North World Book 1: The Epic of Conrad

North World #1

by Lars Brown

North World really isn't that different from our own... the biggest difference is the presence of mythical monsters, talking bears, arcane arts, and, of course, the heroes who stand ready to defend the innocent and helpless from these extraordinary threats! Conrad is one such hero and he's about to experience something scarier than any of the mighty beasts he's faced down—his ex-girlfriend's wedding!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

152 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2008

About the author

Born in California in 1983 I now make my home in Spokane, WA, a city that most artists run away from.

I work in an office, draw comics, and would like to write and draw more.

North-World is my Plain clothes fantasy webcomic. It is published by Oni Press. I have been self-publishing my own work for several years and have recently seen several short stories published in anthologies.

I have lately been very interested in Christian Apologetics, and will most likely write about such.

Reviews

[A.S. Ember · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is bland, the protagonist sucks, and the art doesn't redeem a thing. Boring.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of fun. What life would be like if you lived in a RPG fantasy world + modern existance= fun. Yeah, the main character has a sword and slays giant animals for his local guild, all while struggling to understand who he is and how he fits into the world. Tight art, fun story, solid read.

[Nick Fagerlund · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had its charms, but maybe not enough of them. I don't feel the need to read more of it.

It feels like it belongs to a very very particular era — that bit in the late '00s, where mixing elements of classic video game settings with more prosaic character drama was having a moment? Scott Pilgrim kind of kicked it off and did it best, but there were a lot of others; some were blatantly following the trend, but I feel like a whole bunch of them were legit convergent evolution. Stories their authors wanted to do anyway, and which happened to be ready to go when the commercial moment arrived. Like, old games are responsible for a lot of the foundational metaphors by which my generation understands life, and of course we're going to work through that in our art.

Anyway, what I really liked about this comic were the settings — the city streets and markets and shops and houses and apartments. Brown's approach went something like: assume this big dumbass JRPG world, then focus on what people actually do from hour to hour and try to make everything feel really lived-in. It was great, a cool mix of... how to describe this. How about "conflicting familiarities." Which is kind of the whole raison d'être of this subgenre, right? The dissonance between our too-many methods of making sense of the world, which went from an idle preoccupation to an emergency when we realized the social and economic structures we were supposed to be "growing up" into had been devastated pretty much beyond repair well before we arrived? Yeah.

Oh right, back to the comic. Setting good, plot totally forgettable. Character writing ok, but nothing I was really connecting with. I kind of need at least two out of three to keep investing in something, so I'm out.

[J Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

North World is a fun read even if it steals elements from both Scott Pilgrim (likely intentional) and the novel The Book of Joe (likely unintentional). Just like Scott Pilgrim, this graphic novel takes place in a modern world with video game elements thrown in, though this time along the lines of online RPGs. Conrad, the main character, is likable and funny and he's forced to return home after seven years living off the land and fighting monsters. Most of the other characters are interesting, though it would have been nice to see more people in the RPG mold wandering around. Artwork is good, along the lines of Scott Pilgrim (no surprise there), and the story is good if lacking any major surprises.
For die-hard Oni Press fans, North World fits in rather nicely among all their other great titles. It may steal elements from Scott Pilgrim, but there are far worse things out there to steal from.

[Bryce Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Northworld is part of a genre that for lack of a better word, and a complete surplus of pretentiousness I'll call Logic. The basic idea behind them being that the logic from some piece of pop culture is applied to the real world. In Edgar Wright movies genre film logic works, in Scott Pilgrim Videogame logic works, and in Northworld RPG logic works.

It's a funny idea seeing a world wear the occupation of high adventuring is looked upon as a slightly disreputable blue collar job, fine until you get some ambition and the world that's built around the premise with it's slight differences from our own is an interesting one.

Unfortunately the book is hamstrung by weak characters, samey art (so samey that the characters often have to remind you who they are in clunky declarative sentences) and a lethargic unappealing story.

I like it enough to give the next volume a go to see if it picks up, but as of the moment I'm skeptical.

[quinnster · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so I know that there are other books but I don't know if they're connected. Is Conrad's story continuous or do we move on to another character???

I did like this one, but dang it what happened?! He does make some life decisions that seemed to be weighing on his mind, but the case that he's sent out to take care of.....nothing. I mean, the reader knows what's what, but Conrad is clueless.

But yes, I really liked it. There was so mystery, some action, a little love, some family drama....seriously, what more could you ask for? Now I just have to wait for my library to fill my request for the second book....

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conrad is living the dream. He ditched high school, escaped small town life, and shed the "troubled teen" cliche... all to become a butt-kickin' real-life RPG hero. But when he tires of fighting the giant-animal-of-the-week, he finds a chance to graduate to "legend" status by taking on a demon. Unfortunately, this also means he must return to his hometown, shmooze with his ex-girlfriend's sensitive wine-selling fiancee, and fend off some young townie punks intent on trying their fighting prowess against his.

Brilliant! Original! Sleek and Tangy! Read it.

[Korynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met the author at WonderCon in San Francisco where he sold me his book. Good sales technique Lars!! He didn't hint I should buy the second volume, but I ended up buying it later because it completes the first story arc. This story concerns Conrad, punk swordsman who is working his way up in his guild by fighting monstrous animals. He is given a chance in the form of hunting down a demon summoner, the catch is that he has to return to his hometown, where of course, he left on bad terms seven years ago. So we have dungeons and dragons mixed with prodigal son returns. Good stuff!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very good, but fails the test of greatness, especially the ending, which was NOT a resolution. I suppose that's what the artist intended, but I found it to be very frustrating, and lacking a sense of closure. The website had an extra four pages not included in the book, and that's not an ending, either. Sigh...
I enjoyed the story [other than the ending] and the characters. The artwork was okay, but adequate for the story.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premise, with D&D rules mixed with a suburban reality to create a grounded fantasy world with a nod toward artificiality. Originally published -- and still available to read -- online, the continuity of the printed volume helps give this story flow and substance. The story is only half-complete in this volume, and ends almost on the opposite of a suspenseful note, which is mildly surprising.

[Austin Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I got this at Book Thing in Baltimore, MD.

This is the first book I've read from Oni Press (never read Scott Pilgrim). Maybe it's just a printing error, but the edges of some of the panels are cut off, including first lines of some dialogue.

Apart from that the book is great - really interesting concept.

I need to track down Lars and ask him if the bookstore in the series is based on Ball & Cross - it looks just like it.

[Erik Swedlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book, as the concept is very appealing. Unfortunately, the art is inconsistent to the point of confusion at times, and the writing jumps all over the place. Treads much the same ground as the excellent Scott Pilgrim series (which at least earns it my attention for the next volume) but is sadly inferior.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent characters and fun to read. Wish there had been a little more history of his adventuring to begin the book. Even a monatge would have worked, just so we didn't have to take it on faith that he was a tough guy.

[Gary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, even if it did feel like a poor-man's version of Scott Pilgrim -- only with sword & sorcery aspects replacing video game aspects.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

North World is just like ours, but with magic and sword-slinging and other fantasy elements. It's a pretty decent little story overall; it's just that I'm not a big fan of fantasy really.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this and hope to continue reading the series. I loved the idea of a "modern" D&d-ish world.

[Cindi Rockett]

Stuck with me. Might be aimed at a bit older than HS audience. Need to re-evaluate. Good message.