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Review: Viking #3 By Ivan Brandon And Nick Klein

I've been talking about the IDW Ten Years volume, DC's' Wednesday Comics and the bear box set of mini-comics of late, and enjoying the format busting aspects, sometimes almost as much as the comic itself.

And there's a danger one can do that with the squarer-shaped Viking #3. Because nothing looked more odd as seeing the artwork chopped up from #1 to fit into the back of Walking Dead #64 the other week. It just looked wrong.

Issue #3 is out today… and that's better. A big of room to swing that axe, knife, club, wolf , young lady or moral/philosophical dilemma. This issue, it's all about the value of life. And its very fragility in the hands of those who play with it. Which means lots and lots and lots of nasty death scenes and, as you can see, a change to play with the red paintbox.

And this paints such a convincing melodrama with plots within plots, backstabbings, front stabbings and plans as forces marshall against each other, some not even aware of the others existence.

Brother Egil and Finn seem to play out their roles, this is why they are, this is what they do. Almost spectators in their own brand of violence and mission. King Bram seems equally trapped, creating his own nemesis. Both invite violence and destruction upon each other, setting up what can only be a very unhappy ending.

This is an indepth organised crime thriller disguised by wolf skins, with some remarkable use of colour to delineate the different mental states that the characters take on.

It's strange that, for so much death, this feels like a slower issue, a pause and a break. No one moves on much, physically or mentally, this is all about preparation for the story to come.  Trust Viking to have a quiet issue with a major body count.

Viking #3 ships from Image Comics today in the US and tomorrow in the UK.

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