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Long Walk to Valhalla
What's to At Archaia, we are constantly on the lookout for that next special story that moves us, so when Long Walk to Valhalla crossed our path, we knew we had something special. This stunning debut graphic novel from writer Adam Smith and artist Matthew Fox (UFOlogy) weaves a lyrical Southern fable exploring loss, family, and what it means to truly come home. Great for fans of Blankets, Fun Home, and I Kill Giants.
What It There are many things that Rory would like to forget about his childhood growing up in rural Arkansas. Sometimes, he'd even like to forget about Joe, his mentally challenged older brother, both his closest friend and biggest problem. But when a young girl named Sylvia shows up, claiming to be a Valkyrie sent by the Norse god Odin to deliver Rory to Valhalla, he will have to face the past he's tried to lock away.
"The art is stunning and the storytelling is so refined and delicated..." - Literati Press Comics & Novels
What It There are many things that Rory would like to forget about his childhood growing up in rural Arkansas. Sometimes, he'd even like to forget about Joe, his mentally challenged older brother, both his closest friend and biggest problem. But when a young girl named Sylvia shows up, claiming to be a Valkyrie sent by the Norse god Odin to deliver Rory to Valhalla, he will have to face the past he's tried to lock away.
"The art is stunning and the storytelling is so refined and delicated..." - Literati Press Comics & Novels
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 14, 2015
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653 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
July 24, 2019
Long Walk to Valhalla is a debut graphic novel by writer Adam Smith and artist Matthew Fox that would see to owe its style in part to Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole, Come Again) and maybe also Powell’s focus on anguished youth needing to face their pasts. There’s a hint of Lenny and George from Of Mice and Men, too, as Rory needs to shepherd his “mentally challenged” older brother Joe through life, navigating bullies and an abusive father.
But this is the South with its share of the supernatural, and Joe has visions others don’t have, some of beauty, including crazy creatures that make him smile (I have an autistic son, non-verbal, who seems to smile a lot at his own visions, so I felt a personal connection here), and some, when he experiences ugliness, that are nightmarish and scary.
Rory seems ready to finally leave his rural Arkansas town. Enter Sylvia, from another supernatural dimension, a young Valkrie sent from Odin to take Rory to Valhalla. Before that can happen, Sylvia forces Rory to have his own visions of his difficult past, including an experience of an ex-friend and ex-girlfriend getting pregnant.
A couple shifts happen in the end, one I wasn’t sure about involving Joe, but the suggestion is that Rory is now able to face life rather than run away from it. 3.5, bumped up to 4 for the debut.
But this is the South with its share of the supernatural, and Joe has visions others don’t have, some of beauty, including crazy creatures that make him smile (I have an autistic son, non-verbal, who seems to smile a lot at his own visions, so I felt a personal connection here), and some, when he experiences ugliness, that are nightmarish and scary.
Rory seems ready to finally leave his rural Arkansas town. Enter Sylvia, from another supernatural dimension, a young Valkrie sent from Odin to take Rory to Valhalla. Before that can happen, Sylvia forces Rory to have his own visions of his difficult past, including an experience of an ex-friend and ex-girlfriend getting pregnant.
A couple shifts happen in the end, one I wasn’t sure about involving Joe, but the suggestion is that Rory is now able to face life rather than run away from it. 3.5, bumped up to 4 for the debut.
December 29, 2021
A quite good Southern Gothic graphic novel for a debut. Rory comes across a young girl who claims to be a valkyrie after his car breaks down. They proceed on a trip down memory lane while walking through the fields and woods of Arkansas. Rory's a small town kid with a mentally ill brother and a deadbeat father. He confronts his past for the first time with some mistakes he has made before the valkyrie says she'll take him to Valhalla. A quite good slice of life style book full of emotion and regret.
May 19, 2016
Ένα σκοτεινό και ταυτόχρονα όμορφο graphic novel για την τελευταία μέρα ενός ανθρώπου. Ο συνδυασμός δράματος και φαντασίας γίνεται με εξαιρετικό τρόπο ενώ και το σχέδιο καταφέρνει να σε βάλει ακόμα περισσότερο μέσα στην ιστορία.
April 4, 2017
Interesting, but for a standalone it didn't really have a sense of completion.
May 22, 2016
4.5 stars but since this is debut both for writer and illustrator I am going to tip it towards 5.
When Rory's car breaks down he meets young girl claiming to be Valkyrie and together they begin long walk down the memory lane through Rory's life.Story is very well written and meshes well with Illustrations and creates bleak and surreal atmosphere.
Maybe not my top 5 but this graphic novel has grown to my hearth.Definitive recommendation.
When Rory's car breaks down he meets young girl claiming to be Valkyrie and together they begin long walk down the memory lane through Rory's life.Story is very well written and meshes well with Illustrations and creates bleak and surreal atmosphere.
Maybe not my top 5 but this graphic novel has grown to my hearth.Definitive recommendation.
November 22, 2020
A sweet, sad story of a hard life woven through with Norse myth. The artwork is raw and has minimal colour work, which really just works with the story. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending though, maybe I need to think on it some more.
January 18, 2016
Why I read this: The creators are local and I like to support my KC peeps. Also, the art is black, white, and blue. Unique art always draws me in.
I honestly had no expectations going into this. I didn’t know what the story was about. I just thought the art was cool and the dudes who created it were super nice.
What I thought: I didn’t know that at the end of the book I would calmly put the book down, walk into the other room and not just cry but weep. It was a big, ugly cry. I couldn’t even figure out why. I still don’t know why I had that reaction. What I do know is the book is profoundly honest. I felt a real connection. I cared about the characters as I would for living, breathing people.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it in the classical sense of the word, but I felt deeply connected with this characters. The setting of a rural town in Arkansas was perfect for “the pretty things”. It was also appropriate to set the tone of this well thought out story that has a touch of supernatural elements to it.
I highly recommend this to people that like comics with solid story lines and beautiful art. I want people to read this for two reasons. One, because it’s awesome. Two, I want to know if you cry like a baby.
I honestly had no expectations going into this. I didn’t know what the story was about. I just thought the art was cool and the dudes who created it were super nice.
What I thought: I didn’t know that at the end of the book I would calmly put the book down, walk into the other room and not just cry but weep. It was a big, ugly cry. I couldn’t even figure out why. I still don’t know why I had that reaction. What I do know is the book is profoundly honest. I felt a real connection. I cared about the characters as I would for living, breathing people.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it in the classical sense of the word, but I felt deeply connected with this characters. The setting of a rural town in Arkansas was perfect for “the pretty things”. It was also appropriate to set the tone of this well thought out story that has a touch of supernatural elements to it.
I highly recommend this to people that like comics with solid story lines and beautiful art. I want people to read this for two reasons. One, because it’s awesome. Two, I want to know if you cry like a baby.
December 19, 2021
I'm not quite sure what was implied in the last few pages, but overall this was a beautiful story about self reflection and chosen family. Fans of I Kill Giants would like this, like I did.
According to the bio in the back, this was the artist's first published work. I was drawn in as much by the art as by the story. The simple color palette worked well for this book.
According to the bio in the back, this was the artist's first published work. I was drawn in as much by the art as by the story. The simple color palette worked well for this book.
September 22, 2016
3.5-4 There are things I really liked, and things I really didn't, but would still recommend. This is a strange, very unique graphic novel, and what it lacks in showiness, it makes up for in uniqueness.
May 17, 2016
What an excellent story! Very well told. The art and color scheme sets the tone well. Impressive.
July 16, 2016
I only wish it had been in color. I interpreted this book as an allegory of mental illness, how others unseen monsters shape their lives.
August 13, 2024
A little girl decked out in armor made of cardboard and duct tape tells Rory that she's a Valkyrie sent by Odin to deliver him to Valhalla.
A beautifully told series of vignettes depicting Rory's poverty wracked childhood and his calm determination to protect his strange brother from cruel children and their meth-addled bully of a father. One understands why the Valkyrie would choose him despite him mostly getting his ass kicked.
LWtV kind of loses the thread in its late chapters though; it had the makings of a classic in the vein of Jeff Lemire's Essex County.
A beautifully told series of vignettes depicting Rory's poverty wracked childhood and his calm determination to protect his strange brother from cruel children and their meth-addled bully of a father. One understands why the Valkyrie would choose him despite him mostly getting his ass kicked.
LWtV kind of loses the thread in its late chapters though; it had the makings of a classic in the vein of Jeff Lemire's Essex County.
May 4, 2016
This is a very quiet book. It's not flashy or trying hard to impress or anything. It's quiet and competent and confident. Set in rural Arkansas, it's about Rory, a young man who meets up with a young girl, Sylvia. She claims to be a valkyrie sent to deliver Rory to Valhalla, but he must confront his past first. Sometimes, our battles aren't the obvious ones ... There's a bit of magic realism to this story. The artwork, by Matthew Fox, is lovely. His style seems like a cross between Paul Pope and Scott McCloud. For a debut graphic novel, this is some impressive work. In the end, while it's well done and all, something about it just doesn't grab me. I can't really point to any one thing and say, "This doesn't work for me." The cliche of having the silent character talk at an appropriately dramatic moment has been done to death, but that's not really a problem. It certainly works for this story. Just something about it feels a little slight, a little too quiet. It's definitely good work, possibly even excellent work. But I just have this feeling that, in a week or so, I will have forgotten all about it.
July 20, 2015
This graphic novel was apprently the first for both the writer and illustrator, although it looked as though they had been drawing and writing unpublished books for as long as they could remember (from childhood). Well put together. Just the bit of, is this real, or is this fantasy. Seemingly normal Arkansas town, normal life, but the older brother can "see" the unseen. Does that make him stupid, crazy, or is he seeing what is really there, and does it matter?
It is a quick read, quick investment in the authors' world. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
It is a quick read, quick investment in the authors' world. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
July 16, 2015
Beautiful art work.
May 29, 2016
Wow, that was amazing. I really wish that I had read it soon enough to nominate it for Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
May 3, 2018
3.5 stars. An interesting and well-drawn stand-alone on the meaning of heroism (or rather, what makes a warrior) with a quirky, young-appearing valkyrie & a post-adolescent young man who had faced (and perhaps never truly overcome) a youth of abusive parenting, the prevalence of drugs and poverty, and the constant defense of his mentally-special older brother. It's kind of a downer, in that this kid really never caught a break and it maybe broke him. But it's also a lovely picture of hope in the midst of bleakness.
August 3, 2015
I don't have the correct words to explain how I feel about this book but I'll try. To me, this book felt like a Bryan Lee O'Malley book. Sometimes while reading Scott Pilgrim I am awed at how much can be explained and portrayed with so few words said. There's a clean, majesty to it leaving the reader satisfied.
January 15, 2020
I liked the parts of this story that I could follow, but I could have used a bit more explanation at times. The artist did a good job of capturing the essence of the lives of the “bunch of damn hillbillies” on whom the story is based.
October 30, 2020
The artwork in this graphic novel is stunning, but the story seemed to be in clips and left a lot for the reader to try to figure out. I would've loved a bit more detail to make sure I was getting the plot right.
February 14, 2021
Not bad, but if you're looking for a magical realism story about the tragedies of life, I Kill Giants does it better.
December 29, 2021
Combining Norse mythology with the Deep South is a really interesting choice - Sylvia's opening lines were among the most compelling, and funniest, of the book. But like others have mentioned, while Fox's art was melancholy and beautiful, I had issues with the dialogue and pacing, and wanted to feel more invested in Rory. As Canavan described, I was a bit unnerved by the symbology between the 'pretty things' and Joe's mental illness (if he had one), when Sylvia showed Rory that they're real. The 'pretty things' themselves didn't seem connected to Norse mythology at all (as far as I know), which also threw me a bit.
I know some folks may not agree with me here, but it seemed to me that all the women in the story (especially those who die) only serve to further the narrative of the male protagonists, especially Pearl and Katie, and even Rory and Joe's mother, but also Sylvia to some extent. It's telling that the book ends with Rory, and not with Sylvia resuming her Valkyrie duties - we don't see her story continue beyond Rory and Joe, nor does she really have an arc. I'm of course not saying that male protagonists are "bad," but it also frustrates me when women characters are used this way.
While this wasn't a favorite it's still a strong debut from Smith and Fox. It would be cool if this became the first volume of an anthology series, focusing on Sylvia's role as Valkyrie in the Deep South. It would give us a chance to focus more on Sylvia and flesh out how mythology works in this world a bit more.
I know some folks may not agree with me here, but it seemed to me that all the women in the story (especially those who die) only serve to further the narrative of the male protagonists, especially Pearl and Katie, and even Rory and Joe's mother, but also Sylvia to some extent. It's telling that the book ends with Rory, and not with Sylvia resuming her Valkyrie duties - we don't see her story continue beyond Rory and Joe, nor does she really have an arc. I'm of course not saying that male protagonists are "bad," but it also frustrates me when women characters are used this way.
While this wasn't a favorite it's still a strong debut from Smith and Fox. It would be cool if this became the first volume of an anthology series, focusing on Sylvia's role as Valkyrie in the Deep South. It would give us a chance to focus more on Sylvia and flesh out how mythology works in this world a bit more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2019
This graphic novel moved me to tears. It has been awhile since I have actually cried at something, but this was gut-wrenching in parts. Yes, there is a bit of a "what the heck is going on" feel to it, but overall I enjoyed it. It is very otherworldly in nature and makes one question their own life, if you get the overall message. It took me some time, so don't feel bad if it doesn't immediately hit you. The artwork also adds a richness to the narrative. I don't think this could have been anything but a masterful graphic novel. It would have failed as a regular novel. I wish I could do this particular graphic novel justice, but I know I cannot. I recommend reading it and forming your own bond with it. Find out if it is something you enjoy. If it is, I believe you will be changed for the better from the experience.
December 27, 2021
I love the concept of this story, it has all the right ideas.
Unfortunately I just don’t feel the dialogue or pacing was executed well and felt there was a lot of missed opportunities to use the Pretty Things to drive the emotions/symbology more, making it a bit more engaging. The tone just felt quiet and impersonal, which lead me to not feeling emotionally invested when truth bombs were dropped.
The art is absolutely stunning. Mathew Fox’s use of perspective to move my eyes forward to the next panel and his sequential story boarding was flawless.
The use of monochromatic colouring as well gave this graphic novel a beautiful memorably tone as well.
As a read, I would recommend. But due to the monotone pace and wanting just a bit more world development, I feel it will get lost in the aether of my terrible memory to remember to recommend in the first place.
Unfortunately I just don’t feel the dialogue or pacing was executed well and felt there was a lot of missed opportunities to use the Pretty Things to drive the emotions/symbology more, making it a bit more engaging. The tone just felt quiet and impersonal, which lead me to not feeling emotionally invested when truth bombs were dropped.
The art is absolutely stunning. Mathew Fox’s use of perspective to move my eyes forward to the next panel and his sequential story boarding was flawless.
The use of monochromatic colouring as well gave this graphic novel a beautiful memorably tone as well.
As a read, I would recommend. But due to the monotone pace and wanting just a bit more world development, I feel it will get lost in the aether of my terrible memory to remember to recommend in the first place.
June 23, 2019
A smart, emotional debut from Smith and Fox that tugs at the heartstrings. Long Walk to Valhalla is a black and white supernatural thriller about a man named Rory, who returns to his hometown only to discover a strange young girl who says she's going to take him to Valhalla, as his time to die has come. Sylvia knows a whole lot about Rory's life, including how his mentally challenged brother named Joe sees "the Things." Throughout the story we get flashbacks to their earlier life, with the goal being Rory's catharsis. The art is quite pretty, and the unique style sets it apart from other graphic novels in this genre. Overall it's a solid 4.5 stars, and is an impressive debut from this duo.
January 30, 2018
A somber, simultaneously heart-warming and sad tale of a man who, while traveling back to his hometown, gets stranded on the side of the road after his car breaks down. He then meets a young girl who claims to be a Valkyrie and that he is going to die that day, and she takes him on a journey through his past to show him that he is worthy of going to Valhalla.
January 12, 2022
This was absolutely delightful, poignant, and bittersweet. A quiet melancholic rumination with stunning black, white, and blue art that perfectly captures the mood.
If you're looking for a different spin on Norse mythology, I highly recommend this! Will be looking for more work by this author and artist now!
If you're looking for a different spin on Norse mythology, I highly recommend this! Will be looking for more work by this author and artist now!
December 6, 2020
Not entirely sure what I just read but I’m not crying... honest!
This was amazing and I want more, I also may have to read it again just to wrap my head around it.
This was amazing and I want more, I also may have to read it again just to wrap my head around it.
February 9, 2024
A journey with a rag tag valkyrie through a history of pain and disappointment. The mystical is only lightly touched during the story.
December 19, 2021
Overall not bad, but the ambiguity of reality in the ending left me feeling a little weird about the story overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews