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Hound #1-3
Hound
In 50 BCE, Morrigan, the goddess of war, has become restless as a long-lasting peace settles over Ireland.
Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward. After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan--The Hound of Cullan. As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him . . . and a great darkness. When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword, Morrigan, angry at the betrayal, instigates an invasion of his homeland and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself to keep the goddess at bay.
This exciting, ancient tale is retold for a contemporary audience by master storytellers Paul J. Bolger (Cool World, The Land Before Time, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!), Barry Devlin (Horslips: The Táin, U2: Making of Rattle & Hum, A Man of No Importance), and Dee Cunniffe (The Paybacks, Redneck).
Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward. After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan--The Hound of Cullan. As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him . . . and a great darkness. When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword, Morrigan, angry at the betrayal, instigates an invasion of his homeland and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself to keep the goddess at bay.
This exciting, ancient tale is retold for a contemporary audience by master storytellers Paul J. Bolger (Cool World, The Land Before Time, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!), Barry Devlin (Horslips: The Táin, U2: Making of Rattle & Hum, A Man of No Importance), and Dee Cunniffe (The Paybacks, Redneck).
504 pages, Hardcover
Published April 5, 2022
3 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 21, 2022
Loved this one. Great retelling of an often ignored myth. Art was very interesting, especially when you delved into the darker or mystic elements of the story. It was overall interesting, fun, and has a great aesthetic.
My only gripe is that it had some grammatical issues that should have been caught. Otherwise the writing was serviceable.
My only gripe is that it had some grammatical issues that should have been caught. Otherwise the writing was serviceable.
January 6, 2025
Can't say anything about the myth itself, how accurate (or not) this adaptation might be to the events as they unfolded, unfamiliar with the source material as I am. But the writing is simplistic and the story beats don't land. The art was fine, at least.
March 28, 2024
The art style was interesting (black and white, with red color to highlight certain characters and events), but the writing didn't manage to truly convey the story.
It's a story inspired by Irish myths, about the goddess of war and the man she chosses to be her hound, the one who will spread war in her name, and what happens when he wants to lead a different life. It's tragic, but the writing wasn't to my taste
It's a story inspired by Irish myths, about the goddess of war and the man she chosses to be her hound, the one who will spread war in her name, and what happens when he wants to lead a different life. It's tragic, but the writing wasn't to my taste
September 19, 2022
Not that great.
It's a retelling of an Irish myth that I am unfamiliar with. Cu Cullen, the hero is touched by the goddess of war as a baby and struggles with her whispering and meddling his entire life.
The main problem is that the story is frequently inconsistent. Cu is an innocent who never bothered with women until he falls in love with the king's fiancé, but while exiled has a random hook-up with a warrior woman who twice tried to kill him.
He spends years training to win a super special god-killer spear, then leaves it sitting at home for 50 pages while he kills people with a field hockey stick.
I didn't like the art. Black and white can work, but I thought the level of detail wasn't what it should have been.
It's a retelling of an Irish myth that I am unfamiliar with. Cu Cullen, the hero is touched by the goddess of war as a baby and struggles with her whispering and meddling his entire life.
The main problem is that the story is frequently inconsistent. Cu is an innocent who never bothered with women until he falls in love with the king's fiancé, but while exiled has a random hook-up with a warrior woman who twice tried to kill him.
He spends years training to win a super special god-killer spear, then leaves it sitting at home for 50 pages while he kills people with a field hockey stick.
I didn't like the art. Black and white can work, but I thought the level of detail wasn't what it should have been.
May 13, 2022
5 stars for the artwork, which is beautiful and not unlike a rendition of Celtic myth done by 300-era Frank Miller, but the writing, while serviceable, is not up to the imagery.
February 14, 2024
Very interesting story, I had a good time reading it. Based on a little googling, it seems rather faithful to the Irish mythology, though I'm sure there are many variations of this legend.
I think the dialogues could have been a bit more refined, bringing more substance to the events described.
I'm not saying it should have been dialogue-heavy as From Hell, but I felt the pages were turning too fast.
In my opinion, as opposed to other graphic novels (Habib, Amerocan Gods, The Sculptor, to name a few), the illustrations are not as enticing not detailed; so, with little dialogue, I found myself going through this very fast and not enjoying it as much.
Good, but could have been better.
I think the dialogues could have been a bit more refined, bringing more substance to the events described.
I'm not saying it should have been dialogue-heavy as From Hell, but I felt the pages were turning too fast.
In my opinion, as opposed to other graphic novels (Habib, Amerocan Gods, The Sculptor, to name a few), the illustrations are not as enticing not detailed; so, with little dialogue, I found myself going through this very fast and not enjoying it as much.
Good, but could have been better.
May 5, 2022
Crisp clean black and white artwork. Nice bit of Mythical Irish history. Good read.
August 31, 2022
Well that was wicked.
September 14, 2022
A very good read. Has a very nice vibe. Stellar artwork. A cool myth I'd never read about before. Definitely worth a look
April 26, 2024
The story of Cú Chulainn , the Irish warrior demigod who loves field hockey and hates killing his friends (but did it anyway). Needed more jokes.
January 2, 2025
Gorgeous artwork and an ancient story of a flawed hero - truly nothing more I could wish for.
December 17, 2024
A solid enough retelling, not as much accurate as I'd hoped. Though I've only read Lady Gregory's adaptation of the Táin Bó Cúailnge rather than Kinsella's or Carson's so perhaps this is more influenced by those. EDIT: I'm reading Kinsella's The Táin now, and it's a much more obvious source for this adaptation. Definitely accurate now, my apologies. Changed from 2 stars to 3.
Art style is unique in most parts but not all. There's a lot of secondary characters that I could barely tell apart from one another. The writing is very immature but the art is mature, leading to this bizarre clash on every page as I went through this from start to end in one sitting.
Art style is unique in most parts but not all. There's a lot of secondary characters that I could barely tell apart from one another. The writing is very immature but the art is mature, leading to this bizarre clash on every page as I went through this from start to end in one sitting.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews