Northlanders #1-20 (Ongoing, Update)

is an American comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The stories are fictional but set in and around historical events during the Viking Age. Northlanders is written by Brian Wood, illustrated by various artists on a per storyline basis with painted cover art by Massimo Carnevale. The first issue of the series was published on December 5, 2007. Wood has said that the series will be divided into standalone eight issue story arcs separated by two-issue arcs. Northlanders does not have a true main character; the cast and setting change with each story arc. Issue #20 finally changes that by reuniting readers with Sven, the protagonist of the first arc. It is a worthy sequel to "Sven the Returned" and a perfect standalone issue. This series may perhaps be one of the best monthly comic books ongoing, along with the Robert Kirkman's . In the first arc, "Sven the Returned," (issues #1-8) we follow the protagonist Sven, a self-exiled Viking warrior serving in the Byzantine Varangian Guard, as he returns (in A.D. 980) to his birth region in the Orkney Islands in order to reclaim his rightful inheritance. The second arc, "Lindisfarne," (issues #9-10) is about a young boy and the sacking of the Lindisfarne monastery in A.D. 793, the beginning of the Viking Age. The third arc, "The Cross + the Hammer," (issues #11-16) is set around Dublin, Ireland circa the Battle of Clontarf (A.D. 1014), and follows the chase of an Irishman who attacks the occupying Viking forces using guerrilla tactics. Issue #17 entitled "The Viking Art of Single Combat" is a self-contained single issue and may be one of the best comics stories of 2009. The fourth arc, "The Shield Maidens. (issues #18-19) breaks from the series' established format by introducing a small two-part story arc, that makes the storyline even more cutting and effective. Issue #20 entitled "Sven the Immortal" is another standalone issue going back to the protagonist of the first story arc, Sven, now old and living relatively peacefully... This is a thinking man's comics series, with metafictional elements juxtaposed alongside moral ambiguities and philosophical contrasts, thus:

CBR writer Tim Callahan also posts the following observation to his twitter: More Northlanders thoughts: I like how @brianwood sets up each arc as a philosophical contrast. Arc 1: Primitivism vs. Modernism. Arc 2: Faith vs. Materialism; Arc 3: Romanticism vs. Realism. And he does it all with vikings who wield big swords.

When we last saw Sven at the end of NORTHLANDERS Vol. 1, he was in exile on a remote island with a brand-new family and questioning if he truly managed to escape the dangers of the mainland. "Don't worry," his wife Enna had said. "There's no one coming." Well, after several decades pass, the epic story of "Sven, The Returned" is on the lips of poets across the land. And now a few mercenaries have decided to look him up... Written by Brian Wood; Art by Davide Gianfelice; Cover by Massimo Carnevale --

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