![]() The clash of Beowulf and Grendel is spectacularly handled as is the succeeding exploit wherein the stalking horror’s demonic mother comes seeking revenge and drags the warrior prince to her hideous lair beneath an icy lake, but the most effective and moving chapter is the very human-scaled Twilight of the Gods as, after 50 years ruling his Geatish kingdom, worn and elderly Beowulf goes to his final glorious battle, dying heroically whilst destroying a ravening firedrake which threatens to eradicate his people: the only proper end for a Northman Hero…īingham’s raw, fiercely realistic art-style perfectly captures the implacable sense of doom and by employing Prince Valiant’s text block-&-picture format he endows the tale with a grandeur frequently as mythic as Hal Foster’s strip masterpiece, whilst leaving the art gloriously free of distracting word-balloons. After a dozen years of horror, a valiant band of heroes led by Beowulf, Prince of the Geats, came to their aid, seeking glory and fame through battle… ![]() This beast ruthlessly and relentlessly raided the citadel, slaughtering many noble warriors every night. Need a plot summary? Long ago in the far North, noble King Hrothgar built a mighty mead-hall for heroes, thereby incurring the malignant enmity of the monster Grendel. The premier release was a stunning – subsequently award-winning (1985 Kirby Award for Best Graphic Album) – fantasy epic by Jerry Bingham.īeowulf is a thrilling, compulsive and intensely visceral visualisation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem committed to parchment sometime between the 8 th and 11 th century AD, and recently the subject of numerous screen iterations and re-interpretations. In 1984 they followed Marvel and DC’s lead with a line of impressive, European-styled over-sized graphic albums featuring new and out-of-the-ordinary comics sagas (see Time Beavers, Mazinger and two volumes of Time 2 to see just how bold, broad and innovative the material could be). Chicago based First Comics was an early frontrunner, with Frank Brunner’s Warp, Mike Grell’s Starslayer and Jon Sable, Freelance and Howard Chaykin’s landmark American Flagg!, as well as an impressive line of titles targeting a more sophisticated audience. ![]() New talent, established stars and fresh ideas all found a thriving forum to try something a little different both in terms of content and format. European and Japanese styled material had been creeping in but by 1983 a host of young companies such as WaRP Graphics, Pacific, Eclipse, Capital, Now, Comico, Dark Horse, First and many others had established themselves and were making impressive inroads. Many new companies began competing for the attention and cash of punters who had grown accustomed – or resigned – to getting their four-colour kicks from DC, Marvel Archie and/or Harvey Comics. Moreover, much of the “kid’s stuff” stigma had finally abated and the US was catching up to the rest of the world in acknowledging that sequential narrative might just be an actual art-form… It was as if an entire new industry had opened up with the proliferation of the Direct Sales market and dedicated specialist retail outlets new companies were experimenting with format and content, and punters had a bit of spare cash to play with. The mid-1980s were a great time for comics creators. This series is funny, emotional, engaging.By Jerry Bingham, with Ken Bruzenak (First Comics) I absolutely recommend this book if you've been reading the Finishing School series - and if you haven't, go back to book 1 and start there. And now I want to re-read the Parasol Protectorate all the more. I loved how this book brought everything together in a neat package, bringing the series to a satisfying close. There's fashion, there's fantastic gadgets and weapons, there's all the characters we've come to love, hate and love-hate through the three earlier books in the series. Why shouldn't spies communicate with fans and pillow placements? This book leverages some of the over-the-top elements of 19th century England high society, taking them to ever more delightful extremes. One of the best parts of the Finishing School series is how much it embraces the slightly nonsensical with such gusto. I love this series, and I held onto this book, waiting to read it because I wanted to really savor the experience. ![]()
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