The Mercenary: 1. The Cult of the Sacred Fire

El Mercenario #1

by Vicente Segrelles

This book is specially designed in Amazon's fixed-layout KF8 format with region magnification. Double-tap on an area of text to zoom and read.

This 40th anniversary edition features better reproductions than ever and all-new scans of the original paintings overseen by the master himself, presented in handsome, large, quarterbound collectors editions. In a lost and long forgotten valley high up in the mountains, The Mercenary has been contracted to save a woman from the mysterious and powerful Cult of the Sacred Fire. Each volume is complemented with articles at the back about the history and the making of this series over its gloried, decades-long history.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels Comics, Sequential Art, Adventure

64 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Nacido durante la posguerra española, su infancia transcurrió en Barcelona, influida por la afición de su padre a la pintura y los inventos y el trabajo de su tío José Segrelles como ilustrador y acuarelista de prestigio internacional, lo que le inclinó a practicar su pasión innata por el dibujo, afición compartida también por su primo Eustaquio Segrelles.

A los 14 años entró en la escuela de ENASA en Barcelona, orientada a la formación en el dibujo técnico donde obtuvo conocimientos sobre mecánica y materiales, influencia que se aprecia en su trabajo. A los 17 años se trasladó al departamento de publicaciones técnicas de ENASA, si bien siguió interesado en el dibujo artístico experimentando con diversas técnicas como óleo, gouache, tinta china, etc. Hacia 1960 se puso en contacto por primera vez con el mundo de la ilustración artística a través de la editorial Afha para la que ilustró La Ilíada y La Odisea.

Con 23 años deja ENASA y gracias a un anuncio en la prensa comienza a trabajar en Ruescas McCann Erikson, una agencia de publicidad de Barcelona como especialista en figura y color. Un año después se desplaza a otra agencia en Zaragoza como jefe de diseño. Vive en Zaragoza varios años donde se casa y nace la primera de sus dos hijas.

En 1968 contacta con editorial Bruguera donde ilustra varias colecciones de cromos de grán éxito así como varios libros. En 1969 inicia una colaboración para la agencia artística Selecciones Ilustradas dibujando una serie de ilustraciones de armas del oeste americano. Hacia 1970 decide abandonar definitivamente la publicidad para dedicarse de lleno a la ilustración. Retoma su colaboración con editorial Afha ilustrando varios libros de referencia sobre temas por los que siente grán interés; inventos, armas, aviones, barcos, etc, además escribe él mismo algunos de ellos.

Dado que la mayor parte de la industria editorial reside en Barcelona, en 1974 se traslada a la costa cerca de la capital catalana, lugar donde nació su segunda hija y donde aún reside. Entre 1976 y 1977 colabora con la revista Interviú realizando ilustraciones en blanco y negro para unos 30 números. Simultáneamente, a través de Selecciones Ilustradas y luego de Norma Editorial continúa su labor como ilustrador de portadas de libros especializándose en fantasía y ciencia ficción, si bien pintó portadas sobre distintos temas como guerra, policíacos y terror. Durante esa época se introduce en el competitivo mercado norteamericano dibujando ilustraciones y portadas para algunas de las mejores editoriales de este país.

En 1980 comienza la elaboración de El Mercenario, el comic que le ha dado fama mundial y que es su obra maestra. Poco a poco va dedicando más tiempo a esta actividad hasta que a comienzos de los 90 abandona completamente su trabajo como ilustrador de portadas para dedicarse por completo a la historieta. Sin embargo, en 1991, cansado de la laboriosa técnica de pintura al óleo de El Mercenario, decidió abordar un proyecto más espontáneo y ágil usando la caricatura cómica con dos volúmenes de un nuevo personaje, Sheriff Pat.

En 1999 publica Cómo Pinta Vicente Segrelles, un manual de dibujo ampliamente ilustrado donde explica sus técnicas y secretos.

En 2004 publica en Ediciones B un cuento para niños, El Agua Mágica, así como una reedición de la serie de El mercenario.

Segrelles es aficionado a la construcción de maquetas, la escultura y la pintura, sobre todo de temas marinos.
(Texto extraído de Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mercenary, written and drawn by Vicente Segrelles, is indisputably the best comic series I'd read so far. The illustrations were beautifully drawn by Segrelles and I was really mesmerized on how stunning they were. It was like looking into oil paintings because that's how they appear.


Segrelles' almost five decades of experience as an illustrator makes him a living legend. I only have high praises for this man because of how great he really is. And this comic series of his is a classic because not only that it was first published on 1981, but because of its outstanding content that makes it what it is.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mercenary has been contracted to save a woman from the mysterious and powerful Cult of the Sacred Fire. She’s hanging off a cliff, naked, hung by rope. Woman in peril,yes, again and again. And naked, did I tell you that? 2/3 of the time in this book women wear no clothes. Apparently it never gets cold in this world. Or the clothes only fit men. But it is Vargas-like (Playboy artist; I think I heard of him) nudity, air-brushed, classically nude. Okay, occasionally you see a guy without a shirt, too. Just so he can say he promotes some approach to equality. ☺ But this kind of art does not interest Segrelles. He's a classical painter of female nudes! Think: Art history! History's on his side!

Segrelles explains: “To me, as a painter, it is fascinating to paint female nudes.” Oh, yeah?! Really? Like on every page. And sometimes in chains. Or wearing only a scarf behind a Conan-ish guy on a flying dragon. Segrelles is a classic illustrator who says he was restricted in the prudish U.S. pubs from drawing full nudes, but today we can see them in all their intended glory. Freedom!

This is really most of what you need to know about this 40th anniversary release of the Spanish illustrator’s historical fantasy, complete with swordplay. I’m joking around, obviously. I have no objection to the nekid ladies. Yes, perfectly lovely. But it feels almost chaste, in a way. It feels static, not lively, and not particularly prurient, but perfectly fine for period historical fantasy, so I think a lot of people might enjoy it. But the unabashed sexism feels dated, especially in our current kick-ass-girl period of comics. These fainting passive perfectly sculpted girls seem sort of sad to me. Okay, pretty, beautifully drawn, but empty. A kind of commentary on history and painting.

Oh, there's a story here that I seem to have forgotten. Oh, well, who cares. Segrelles is an artist, not a storyteller.

Each volume is complemented with articles at the back about the history and the making of this series over its gloried, decades-long history.

PS Will I read the second volume? Of course, I'm a comics scholar! :)

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the best looking comics from the 80s Heavy Metal comics I've been reading. The story isn't much to write home about, but it is a pretty cool world. Most would be sticking around for the fantasy artwork. The afterword explains how Vicente Segrelles was living in Spain during the shift to democracy and a work like this, with nudity etc, was not only allowed now but embraced.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Frank Frazetta created a comic, it would probably look like this. The art has that classic Conan painted cover feel to it. The stories are kind of the same and the book feels a little too damsel in distress-y.

Received a review copy from nbm and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give this one four stars for art and setting, but only 2 for story. That leaves me with a 3, and since I'm far more interested in story than in art, I don't imagine I'll be reading any further in this series. Since the book was originally written in Spanish by Segrelles, and was translated into English, it's possible the original writing is much better. One line that particularly threw me out early in the story was when the dragon the warrior is riding is wounded and falling, the man says, "If she dies now, we're toast." That made me laugh, and not in a good way. Even leaving the actual writing out of it, the story itself is kind of redundant and the warrior-hero doesn't seem to have much depth of personality. If you want to spend time looking at the art then this book might be for you, but the tale that's woven here is not very strong in my opinion.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragones montados por guerreros, mujeres hermosas, un valle cubierto de una capa de nubes indivisibles en las que se encuentran grandes ciudades y montañas con puntas como cuchillos. Tengo mil ganas de seguir con la continuación de esta saga, por el momento tiene todos los ingredientes para convertirse en una de mis nuevas obsesiones.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story is ok, nowadays may feel like big cliche - man hero saves (naked) women in trouble. Today it would be probably teared and condemned by sjw, feminist and similar oversensitive bullshitters. But if you can look ever it, you get pretty good story in interesting fantasy world, where two civilizations are living. One over, one under the clouds, not knowing about each other. All that, in amazing hand painted art. First album is pretty shor, and shows only glimpses pf the world and story, so I'm looking forward how it all evolves.

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somebody posted an illustration from this on a Sword & Sorcery board - As it looked a bit like something from John Norman's Gor I decided to investigate futher and found that rather than being a novel cover, it was in fact an illustration from this epic erotic fantasy series straight out of the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. Why I'd never heard of Vicente Segrelles being a massive fan of fantasy art, or this particular series, considering how many back issues of Heavy Metal I own is a complete mystery - all I can say is a million thanks to the guy who posted the pic.

Indeed this ticks loads of boxes for me - if you like beautiful nudes and stunningly rendered dragons this is the book for you. This particular edition has a lot of bonus content into the creative mind and processes of Segrelles with tonnes of bonus art. I found this fascinating and it made me appreciate the intricacy of his art and the realistic mechanisms of the devices and weapons.

This is a wonderful addition to my European graphic novels collection - I'd love to find the whole series but many of the later volumes are a struggle to find in English. I'll cover as many as I can.

Recommended.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful painted art. Story world is a bit similar to Conan in feel. Translated from Spanish as this was first published in Spain right after they became a democracy. Contains some bare chested women due in part to the new found freedom artists had with their new government (and probably also because Europe tends to have fewer hangups about the human body as art). Had no familiarity with this and per-ordered on a whim.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lovely art. So perhaps if they'd left off the wooden dialog, dressed the women sensibly for the climate (that is, dressed them at all), and bothered to innovate a plot that revolved around more than saving a lusty, spiteful bitch, saving a helpless damsel, and facing off against a cult of murderous women (no, you are not imagining the clutter of convenient stock females), I might have actually enjoyed it.

[Martin Štefko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Série "Žoldnéř" má celkem třináct dílů, takže jsme skutečně jenom na začátku. Jsem docela zvědavý na to, jestli se uchytí natolik, aby vyšla celá. Snad je to jen zavedený strach z toho, že u nás se prostě série nedovydávají. Kniha "Žoldnéř 1: Kult svatého ohně" rozhodně stojí za přečtení, i když co si budeme povídat, je to hlavně proto, jak je malována. Příběh samotný je velmi jednoduchý, což přiznává i autor sám. Ale díky tomu, že o světě, jež zde prezentuje, přemýšlí, začíná ten svět celkem rychle fungovat. Vicente pak sice používá specifickou techniku, ale moc dobře pochopil komiks jako specifické médium a jeho rozfázování pohybu je mnohdy naprosto úchvatné, až se vám oči valí ven. A moc si je pak ani nezandávejte, protože pak vás dostane i velkým panelem. Třeba vynořování balónu z mraků je naprosto neskutečné, to mě až mrazilo. Takže pokud chcete skvěle namalovaný komiks, "Žoldnéř 1: Kult svatého ohně" tohle rozhodně plní. Jen mu trochu odpusťte, že je krátký a dějově ne až tak vymakaný.

[Eamonn Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the hype, ‘The Mercenary 1: The Cult Of The Sacred Fire’ is something of a classic which is why we have this anniversary edition forty years after the first printing. It’s a superior reproduction made from scans of the original paintings and a very lovely book it is, too, with hardcovers and big pages featuring fine pictures. Vincente Segrelles is a talented artist, though I do find his stuff more static than is usual in graphic novels. On the other hand, I’m more familiar with American comics and they probably did things differently in Europe forty years ago.

The setting is around 1000AD in the massive mountainous area of Central Asia, crossed by the Himalayas. A land of legends. Here, tall peaks protrude above the cloud layer and in one remote valley ‘insulated by its exceptional geographic location’, the dinosaurs survived above the clouds and have been tamed by man. Hence, the flying dragons with saddle and rider on the cover. This concept may have been inspired by the plateau in Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’. That plateau, however, was in a hot region of South America, not a cold region of Asia. Oh well.

Vincente Segrelles is an artist and the primary aim of the strip is to provide him with the opportunity to do some nice paintings. The story is episodic because he admits he made it up as he went along. The concepts are as old as Edgar Rice Burroughs but, because it was birthed in Post-Franco Spain, an era of liberation, he was able to draw lots of beautiful topless ladies which he likes. I don’t mind it neither but there’s no real reason for most of them to be baring their breasts. I guess this is another old tradition of fantasy art.

The book reminded me of Jack Kirby’s work, not because of the art which is completely different but for the stilted dialogue. It was translated from the Spanish by Mary McKee, so I’m not sure who to blame. On page 8, imperilled on a wounded ‘dragon’ our hero says: ‘If she dies now, we’re toast.’ On page 21 he says: ‘Alcohol? What a bunch of lushes!’ This is very contemporary slang for a thousand years ago in the Himalayas. Our hero is a bit of a puritan because the first lovely lady he rescues wants to thank him physically and he declines. Naturally, she then tells her husband that he raped her and the plot thickens.

The dialogue is a kind of half-way house between Kirby and James Michener, solid exposition without flair. I would compare this to ‘The Trigan Empire’ hardback editions. You get it for the art. I don’t think Segrelles’ art is as pretty as that of Don Lawrence but it’s accomplished. Bearing in mind the mad price you would have to pay now for ‘The Trigan Empire’, this might be worth buying and saving for your pension plan.

There’s a lot of extra material with more art and an essay by Vincent Segrelles about his life. He’s clearly a fellow who worked hard and earnestly to get on in his chosen profession and I don’t want to denigrate his book but he should have got someone else to do the script, if not the plot. On the other hand, the original was translated into several languages and sold zillions of copies so what do I know?

If I had to sum it up in one word I’d say ‘worthy.’ A good artbook if you want one and no doubt a nice bit of nostalgia if you liked the original but have lost it in the vicissitudes of life.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this, though I feel a bit guilty saying so. The story is pretty basic, but the art is gorgeous. If only the artist didn't feel the need to put so much unnecessary nudity in it. I mean, the naked/topless captives are a bit in bad taste, but are somewhat justifiable in setting; but why do all of the women in the cult of the sacred flame have nothing on under their open-fronted robes except a loincloth or equivalent? Isn't it cold up their in the clouds in their anachronistic hot-air balloon? Also, I could do without the 70's hair, and the apparent perms most of the women appear to have.

Still, there is something to be said for oil-painting (yes, you can imitate its effects with digital painting, but it is so rarely done). And I enjoyed the biographical and making-of information in the back of this book. The artist does a good job of presenting things realistically, for the most part (the main character really should have something under his armor, both because of the elevation, and because bare metal on skin must be uncomfortable (yes, when the armor is shown in detail it appears to have some sort of built-in padding, but that is both unrealistic, and would provide little protection from pinching from the flexing of the segmented armor)). Also, I laugh at the complete ignorance of geological time that would allow the claim that a small pocket of the world allowed some dinosaurs to survive the ice age (the most recent mere thousands of years ago, versus the millions since the end Cretaceous) that killed the others (I will grant that in the 70's the cause of the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs remained a mystery, but the time scale is still completely whack). Compared to that, it hardly seems worth noting that the "dragons" are clearly derived from pterosaurs, which were not, in fact, dinosaurs; but they also didn't have the heads of tuataras, so whatever. And why even have to justify the setting as belonging on Earth? And given that, and having a setting in some remote part of the Himalayas, why are all the characters clearly Euorpean in appearance?

Anyway, it is not a book that I would necessarily seek out (as with so many other things I've read, I stumbled across it working at a library), and I certainly wouldn't pay its retail price for it, but if my library system gets more volumes in the series, I will probably read them to see what happens, and to enjoy the marvelous scenery.

[Gigli · Rating 5 out of 5]

»»» A compra:
Tenho alguns dos antigos volumes desta série em capa mole, quando andavam por aí em saldos, mas quebrei algumas das minhas regras financeiras quando decidi apoiar esta excelente edição portuguesa. Este volume foi comprado à editora na Feira do Livro de Lisboa.

»»» A aventura:
Num mundo acima das nuvens o mercenário contratado para salvar a esposa de um governante local segue no seu dragão voador até à prisioneira. Apesar do sucesso da missão ele é traído e acaba por cair de terra firme em direção ao infinito… para lá das profundezas debaixo das nuvens, de onde nunca ninguém voltou.
A sua surpresa de sobreviver à queda e de encontrar outro reino não impedem o mercenário de entrar noutra missão de salvamento, mas um culto formado por misteriosas e sedutoras mulheres vai estar no seu caminho.

»»» Sentimento final:
Espetacular.
Fui criada nos anos 80 e no videoclube os filmes tipo fantasia, bárbaros tipo Conan e ficação-científica eram um “must” e estavam por todo o lado. Este livro, não sendo igual a nada que já vi, lembra-me esses fantásticos mundos fantasiosos.
A arte fora de série do livro apenas eleva a história, porque nos dá criaturas, personagens, locais e engenhos absolutamente fabulosos.
É também um bónus ter um herói masculino, forte e com fibra moral, coisa que lamentavelmente não está na moda nos dias de hoje.
Nota final, claramente o autor é um autor do seu tempo, que nos dá bastante nudez feminina, mas até isso adoro, porque não só é feita de forma elegante, como é algo típico neste tipo de histórias, tal como elas resultavam nos anos 80.

»»» Notas finais:
--- [Capa] – Linda, do desenho com as maravilhosas ilustrações às letra escolhidas para o título.
--- [Ilustrações] – Não são muitas as bandas-desenhadas cuja ilustração assenta em pintura a óleo, mas o resultado é sempre mesmerizante porque tudo parece um quadro. O talento nestas páginas, tanto de traço como de imaginação são de luxo.
--- [Extras] – A editora Ala dos Livro optou por nos presentear com uns extras que nos contam um pouco sobre o autor, o seu processo e as suas influências e eu agradeço imenso, porque até isso me faz amar mais a obra de Segrelles.


»»» Uma espreitadela:

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story in "The Cult of the Sacred Fire" toes a fine line of imaginative storytelling but also relies heavily on sex to sell the story. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but the sheer overuse of nudity borders on hilarity. Segrelles is undoubtedly a talented painter - evoking a similar sensibility to that of Frank Frazetta in his technique and formalisms. And while it's easy to poke fun at the over-indulgence of female nudity in this comic, I can't help but admire the other amazing compositions he creates as well. There are beautiful scenic shots, gnarly monster designs and grandiose fight sequences, though all of these are at times, clumsily interspersed with excess nudity.

It's a fun comic regardless. The story follows a mercenary hired to rescue a local lord's wife from captivity. The rescue goes slightly awry, and the mercenary and the woman end up stranded on a mountain peak for some time. Rejecting her sexual advances, the spurned woman ends up betraying her rescuer to her husband and now the mercenary is on the outs with his employer. The story itself follows an interesting direction, but a lot of this happens with a creative backdrop involving a city that is basically carried by a giant hot air balloon. The designs in the book are remarkable to look at, and even though Segrelles is a fantastic painter with respect to the female form, a lot of the reason why I'll return to his "Mercenary" series is because of the brilliant compositions throughout.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Mercenary #1: The Cult of the Sacred Fire' by Vicente Segrelles is part of a 40th anniversary of the writer/artists work. What I found inside was gorgeous painted art and an unusual fantasy world.

The mercenary is on a job to save a woman being held hostage. She is in a cage, and like many of the women in this work, she is naked. After he saves her, she tries to convince the mercenary not to take her back to her husband, but he does anyway. The husband sensing betrayal casts the mercenary out of his home in the clouds. The mercenary lands in a world below the clouds where another woman is being held hostage.

The story feels like something I would have read in the magazine Heavy Metal. The world building is unusual and unique enough to have held my interest. The artist's work drawing for engine manuals inform such details as the ropes and pulleys holding up a balloon city. In an afterword about the artist, I learned this as well as his thoughts on other designs, like creating 2-legged dragons instead of four. The work was a good read, and the painted pages add to the richness of this strange world.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, let me say, this really is georgously illustrated, with painted art, rather than the usual ink, that is then colored. This volume was first published 40 years ago, just after the Spain became a democracy. (Which most Americans would remember as the Saturday Night Routine about Franco being still dead). One of the things about becoming a democracy, after being a dictatorship is that everything is open, and Spain, not being a Puritan based country, was very, very open to beautiful nudes, as Vicente points out in his afterward.

Yes, the men are men here, fat, fit, bald, young, and old, but all the women are buxom and mostly nude. And when they are not nude, they are as near to nude as you can get, and none of them need bras.

The story is good, once you get past all the women running around with barely anything on, while they are being rescued, or fighting, or just running. The hero is a Conan type, and just goes from fight to fight, but is skilled at what he does.

If you like good sword and scorchey type books, and don't mind women running around half naked, you might enjoy this. It isn't sexist, and the women aren't stupid, just clothless.



Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Paulo Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

(PT) Há a banda decsenhada, e há arte. E Os livros da série "O Mercenário", do catalão Vincent Segrelles são arte. Pintados a óleo, é uma mistura de pintura com uma história de banda desenhada e fantasia, um pouco a pensar em Corto Maltese - é um mercenário, logo, é um anti-herói solitário - rodeado de mulheres onde se exala sensualidade e erotismo.

"O Fogo Sagrado" tem uma mistura de "Mil e Uma Noites", que começa com o resgate de uma mulher, que tenta seduzir o Mercenário, mas que falha. Para se vingar, tenta dizer que tinha sido violada por ele. Este foge para debaixo das núvens, onde vai ter com um povo que não conhecia e lhe conta que uma das mulheres tinha sido feita refém, onde se exigia um tributo para manter "o fogo sagrado", que não é mais do que um balão de ar quente. Um gigantesco balão de ar quente.

Quase 40 anos depois da sua publicação, os álbuns de "O Mercenário" tornaram-se clássicos da banda desenhada, belas ilustrações de algo que nos faz despertar os sentidos. E de facto, é grandioso e fantástico.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

As suspected, this is wonderful to look at, and less so to read. It harks back to the naive fantasy of the 1960s and 1970s, where the hero cannot do anything but stumble upon, and break the hearts of, lovely naked women all the time. Our hero here gets to engage with three such ladies, who have different fates at this author's hands, but it's the weird, liminal, ephemeral world where everyone lives that will stick in the mind. Here are valleys of dragon-riders in cities above the clouds, and here floating cities populated by all-female cults, and so on. And as intriguing as all that may sound, it's still a bit cheesy to the modern reader - a cheesiness which is heightened by the hero having the hairstyle of a 1970s accountant, for some reason. I don't know if I'd come back for more issues of the same - the stories have only their pulpiness to offer; but that artwork does act as a compelling, five-star-worthy selling-point.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

En su momento, cuando apareció en las páginas de Cimoc, nos dejó a todos con la boca abierta. Ese universo de etéreos dragones voladores, sumido en las nubes y en un mar infinito, con esa calidad de pintura (el autor pintaba los cuadros ¡al óleo!) era cautivador.
Es cierto que como historieta podía resultar algo estática, como aquellas historias de Harold Foster, pero esas viñetas con un color increíble eran un lujo a la vista.
La trama tiene sus altibajos, y en la mayor parte sólo sirve de excusa para que el autor de rienda suelta a su particular imaginario en el que combina también mitos griegos, paisajes árabes, viñetas egipcias... La historia nunca fue lo importante.
Muchos años después de la primera vez que lo leí puedo leer completa la saga, gracias al acceso que tenemos hoy en día a la información. Y me he seguido maravillando ante algunas de las viñetas que son, esta vez de verdad, auténticos cuadros.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un día, mi madre me contó que uno de nuestros vecinos era dibujante de cómics. Un tal Segrelles, me dijo. No lo conocía, pero tardé poco en comprar uno de sus cómics para que me lo firmara, y me pareció muy interesante. Sus historias mezclan fantasía, caballeros, personajes mitológicos y tecnología, lo cual no está mal para un arte menor como el cómic. Durante la firma aún me quedé más sorprendido cuando nos confesó que, cada viñeta… ¡era un cuadro pintado con caballete y paciencia! Y se nota. Quizás le de a la historia cierta apariencia estática, pero visualmente resulta bonito. Él se marchó de la casa (por cierto, sabed que rompió todos mis moldes prefijados sobre el dibujante de cómics: era viejo, serio y organizado), yo perdí el cómic y la firma, pero guardo el recuerdo de la historia. Bueno.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that are more like wonderful art books than comics as we know it. Level of details and quality of every panel is astounding. Author worked for a long time as an illustrator and artist and it shows. In his own words mere creation of the panels and pages took him so long he was not sure if it would pay off in the end (these were early 1980's and his speed was measured in weeks if not months).

Story itself is pretty straight-forward (author says himself that this was experiment and his first foray into comics) but not that different from your basic sword and sorcery stories (which this would be if not for the truly gorgeous art). This is more treat for your eyes and what a treat it is.

Highly recommended to all who like fine art.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having already made a name for himself as a Frazetta-inspired and Vallejo-contemporary book cover artist, Vincent Segrelles began a comic series in the early 80s that would keep him bust for many years to come. This volume is an English-language reprint of the first chapter of that series, and i many ways, it is a museum of storytelling artifacts better left un-preserved - paper-thin world creation and characterization, wooden dialogue, and more than a little male gaze throughout. But the art *is* exquisitely done, and the pages are fun to check out just to admire the master craft on display. Still, Segrelles probably should have stuck to book covers - his art doesn't work so well for sequential storytelling.

[Salamah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because of the beautiful cover. The artwork in this book is amazing. The detail and quality helped made me think I was watching a movie. I had the feeling I was in another world which made me want to really get into the story. Unfortunately, for me the story fell flat. It was not a bad story but not great either. I felt the dialogue was clipped and the events not fully fleshed out. The mercenary is this great guy that goes around saving people, well mostly women (who for some strange reason are many times naked) and gets caught up in trying to save a bunch of women living in the sky. It was okay.

[Viel Nast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Segrelles not only is a master of medieval-fantasy artwork but created a realistic setting in where he sets his graphic novels. this is a revised edition in hardback thirty years after the first publication with better resolution and many unpublished artworks. a fabulous work in a lost civilization where lizards evolved into flying dragons (no fire-breathing though!). the tale is about a mercenary who undertakes peculiar and dangerous missions. the scenario is unique and the art is beyond description a must have for every fantasy lover.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most enjoyable read. I would put this book on the same plain as Conan or any other science fiction graphic novel (or novel) that draws on a sword and sorcery mileau.

The art is beautfoul here, with pages that almost look like a canvas. Not only that, but the story works well.

As an avid graphic novel reader, I was glad to stumble upon this text. It took me back to my love of stories like Masters of the Universe in all the best ways.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most enjoyable read. I would put this book on the same plain as Conan or any other science fiction graphic novel (or novel) that draws on a sword and sorcery mileau.

The art is beautfoul here, with pages that almost look like a canvas. Not only that, but the story works well.

As an avid graphic novel reader, I was glad to stumble upon this text. It took me back to my love of stories like Masters of the Universe in all the best ways.

[Eli Poteet · Rating 2 out of 5]

i acknowledge this is a reprinting, not a modern comic series. i appreciate the end pages of information about the creator. the history is something to read but all it is is literally his story. theres no reasoning for thr nude female body, no reasoning for the lack of POC, no reasoning for the strange piling of various cultures into a hindsight referenced dino world. the art is gorgeous and clearly of a talented creator. but im not into the bland social constructs perpetuated here.

[Sharly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Descubrí el magnifico mundo de Segrelles cuando era un chiquillo... y ya de mayorcito leí toda su obra. Hoy paseando por Bruselas me he encontrado los dos primeros volúmenes y no lo he dudado.

El guión y el estilo de dibujo al óleo es tremendamente original. He vuelto a mi infancia por unas horas....

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such beautiful illustrations make up for the rather cliche-filled plot about a mercenary hero rescuing beautiful naked women from their tormentors. If the illustrations had been more typical for comic books, I'd probably have given it a single star. But by the end, I did start to feel better disposed to it, so maybe a second star would have been in order.