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The Royals: Masters of War
The year is 1940. As the Blitz destroys London and kills thousands, the Royal Family looks on. But in this world, the only people with special abilities are Royalty, and the purer the bloodline, the greater their abilities. So why don't they stop the carnage with their powers? A truce between the Earth's nobles has kept them out of our wars--until now. When England's Prince Henry can take no more and intervenes, will it stop the planet's suffering or take it to another level?
Writer Rob Williams (Judge Dredd: Trifecta, Low Life, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and Daken) and artist Simon Coleby (The Authority, Judge Dredd: Year One and Trifecta) team up to bring you this epic of World War proportions. History will be transformed in a way you've never seen before.
Collects THE ROYALS: MASTERS OF WAR #1-6
Writer Rob Williams (Judge Dredd: Trifecta, Low Life, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and Daken) and artist Simon Coleby (The Authority, Judge Dredd: Year One and Trifecta) team up to bring you this epic of World War proportions. History will be transformed in a way you've never seen before.
Collects THE ROYALS: MASTERS OF WAR #1-6
144 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
March 18, 2019
What if the world's royalty were actually super-powered and had a pact to stay out of World War II? And what if an English prince could no longer see his people bombed every day by the Germans and did something about it? And what if this drug the Japanese Emperor into the war and he was actually thousands of years old? That's the premise of Royals. It's a terrific concept. It does suffer though from no real through story and not tying it in enough to the actual battles of WWII. And the twist ending was stupid. It felt like the book had been canceled and this is how Williams was able to quickly wrap it up. The art and coloring fit a WWII comic perfectly.
February 20, 2019
Wow - what a great concept! WW II has set the world ablaze and the royal families of the world must pick sides. But in this universe royal bloodlines have birthed amazing powers - the older the bloodline the more powerful the members. In this version the US is truly the weakest country when it comes to 'blood powers' and Japan is (by far) the most powerful country. A truce is being followed - no interference in this war of men - until a member of the royal family of England breaks out and decides to fight. Excellent story and fantastic art!
October 4, 2018
WW2 with superpowers. No, not Captain America. Something much cooler. The members of the royal families of the world have superpowers, but they also have an agreement to not participate in the war. Henry, prince in the House of Windsor, is an idealistic youth who can no longer stand idly by while his countrymen are killed. Henry doesn't know about the pact, so when he uses his Superman-like powers in public the pact becomes null and void. Superpowered individuals from the whole world take up arms with immensly destructive results. Funnily enough, several major events of the war have similar outcomes to their real-life counterparts.
Arthur, Prince of Wales, is a drunkard, a womanizer and a source of embarassment for the Crown. He doesn't get along with his brother Henry and accuses him of wanting to get a bit too intimate with their sister Rose, a telepath. He is still important for the war effort because of his powers.
The battles of Stalingrad, the attack at Pearl Harbor, the German rockets launched toward London, the Normandy landing are visited. As much as the royals' intervention changed the face of war, the ultimate outcome is the same. The family infighting weakens the British royals until they destroy themselves.
Arthur, Prince of Wales, is a drunkard, a womanizer and a source of embarassment for the Crown. He doesn't get along with his brother Henry and accuses him of wanting to get a bit too intimate with their sister Rose, a telepath. He is still important for the war effort because of his powers.
The battles of Stalingrad, the attack at Pearl Harbor, the German rockets launched toward London, the Normandy landing are visited. As much as the royals' intervention changed the face of war, the ultimate outcome is the same. The family infighting weakens the British royals until they destroy themselves.
July 12, 2014
A rollicking good time.
August 18, 2014
Enjoyable, great idea. Just felt that there was a lot here that could have been expanded upon
December 19, 2014
Good premise....helps to have a bit of knowledge about the real events. Hoping this concept may continue
December 20, 2014
It's World War Two, but not as we know it. The circumstance is building up to be pretty much what we know – the Allies have ideas to land at Normandy, the Germans have rockets ready to pummel a Blighty only just getting over the Battle of Britain, and the Americans are being pressured by Churchill to enter the war, little knowing what Japan would have in mind to force the issue. But many things are different. For this is a world where the Royal blood disease of Europe is not something ailing, debilitating and embarrassing, but instead the giver of super powers. The names in Buckingham Palace are different, but the opulence remains, and with the history of the current incumbents one where their powers are not exercised, people are being tasked with making sure that remains so. But how can you stop an immovable force when it has enough might and strength to turn the tide of the war single-handed?
What's more, the whole balance of who is right and who is wrong – this being war, whether it's recognisable to us totally or otherwise – is hard to measure. Churchill wants one thing, the Royals want – well, their own individual ideas come across writ large on these pages, let's just put it at that, and ignore what happens in the pantry, shall we? A lot is writ large here, but that's not a criticism, for barring one note I would give – that of the coloured boxes to define the speaker of the disembodied voice-overs amounting to nothing when it's people we haven't met – this book is nigh-on perfect.
It's just what I would seek in an adult, mainstream graphic novel from an albeit slightly edgier house. There's graphic violence (and how!), there is a great grounding in reality with the beats of the war playing out familiar to us yet so very differently to what our Pathe newsreels might have shown, and there are zooming supermen and women battling for their own ideas, justice, morals. It's wholly fun, and is quite left-field in treating the European theatre of war as something given due diligence (the floating Royal scions thinking their moonlit flit across the West End is like something out of ''Peter Pan'' until they see the reality below them) yet also having a full-on, blood-and-guts comic drama superimposed. And when the drama leaves Europe, well – the imagery is just as startling and memorable as any Hollywood super-hero film would be.
The whole thing is mired in the same high level of audacity, and it's all the better for it. Ignore the subtitle, for this is perfectly self-contained, ignore the doubt you may have about the idea of twisting history so far from what we know, and just get on board. This is a great fun read – succinctly putting across a huge and hugely enjoyable plot, with great artwork and a fine feel for dialogue.
What's more, the whole balance of who is right and who is wrong – this being war, whether it's recognisable to us totally or otherwise – is hard to measure. Churchill wants one thing, the Royals want – well, their own individual ideas come across writ large on these pages, let's just put it at that, and ignore what happens in the pantry, shall we? A lot is writ large here, but that's not a criticism, for barring one note I would give – that of the coloured boxes to define the speaker of the disembodied voice-overs amounting to nothing when it's people we haven't met – this book is nigh-on perfect.
It's just what I would seek in an adult, mainstream graphic novel from an albeit slightly edgier house. There's graphic violence (and how!), there is a great grounding in reality with the beats of the war playing out familiar to us yet so very differently to what our Pathe newsreels might have shown, and there are zooming supermen and women battling for their own ideas, justice, morals. It's wholly fun, and is quite left-field in treating the European theatre of war as something given due diligence (the floating Royal scions thinking their moonlit flit across the West End is like something out of ''Peter Pan'' until they see the reality below them) yet also having a full-on, blood-and-guts comic drama superimposed. And when the drama leaves Europe, well – the imagery is just as startling and memorable as any Hollywood super-hero film would be.
The whole thing is mired in the same high level of audacity, and it's all the better for it. Ignore the subtitle, for this is perfectly self-contained, ignore the doubt you may have about the idea of twisting history so far from what we know, and just get on board. This is a great fun read – succinctly putting across a huge and hugely enjoyable plot, with great artwork and a fine feel for dialogue.
October 20, 2014
A pretty interesting take on the Superpowers taking part in WW II that has been done before but not via the Royals having the powers scaled by how pure/old their bloodline is. This was really close to a 4 star book for me but the ending seemed a bit of a cop out.
June 8, 2015
Really enjoyed frames with Superheroes next to Churchill.
I liked the story that redid important historical events such as Midway and the Battle of Britain!
I liked the story that redid important historical events such as Midway and the Battle of Britain!
October 15, 2023
An interesting concept which, over a longer series would have been much more satisfying - as it is though it felt incredibly rushed and disorientating, with the ending being unfortunately, quite underwhelming. A real shame as there was a lot of potential here.
December 9, 2024
"The Royals: Masters of War" starts with an interesting premise by portraying a Second World War taking place in a world very similar to ours with the notable exception that royal families have super powers. However, the story itself is stiff, often poorly narrated and generally unimaginative. Of particular note, the book never manages to convey a sense of historical authenticity while portraying events and historical figures. Additionally, the book has creepy and disconcerting elements concerning the incestuous intentions of a main protagonist, has another highly misogynistic character who is never really challenged and engages in fridging multiple female characters. As such, many readers will likely want to sit this one out.
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December 12, 2014Rob Williams has written a lot of comics I like, even a few I love, but this is offensively bad. Put it this way: Kieron Gillen is currently writing a comic called Über, in which the Germans crack the secret of making superhuman soldiers in 1945 - too late for them to win, but in time to make sure everyone loses. It's scrupulously researched, and concerned almost to a fault with respect for the memory of the real Second World War, the sacrifices involved. It is also utterly brutal, because war is Hell. Now, imagine for some reason a mean-spirited and cack-handed satirist whose satire needs a story-within-the-story version of Über. That is The Royals.
The set-up is as follows: superpowers are the exclusive preserve of those with royal blood. Despite this fairly major detail, history has nonetheless somehow followed exactly the same lines as in our own world, except that different royals sit the thrones (this means our leads can mostly be nice and generic, rather than a superpowered version of the Queen Mum or anything, which would at least have been novel). Hell, the Russians even somehow managed to have the same revolution despite the Tsar being superhuman. But there has always been a royal pact to stay out of human wars (since when? Given our own royals led in battle for so many years, why would they have stopped if they could make this extra tactical difference?) - until the Blitz leaves one idealistic young British prince unable to ignore his people's suffering any longer.
Now, the idea of the blood royal genuinely conferring special powers is fairly repugnant to modern sensibilities, but that is precisely what makes it potentially interesting; consider the powerful results you can obtain when an atheist writes something set in a christian universe (Marlowe's Faustus is one of my favourites). Alas, that really doesn't come through here, so all you get is an inconsistently twisted alternate timeline spiced with scenes of gore and slaughter, and the whole thing feels like monumentally poor taste on a number of levels. It doesn't help that the private lives of the royals, with their secrets and lusts and broad-brush characterisations, make them feel like escapees from one of the more ridiculous US soap operas.
The set-up is as follows: superpowers are the exclusive preserve of those with royal blood. Despite this fairly major detail, history has nonetheless somehow followed exactly the same lines as in our own world, except that different royals sit the thrones (this means our leads can mostly be nice and generic, rather than a superpowered version of the Queen Mum or anything, which would at least have been novel). Hell, the Russians even somehow managed to have the same revolution despite the Tsar being superhuman. But there has always been a royal pact to stay out of human wars (since when? Given our own royals led in battle for so many years, why would they have stopped if they could make this extra tactical difference?) - until the Blitz leaves one idealistic young British prince unable to ignore his people's suffering any longer.
Now, the idea of the blood royal genuinely conferring special powers is fairly repugnant to modern sensibilities, but that is precisely what makes it potentially interesting; consider the powerful results you can obtain when an atheist writes something set in a christian universe (Marlowe's Faustus is one of my favourites). Alas, that really doesn't come through here, so all you get is an inconsistently twisted alternate timeline spiced with scenes of gore and slaughter, and the whole thing feels like monumentally poor taste on a number of levels. It doesn't help that the private lives of the royals, with their secrets and lusts and broad-brush characterisations, make them feel like escapees from one of the more ridiculous US soap operas.
July 11, 2014
Supongamos un mundo sin superhéroes, sin metahumanos, sin mutantes, inhumanos, atlantes o imperios galácticos, pero en el que los miembros de las casas reales si que tienen superpoderes. Ese es el mundo de The Royals: Masters of War y ese mundo esta inmerso en la segunda guerra mundial.
Guerra que los ejércitos de Hitler están ganando y donde la casa Windsor, trata de controlar a sus jóvenes príncipes, ya que se ha declarado oficialmente que los Windsor ya no nacen con esas habilidades. Pero esto no deja de ser una burda mentira de un rey de Inglaterra que ve dichos poderes como una maldición.
La princesa Rose es telépata, mientras que sus hermanos, tienen toda una gama de superpoderes tales como vuelo, fuerza, velocidad, lanzan rayos por los ojos, etc.. Pero no lo usan.. el príncipe de Gales, Arthur es un borracho y un despreciable pedazo de mierda, mientras que Henry aparte de rozar el incesto con Rose, si que está molesto de no poder combatir mientras Londres es asolada por la bombas y los jóvenes ingleses mueren en el frente, gracias a la ayuda de un espía del mal alto nivel que trabaja para los alemanes.
Así que el príncipe Henry decide desobedecer y para regocijo de muchos, unirse a la ofensiva. Lo cual contraviene un acuerdo entre las casas reales de no intervenir en el conflicto y una vez puestos a intervenir, pues se interviene. Así tenemos al inmortal emperador de Japón y su familia, Nobleza Bavara, Zares y a los americanos jugando a poner en liza a gente con disfraces, a los que, y cito "parece que les ha explotado encima una tienda de banderas".
6 Números para un conflicto que va pasando por varios grados de intensidad, pero que en general es bastante disfrutable y loco por momentos. En estos temas de WWII con superpoderes, es bastante mejor que Über, las cosas como son.
Guerra que los ejércitos de Hitler están ganando y donde la casa Windsor, trata de controlar a sus jóvenes príncipes, ya que se ha declarado oficialmente que los Windsor ya no nacen con esas habilidades. Pero esto no deja de ser una burda mentira de un rey de Inglaterra que ve dichos poderes como una maldición.
La princesa Rose es telépata, mientras que sus hermanos, tienen toda una gama de superpoderes tales como vuelo, fuerza, velocidad, lanzan rayos por los ojos, etc.. Pero no lo usan.. el príncipe de Gales, Arthur es un borracho y un despreciable pedazo de mierda, mientras que Henry aparte de rozar el incesto con Rose, si que está molesto de no poder combatir mientras Londres es asolada por la bombas y los jóvenes ingleses mueren en el frente, gracias a la ayuda de un espía del mal alto nivel que trabaja para los alemanes.
Así que el príncipe Henry decide desobedecer y para regocijo de muchos, unirse a la ofensiva. Lo cual contraviene un acuerdo entre las casas reales de no intervenir en el conflicto y una vez puestos a intervenir, pues se interviene. Así tenemos al inmortal emperador de Japón y su familia, Nobleza Bavara, Zares y a los americanos jugando a poner en liza a gente con disfraces, a los que, y cito "parece que les ha explotado encima una tienda de banderas".
6 Números para un conflicto que va pasando por varios grados de intensidad, pero que en general es bastante disfrutable y loco por momentos. En estos temas de WWII con superpoderes, es bastante mejor que Über, las cosas como son.
November 8, 2014
This was a very intriguing series. It posits that, basically, "royals" are superhuman beings, so when World War II is ramping up in the Battle for Britain and things seems to be going wrong for the British, young crown prince Henry finally steps up to "do the right thing" and get involved in the fight, which ultimately leads to any number of unforeseen complications. Every country in the war has its own royals, yet they've made a pact to keep out of the battle and let the mortals sort things out. But Henry's action has made this impossible. This is a very imaginative story, with lots of great battle scenes, complete with flying superhumans directing destructor beams from their eyes, etc. We find out what happened to the czar of Russia and look in on the Japanese leaders as well. Henry's younger sister doesn't fare so well and he must come to grips with his own legacy as the younger brother to king-in-waiting Arthur, who only wants to drink as much liquor and bed as many women as possible. I enjoyed this quite a bit and would actually like to have seen more--this series could have been developed a bit further (there are a few moments that aren't fully, clearly explained or embellished--things move pretty quickly). And the artwork is outstanding as well.
January 16, 2015
This book was awesome, the storyline was engaging and dramatic. The story takes place during World War II (yeah, I know it's been done before); however the story follows the Royal families during the war. As it turns out in this universe royals are born with superhuman abilities, like Superman type powers for some of them.
The story focuses on the British royal family and more specifically on Prince Henry an idealist with powers pretty much almost like Superman. As the war progresses and takes it's toll on their family he becomes disillusioned.
The story also focuses on his rivalry with his douchebag older brother, Prince Arthur who has powers similar to his own; and his sister Princess Rose who has psychic powers, eventually goes crazy and is killed by their father.
The story has no continuation, so you won't be buying another book or anything. The art is good, what you expect in action graphic novels. There will be some twist that will have you like WTF, I won't spoil which parts, but I will say they are good.
Raing 5 out of 5
Read@Book
The story focuses on the British royal family and more specifically on Prince Henry an idealist with powers pretty much almost like Superman. As the war progresses and takes it's toll on their family he becomes disillusioned.
The story also focuses on his rivalry with his douchebag older brother, Prince Arthur who has powers similar to his own; and his sister Princess Rose who has psychic powers, eventually goes crazy and is killed by their father.
The story has no continuation, so you won't be buying another book or anything. The art is good, what you expect in action graphic novels. There will be some twist that will have you like WTF, I won't spoil which parts, but I will say they are good.
Raing 5 out of 5
Read@Book
December 18, 2014
An intriguing and page-turning alternate history of WWII that takes on the premise of Royalty having superpowers. The House of Windsor has been secretly convincing the nation that the King, born without powers had sired children who also lack any of their own powers. Here is the deception. All the royalty throughout the world has been in hiding since the events of the French Revolution, and then the mass murder of the Russian royal family. So the royalty is sitting idly by during WWII until Prince Henry of England, young and idealistic, can sit by no longer, gets involved and all hell breaks loose. Then comes a fantastic retelling of WWII, with the presence of the allied leaders: Churchill, Roosevelt and Eisenhower mostly. The royals have superpowers such as strength, flying, laserbeam eyes, mind control and so on. It was a rush for me to read this and the ending was a big surprise, a double shock, and very satisfying. Once finished one can see that the author and illustrator have made some thoughtful commentary on war in general.
July 9, 2014
I suppose my favorite part of this 6 issue series is the cover art. At least that's what initially led me to this comic.
The premise is sound, only those of royal blood have super powers. The purer the blood line, the stronger the power. The setting of World War II also intrigued me, not to mention the drama and inner struggles of the English family that we follow throughout the series.
Sadly, I wasn't overly wowed with everything when all was said and done. I just didn't feel like the payoff was worth the time invested. There was some great art, like I said, the cover art was what drew me in. The interiors, as well, made me pause and enjoy what was in front of me, however, the story itself just all kind of fell flat for me.
If I could, I would have given this two and a half stars. Three is to high, IMO, so I had to stick it with a two. I just really wish the story itself could have stacked up to the overall premise and the artwork displayed.
June 12, 2017
The British royals are not supposed to get involved in WWII. The King doesn't want his sons to fight. This is because all of the royals in the world have special powers. This includes the Emporer of Japan and the Tsar of Russia. Princess Rose of England can read minds and her brothers can fly, as well as shoot lasers from their eyes. The royals end up joining the fight, which leads to many deaths.
I really liked the art in this graphic novel. It is very realistic. The pictures of Winston Churchill were especially good, since I could recognize what he looked like.
The story had a twist on a traditional WWII story since the royal families intervened with their magic powers. I enjoyed this unique story!
I really liked the art in this graphic novel. It is very realistic. The pictures of Winston Churchill were especially good, since I could recognize what he looked like.
The story had a twist on a traditional WWII story since the royal families intervened with their magic powers. I enjoyed this unique story!
December 22, 2016
The Royal Treatment
This is a great story about the Super Powers of the World and government leaders actually having super powers. Focus is on the British Royal family and them reluctantly entering WW2. Readers are also introduced to the Ruling Powers of Japan and Russia and the American super team, the Allies. The Royals: Masters of War is filled with plenty of twists and violence; it’s a fun look at alt-history. At times, the story seems a little rushed. Only runs 6 issue and probably could have been fleshed out to 8-10 to give better background on some of the characters.
This is a great story about the Super Powers of the World and government leaders actually having super powers. Focus is on the British Royal family and them reluctantly entering WW2. Readers are also introduced to the Ruling Powers of Japan and Russia and the American super team, the Allies. The Royals: Masters of War is filled with plenty of twists and violence; it’s a fun look at alt-history. At times, the story seems a little rushed. Only runs 6 issue and probably could have been fleshed out to 8-10 to give better background on some of the characters.
January 22, 2015
This is a great premise constricted by its limited series format. Super-powered royal families assist in fighting World War II in this clever alternate history, but the book's pace moves so fast it's often hard to follow what is going on. The emphasis is on the battles and the characters suffer for it, making them pretty one-note types. The art often spectacular, however. I just wished the story had more meat on its bones.
December 29, 2014
Dark alternate history where kings have become super human and akin to the gods through interbreeding. The Royals young blood seek to align and support more than their own bloodlines for a change. The result is catastrophic upheaval of nations and wars. I found this plot to twist and turn to give an ending that I didn't expect nor want. Oh how they killed their darlings. This was a good read.
Mr. Joe
Mr. Joe
December 7, 2014
3.5*
ARC provided by NetGalley
The artwork was amazing 5/5, but the story felt a bit rushed, with a lot of time jumps. A longer story line with more depth would have made this great.
For a German, the google translate parts were also cringe worthy :P
ARC provided by NetGalley
The artwork was amazing 5/5, but the story felt a bit rushed, with a lot of time jumps. A longer story line with more depth would have made this great.
For a German, the google translate parts were also cringe worthy :P
December 15, 2016
I enjoyed this, for the most part, but the ending is kind of abrupt and feels a bit like a cop-out. I blame the limited scope of a 6-issue miniseries, and I kind of wish there was a bit more of this to let the ideas play out more freely.
March 3, 2019
Excellent concept and good art - especially the fights and battle scenes are very dynamic while clear.
The plotline is pretty good. I think the world building could have allowed for a much deeper story line, but for a short series this is fine too.
Wish Churchill got more space :)
The plotline is pretty good. I think the world building could have allowed for a much deeper story line, but for a short series this is fine too.
Wish Churchill got more space :)
December 30, 2014
I didn't care much for this one.
June 12, 2017
Warring royals with super powers in and an alternate world war 2, this is all good in my book, cracking art too.
January 25, 2023
Solid “WWII with superheroes” story. Not quite as good as Kieron Gillen’s Uber, Volume 1, but if you liked that then you’ll probably enjoy this. The idea that super-powered royalty of every country has agreed to a pact of non-intervention as their countries go to war is interesting. As you can tell by the cover, that doesn’t last. The second son of England’s king can’t watch any more as his countrymen are killed en masse by Hitler’s advances, thus breaking the pact and escalating the war.
A minor gripe is that it leaves out entire countries, such as the US. It would’ve been pretty daring alt-history if Native American royalty were likewise super-powered, changing the dynamic of America as well as its history. There’s no genocide if they have the equivalent of Superman and Professor X on their side. Oh well, that’s probably far too ambitious. My one serious gripe is that it ends too quickly and too cleanly.
A minor gripe is that it leaves out entire countries, such as the US. It would’ve been pretty daring alt-history if Native American royalty were likewise super-powered, changing the dynamic of America as well as its history. There’s no genocide if they have the equivalent of Superman and Professor X on their side. Oh well, that’s probably far too ambitious. My one serious gripe is that it ends too quickly and too cleanly.
April 4, 2023
Yes, it's "what if people had superpowers during WWII?" Again. However, this is a fresh enough take on the idea that this six issue mini-series never feels like a drag. The characters are given just enough identity and charm to keep you engaged, and the pacing is not bad at all. Some of the faces (especially Churchill's) look like copied and pasted photos instead of drawings, but that's about the only real element that ever pulled me out of the story. This is probably more of a "3," but I'm bumping it up one star for being a surprisingly fresh take on a well-beaten old trope.
July 26, 2019
I was really disappointed by this. The premise of royal families having superpowers was interesting to me, but the fact that their history was still almost identical to our own except for who the British Royal family consisted of, was very disappointing to me. This could have been great if more thought had been put into world building and having more differences due to royals having powers.
November 25, 2021
The only thing preventing me from giving it a one star review is the artwork.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews