The Pale Knight

by Peter Milligan, Val Rodrigues (Illustrator), Cristiane Peter (Colorist)

Get ready for a hauntingly complex ride with The Pale Knight, the all-new six-issue miniseries that plunges readers deep into the deadly world of the Black Death, where the lines between life, death, and morality blur in the most chilling way!

England, 1349. Sir Hugh de Grey, the Pale Knight, returns from war to find a land ravaged by the Black Death, and his son dying of the plague. When he prays to God to save his son’s life, it is not God who answers—but Death himself. And Death is willing to cut a deal.

Written by the acclaimed Peter Milligan (Enigma, Shade the Changing Man, X-Statix) and illustrated by Val Rodrigues (Deep Roots, Unnatural Order), with colors by Cristiane Peter, and letters by Dave Sharpe, The Pale Knight immerses readers in a world ravaged by plague and despair.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

152 pages, Paperback

Published December 23, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've long been a huge Peter Milligan fan and was excited to give this one a try. It was filled with some very interesting characters and ideas, and the art was great, but the story itself left me wishing for a bit more as it dragged a bit and kept some of the action, I wanted to see off panel in a way that ended up disappointing.

Special Thanks to Mad Cave Studios and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARC from NetGalley.

There’s a lot that works against it, and that is a byproduct of cribbing other material. Don’t invoke The Seventh Seal or Vincent Price’s Masque of the Red Death, it’s a losing battle.


Pale Knight is boring. It plods. There’s no tension. The ~twist~ is immediately obvious to anyone who has any sense of media history.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Selling Pitch:
A graphic novel about the Black Death.

Pre-reading:
The cover looked like Geralt. Smash.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Oh cool, buckets of misogyny, my fave!

The pinks in this book!

That horse is not bulky enough to be 2,200 pounds. That's like Clydesdale territory.

Fungus explaining demonic possession was one of my favorite historical facts to learn. That and diabetic comas being vampirism.

Post-reading:
I don’t really know how to rate this one. The characters aren't very compelling. It's not telling a unique story. I think it’s more concerned with making historical facts of the time- like people’s attitudes about women and religious minorities- easily digestible. And it succeeds in that! It’s kind of like a crash course overview that would teach a middle or high school audience about the time period. If you're picking this up as an adult and expecting more than a cursory overview, I think you'll be disappointed. While the full-page illustrations are gorgeous, the panels got a little muddy. There's a lot of panels of vaguely zombie-like figures in muted tones. It got a little stale. The graphic novel as a whole is just kind of… fine. I don't think you need to rush out and read it, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up either.

Who should read this:
High schoolers who like history

Ideal reading time:
Anytime

Do I want to reread this:
No.

Would I buy this:
No.

Similar books:
* The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling-psychological horror, historical, queer
* Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid-Shakespeare retelling, gothic romance, historical, magical realism
* Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente-fairytale retelling, historical, urban fantasy, romance
* Grey Dog by Elliot Gish-gothic horror, historical, queer
* The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo-historical, gothic romance

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Audet Maxime · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gorgeous art style and stellar design do a lot of the heavy lifting in making the bland story somewhat tolerable. However, as a whole, this was somewhat disappointing; the story was predictable and felt like a drag for most of the time.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Review submitted for MadCave Studios on my X @AdamReadsComics

[Mireya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the ARC copy of "The Pale Knight". This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

In medieval England, ridden by the Black Death, we encounter the Pale knight, Sir Hugh de Grey, who comes back from war to find an deadly ill son at home. Forsaken by an unresponsive God, the knight turns to listen to his other possible alley: Death himself, who's willing to make a deal. To save Sir Hugh's son, in exchange of the knight killing a man that has been eluding Death no matter what.

I don't feel like repeating myself so much in my late reviews, but "The Pale Knight" didn't really lived up to my expectations of the story😅

The premise was intriguing, and that cover threw me in straight, no lie, and it started strong, the characters are well-developed, yet the art didn't immersed me in the story neither was the ending satisfying. In fact, it felt a bit like a cliche/stereotype of these type of stories. I'll explain in a moment the best I can without giving away much/spoilering it for y'all.

So, I wasn't a fan of the art style, but that didn't affect much my reading experience, though it definitely doesn't add in favor of the story; I believe that, in visual stories (comic, manga, graphic novel, etc) the art is as important as plot or characters, hence why I give my opinion about when reading these stories, 'cause it can enrich, distract from it, subtract or just carry the story without glory or pain.

And, when it comes to the character, the only one worth remembering, for me at least, is the protagonist, Sir Hugh de Grey. A round character, with lights and shadows and capable of calling to my empathy throughout the story as more about him got revealed and he showed his moral code and battle with his mission: killing a man in favor of his son, when a knight's duty is to defend the people. Yet, a son is a son, and so Sir Hugh is conflicted. And I'm delighted, because duty Vs family is a conflict I always enjoy to see develop in a story, moreover when done well and we see the characters actually suffer for their actions and decisions. And, in the case of Sir Hugh, I think it was done amazingly.

I wished some of the other secondary characters had been as well developed. Don't get me wrong, they got a personal point of view to go around telling their stories and we get to know them and their main goals at the moment an such, but I felt like they didn't get as developed as Sir Hugh. Or, at least, I feel that way because I wasn't as moved by them as Sir Hugh, maybe.

Now, the atmosphere of a medieval England, a place plagued by illness and war, was well captured and crafted. This is a department where the art got it right, with darker tones, famished people, chaos everywhere... I was pleasantly surprised by that, given everything else😅

And, returning to previous mentioned stuff and to finalize, basically, my issue with this comic/story is the way it treats its women characters: Sir Hugh's wife, women from a plague-ridden village that get burned and still thought about like a waste because someone else can not marry them anymore, or a villain's daughter that wanted a different life. Trying to be vague here, but, compared to the men characters, the women were treated worse, at least from my perspective as I read on. Because of this, I think the end was horrible and it make me almost regret having reading this, moreover because I wasn't having much fun with it. Probably, not a recommendation from me this time, but if someone feels like reading it, be my guess, maybe y'all will like it.

Either way, it is a short story about familial love, exploring the duties of knighthood but also obscure times of England's history, and I'm sure it can find its audience. Hope y'all have enjoyed this review and I'll see you in the next one ;)

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

When an English knight gets back to his home country and finds his young son destined to be a victim of the plague that has swept across Europe, he makes a pact with Death himself – kill an untainted, honest, hospitaler-type knight, and the kid lives. And so he goes off on a personal quest, just him and his petulant squire, facing death and the dying all around, with the hope of bringing more life to those he holds dearest. Even with Death assuring him he will be kept alive for the task's duration, it isn't going to be easy…

I actually thought this was not too bad a read while in its company, but having put it down its flaws proved to be a bit too evident. Here, the visuals are silly as you see three weeks pass and the knight keeps the same buzzcut hairdo throughout. He might as well have Viet-vet dogtags under his chainmail – and veracity continues to fall short in the speech. It's not written entirely in the English of 2025, but it really doesn't convince as being fourteenth century, either.

What's more, an extended cameo from a Jewish character, there to show the anti-Semitic nature of the world – as if we can't just look out the bleddy window, thanks – turns out to be there to give something far too soapy to match the religious struggle of our lead. And perhaps key is the ambling nature of that 'struggle' – we never really get a grip on where he's going, or whether he knows where his target is or not, and without being able to map his path we can't see anything to make it a realistic crusade in a realistic English countryside.

There were things to like about this – the colouring makes it obvious the plague-riddled are along the lines of zombies, and there is action and conflicting people on different sides wanting different things, but as I say while it's readable you find it imperfect upon digestion. However, as it's far better than some, if not many, 'morose bloke yacks about his loss of faith' books, this is worth three stars.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I think that comic books are harder to write than novels. Not (only) because of the illustrations, but because you need new strategies to allow your audience to understand the minds of your characters. My favorite comics do that extremely well. Sadly, The Pale Knight, in my opinion, does not. This might be a matter of personal taste, but I am not a fan of when narrators in comics will just outright tell me what the character is thinking or what is going on. The illustrations are almost unnecessary, since the text tells me everything.

To me, the narration evoked episode recaps for soap operas, that quickly summarized the relevant plot points. I also found the dialogue unnatural and filled with exposition. The story primarily follows Sir Hugh and his pact with Death, while having different side stories. I felt the transitions between narratives and characters a bit jarring, and it took me some time to realize we were with a new cast. The art style looks very unique and matches the time period and intended themes, but I ended up getting certain characters confused.

Finally, I don’t like characters who cannot commit to anything, and Sir Hugh falls firmly into this category. I was constantly annoyed with him.

This was definitely not for me, but I can see how someone else could enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Peter Milligan, and Mad Cave Studios for the advanced copy. This review is left voluntarily and honestly.

[East of Reality · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sir Hugh is a man who has lost his faith during the crusades, and will continue to lose his faith as he roams an England dying from the Black Plague. While the graphics are truly … something, with so many corpses, near corpses, sick and suffering people, the characters — especially Hugh — aren’t the strongest part of this comic by any means.

Hugh’s sole personality trait is moving. He rides his horse a lot, he kills people here and there, and that’s pretty much it. He talks about how he has no faith in his god the same way he might talk about missing a shoe. He’s complacent, indifferent, and rather than being a tragic figure he’s just as contemptible as the nobles trying to escape the plague or the men burning random women at the stake. He’s moved along by the plot rather than moving the plot along, does nothing the plot doesn’t make him do, and when he talks it’s mostly with the air of a bored actor reciting lines he didn’t bother to memorize.

Even the final moment where he does what Death wants him to do happens off page. Perhaps because Hugh couldn’t manage it so the author had to pretend it happened just to end the book. The art is solid, the pace meanders all over the place, and the side plot about the Jewish prisoner and the noble daughter was more interesting than Hugh.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Zeina (Taylor's Version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to thank NetGalley for sending this book in exchange for an honest review!
I was so excited to read this book because the artwork is amazing and honestly the plot is so good. However, I was really disappointed with the story because we have so many characters with good potential but they were glossed over. Our main character Sir Hugh de Grey had so much potential but we didn't get to know much about him, I would have liked instead of getting like 2 extra side stories maybe they could have just added one and explored it more. Main story was great but the side stories were kind off long and just did not fit well with the story. The lack of information and background makes you not really care about what happens at the end. I loved the ending I think it was really good but I really wanted to know more things about our characters and about death. Artwork is beyond amazing and the plot is fantastic I just think that the author should have added more information even about Sir Hugh and Crispin relationship.

[Terence James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda feel bad only giving this 3 stars because you can tell it’s a really well made book. The art is just gorgeous, like honestly some of the nicest I’ve seen in a comic for a while. Every page feels so rich and moody, almost like you’re flipping through some old medieval tapestry but with this really haunting edge to it. I loved that part.

The story itself is… interesting, with this dark, brooding medieval vibe and some pretty heavy themes. If I’m honest though, it just moved too slow for me. I get that it’s deliberate and it’s supposed to be thoughtful and heavy, and I respect that, but I found myself waiting for it to pick up and it never really did. I could see the quality, it just wasn’t clicking with me.

So yeah, it’s definitely more a “me” thing than the book itself. If you’re into slow burn gothic storytelling you’ll probably love it. For me, I admired it more than I actually enjoyed it.

[Shiritaku · Rating 3 out of 5]

War jetzt leider nicht so richtig meins. Das Artwork ist etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber sehr detailliert und passend. Die Story dreht sich um den Krieg und die Pest - und wie der Ritter versucht, seinen Sohn vor dem Schwarzen Tod zu retten. Dafür geht er einen Deal mit dem Tod ein.. doch der hat seinen Preis. Hauptsächlich reitet der Ritter mit seinem Knappen durch das Land auf der Suche nach einem bestimmten Mann. Und dabei begegnet er vielen Orten und Menschen, die ebenfalls mit der Pest zu kämpfen haben.
Es ist teilweise schon nachvollziehbar, wieso der Ritter handelt, wie er es tut. Aber für mich hat sich das ganze dann leider doch ziemlich gezogen. Die Dialoge waren jetzt auch nicht gerade kurz. Insgesamt ein solider Titel, aber man muss sich drauf einstellen und ihn mögen, denke ich.
Erscheinungstermin ist der 23.12.2025.

[Smallbob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

This graphic novel is set in the time of the Black Plague. We follow Sir Hugh, as he makes a deal with Death: to kill Gilbert the Pure in exchange for the life of his son.

The artwork in this graphic novel is pretty good! The style fits well with the grimy and gothic atmosphere of the story. I quite enjoyed this scheming, decaying personification of Death.

Unfortunately, that is the only positive thing I have to say. The basic premise of the story is interesting, but the plot feels meandering, as Sir Hugh sort of wanders around trying to fulfil his deal with Death, while getting sidetracked doing other things. The characters didn't feel very fleshed out either, they all felt like one-dimensional tropes.

I don't necessarily think this graphic novel is bad; moreso it's just not for me.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm like Charlie Brown kicking the football when it comes to Peter Milligan. I keep coming back expecting to actually get something worth reading like say Enigma and then Milligan pulls the football away again. This was all kinds of boring. It's about a knight who Death tasks with killing another noble in order to save his son from the plague. Then the story proceeds to meander the countryside for 6 issues. I suggest you not waste your time on this book. There is little point to it and the "twist" at the end is telegraphed to anyone who has ever read a story before.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Peter Milligan wrote this? The same Peter Milligan who gave us the mad extravaganza that is Enigma wrote this monotonous book that goes absolutely nowhere?

Skip this one unless you have a burning desire to see how someone can make the Black Death tedious.

Received via NetGalley.

[Loreleï Loreleï · Rating 2 out of 5]

A difficult read: the story was flat, slow, and monotonous, never really taking off, to the point that I struggled to finish the book.

It contains strong representations of misogyny, racism, and the plague, but without managing to fully engage me.

On the other hand, I recognize its aesthetic quality: the cover and the full-page illustrations between chapters are very well done. Despite this, unfortunately, the whole thing didn't win me over.

[Noah H-I · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

I’d give this one 3 out of 5 stars. The illustrations were really good and the overall concept caught my attention, but the story itself didn’t fully deliver for me. There was way too much dialogue for a graphic novel, which slowed things down and made it less engaging. The constant jumps between the present and past were also confusing and pulled me out of the flow of the story.


Interesting idea, solid art, but the execution just wasn’t as strong as I hoped.

[Plague Rat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new here. The art style was okay but many characters look very similar and it was hard to tell them apart. The plot was very unoriginal? No surprises in store. I think the story would have been better told as a novel, there was too much needed to really flesh out the world in Six issues, or it needed to focus on the pale knight instead of the excessive number of side characters.

Overall disappointed in this one, and likely won’t be recommending it.

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review