The Good More Than Balances Out the Bad
I'm really kind of torn when it comes to Viking Glory. It has some things that make it outstanding, and others that make it frustrating.
The story features D.C.'s Viking Prince character, for those that don't know, his name is Jon and he's a viking prince - that's all you really need to know about him. In this standalone story (which evidently takes place early in his life - he's a teen or early 20s here) he is pledged by his father, the tribe's Jarl (king) to marry the daughter of another tribe. When the vikings reach the other tribe's village they learn that Jon must first undergo a dangerous quest to retrieve an object guarded by a fierce dragon. Jon accepts the challenge.
I expected something along the lines of the kind of cheesy Prince Valiant newspaper strips that ran for decades in the Sunday funnies. Instead I was surprised to find a piece of historical fiction, much more keeping in line with the historical vikings. Overall, the story focuses on romance and intrigue more than action, and when it does romance - it really works:
But some chapters seem to be confusing as to who is doing what for whom and why. It's hard to really know who's at fault here, as the art is similarly obscure. On the one hand, there's the fact that the art is incredibly beautiful paintings, but that's countered by the fact that "lighting effects" make it difficult sometimes to distinguish characters by their clothes or hair color. And sometimes it's really hard to tell exactly what's going on in a panel - thus the art is as much a problem as the writing when it comes to the story's plot.
Also annoying about the art is the poses some of the characters are put in - a character that has just been punched might fly back parallel to the ground, straight as a board, like some cartoon in a Bazooka Joe gum wrapper. Whether the artist was trying to add levity or style by doing this, it fails on both counts. Also, the art details never quite seem right for a viking story - a little too four color. For example, a maid is carrying a 'tray of fruit' which has, among other things, ripe bananas on it. There's absolutely no way it would have been possible for ripe bananas to make their way to viking lands in the dark ages. None.
There's other poses/things that I find annoying which others might excuse as 'heroic' or 'comic bookey so it's O.K.' like the second panel here - yes, that's Jon standing on the sail arm unsupported - the edge of the sail arm, not even squarely standing on it - leaning forward, and holding the weight of a man - how the hell doesn't he end up crashing down head first? (Furthermore, yes, that's him getting struck by lightning in the 4th panel - guess what? He still doesn't fall!)
I only wish this could have been more like Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord's Conan - that fantasy feels more dark age historical than this historical fiction, which seems more fantasy. Still, when the art and the writing do hit - and they really do sometimes - check out the tonalities of the sea in this page for example:
If you like viking fiction with about the historical accuracy of, say, your local Ren Fest, then Viking Glory is for you!