

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young viking boy is found by a Native American woman. She's sees that he is alone and has no one where. The boy is taken back to the woman's village and they allow him to stay. He is raised by the woman who found him and her husband. However, many years pass and the vikings return. They destory his village and kill the people, including the two people who raised him as their own son.

Ghosts wants revenge. But, he will learn that his path is not one of revenge.

I saw the movie in the theater and really enjoyed it. I didn't know there was a graphic novel for it until recently, but saw it at my library and decided to pick it up. It is really good, follows the storyline well and the graphic novel is actually a lot less bloody than the movie. The art in this graphic novel is also done wonderfully.

[Zack · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not even worth reading. The story is cliche, a carbon copy of myriad stories of finding one's place in the world. From the beginning, it lauds itself as an adaptation of a movie, and it shows, though not to any advantage. The graphics appear to be 'artistically' blurred and colored stills from the movie, with dialogue thrown on top. Little to no effort is made towards character development, and what little there is ignores any attempt at "show, don't tell."
I didn't even have to pay the $20 price (an exorbitant amount for a measly 150-page paperback, not even taking quality into account) because I read it at my library, and I still feel ripped-off.

[Lex Mori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pathfinder: An American Saga is a beautiful story with amazing artwork that made my heart jump with the turn of a page. This was a very short read, with very minimal words, but the stunning visuals take up most of the time spent reading this book. This is definitely not my usual read, being a historical fiction featuring a clash between Native Americans and Vikings, but it was a fantastic one and I am glad to have it in my collection. If you're a fan of stunning visuals and heartfelt stories, you will probably enjoy this one as well. 8/10 in my opinion.

xx

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning, ethereal, visceral images set amidst shades of blues, greens, and auburns immediately strike anyone fortunate enough to have casually stumbled upon a copy of Pathfinder. Set centuries before Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World, Pathfinder tells the tale of Viking boy, a lone survivor of a Viking voyage, scared, hiding among the corpses of his fellow Norse, and among bodies of captured Native Americans, who must make a new life in the Americas.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable story (no, I've not seen the movie) and while the art is good, it becomes a bit like trying to read in a fog There's so much mist in the paintings that I was almost rubbing my eyes (in a frustrated way) by the time I was done reading. I had this increasing sense that if I could just see through the fog, there'd be this whole other layer to the story... disappointing that I couldn't get there.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the movie and liked it well enough to pick up the graphic novel. There were a few differences but not many. The art was very nice, but so insistently dark that it was sometimes hard to tell what was going on. The story is told in the most simplistic language, and is definitely 'told' rather than shown. I normally would not care for that much, but in this case it was a cumulative effect that worked by the end. All in all, a decent read.

[Samuel Snoek-Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The almost wordless storytelling is sometimes interesting, and the art is occasionally beautiful, but in the end, the story itself is pretty thin and kind of lame.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art; good story.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was sometimes cool, but often hard to decipher. The story was nothing special and a bit cliché.