What do you think?
Rate this book
Viking: The Long Cold Fire
The most violent criminal underworld in history! Finn and Egil, brothers -- one bad, one worse -- are trying to stab and steal their way to a seat at the table. Two men at war with the world around them. But today's the day the world fights back! From the writer of The Cross Bronx comes a crime book for the 9th Century.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 21, 2015
Whoa... where did this come from?!? I've never even heard of Ivan Brandon or Nic Klein, and the concept behind their short-lived Viking series sounds like it should be doomed to fail no matter who the creators are: Viking Age period piece meets not-always-easy-to-decipher painterly artwork meets disjointed organized-crime plot meets random off-the-wall weirdness meets abstract meditation on the medieval mindset meets blood-spattered exploitation... My head is spinning! Yet somehow all the pieces magically fall into place, building a mythical world that feels organic and vital to the point that it virtually jumps off the page – a world that is beautiful, vibrant, frenetic, strange, and bloody nasty all at once. Exciting stuff!
October 19, 2015
It’s viking times and a buncha vikings are sat around eating meat. A coupla vikings rock up and kill some vikings. Smash cut to a family of vikings fishing with a horse’s head. Smash cut to a viking king with his viking daughter. Some bad stuff happens to the viking fishermen, the viking king falls out with his viking daughter. More vikings are slaughtered. That’s about it! The book is called Viking, Volume 1.
Notice I didn’t use any names because I can’t recall any - the characters are that indistinct. They’re written very vaguely so as to all sound the same but they’re also draw similarly too and quite often it’s dark so it’s difficult to make out who’s who. It doesn’t help that characters from one set look similar to another either. The two vikings who kill other vikings at the start - are they the main characters? Does one of them get stabbed to death? What about the viking fisherman who looks like them - does he die or is he alive and teams up with the two vikings? No idea.
And it doesn’t help that no plot emerges until halfway through the book. So writer Ivan Brandon wasted the first half of the book introducing a completely forgettable cast of characters before hurling the plot at the reader - great job! This plot, by the way, only involves about two-thirds of the cast introduced so no idea why we even had to read about those boring fishermen - unless the viking fisherman became part of the viking douches from the start? Yeah, this isn’t confusing. Then again this is optimistically labelled “Volume 1” so maybe the viking fishermen family play a part in later volumes - if they appear that is (this one was published in 2010 and no follow-up has been published since).
Besides the awful character designs, the art is quite pretty - it’s very realistically drawn and looks well-researched. The colouring though is a bit inconsistent and random - let’s have a scene bathed entirely in red! Now yellow! Now back to normal! Now swirly paints! Etc.
Ivan Brandon’s script is just terrible. He fumbles the characters, seems to have no idea what the plot is or where he’s going, and it reads like a jumbled mess of semi-formed ideas. By the time he figured out what he wanted to do - a half-hearted kidnap plot with a moronic romance tossed in because why not? - I’d lost all interest and was looking ahead to see how many pages were left before I could toss this crap aside (thankfully it wasn't many by that point).
If you want to read good viking comics, Brian Wood’s Northlanders series is still the best by far - don’t bother with this hopeless nonsense.
Notice I didn’t use any names because I can’t recall any - the characters are that indistinct. They’re written very vaguely so as to all sound the same but they’re also draw similarly too and quite often it’s dark so it’s difficult to make out who’s who. It doesn’t help that characters from one set look similar to another either. The two vikings who kill other vikings at the start - are they the main characters? Does one of them get stabbed to death? What about the viking fisherman who looks like them - does he die or is he alive and teams up with the two vikings? No idea.
And it doesn’t help that no plot emerges until halfway through the book. So writer Ivan Brandon wasted the first half of the book introducing a completely forgettable cast of characters before hurling the plot at the reader - great job! This plot, by the way, only involves about two-thirds of the cast introduced so no idea why we even had to read about those boring fishermen - unless the viking fisherman became part of the viking douches from the start? Yeah, this isn’t confusing. Then again this is optimistically labelled “Volume 1” so maybe the viking fishermen family play a part in later volumes - if they appear that is (this one was published in 2010 and no follow-up has been published since).
Besides the awful character designs, the art is quite pretty - it’s very realistically drawn and looks well-researched. The colouring though is a bit inconsistent and random - let’s have a scene bathed entirely in red! Now yellow! Now back to normal! Now swirly paints! Etc.
Ivan Brandon’s script is just terrible. He fumbles the characters, seems to have no idea what the plot is or where he’s going, and it reads like a jumbled mess of semi-formed ideas. By the time he figured out what he wanted to do - a half-hearted kidnap plot with a moronic romance tossed in because why not? - I’d lost all interest and was looking ahead to see how many pages were left before I could toss this crap aside (thankfully it wasn't many by that point).
If you want to read good viking comics, Brian Wood’s Northlanders series is still the best by far - don’t bother with this hopeless nonsense.
October 30, 2015
If someone figured what this was about please let me know. Two mean-ass punk vikings kill guys for reasons unknown. Their little brother is killed in return (at least I think so) so they kidnap the king's daughter, a move whose logic kinda eludes me. Or maybe I read it wrong. Don't know, don't care.
It's poorly and cryptically written, with terrible dialogues. The main characters are despicable with no charisma whatsoever so I just can't get interested in whatever happens to them. There should be a vol.2 which apparently never came out. Boo, I'm so sad...
The art saved what little there was to be saved, even though I can't see the point in changing style (inking/painting) every now and then in this kind of story. It's pretty but basically useless. More show-off than really efficient in my opinion, but still nice to see.
It's poorly and cryptically written, with terrible dialogues. The main characters are despicable with no charisma whatsoever so I just can't get interested in whatever happens to them. There should be a vol.2 which apparently never came out. Boo, I'm so sad...
The art saved what little there was to be saved, even though I can't see the point in changing style (inking/painting) every now and then in this kind of story. It's pretty but basically useless. More show-off than really efficient in my opinion, but still nice to see.
October 17, 2014
Wicked book. The art especially stood out. If there's not more of this, WHY?!
September 19, 2017
This is described as a Viking Crime book and it fits. The two main characters are Finn and Egil, both unsavory, and the violence of their world impinges on the lives of the rest of their family. Redemption is perhaps possible for the one, but not the other, for he has traveled too far down a path of outlawry. They make the mistake of crossing an old king that is wily, and in his youth was as hard as they are, if not harder, and he makes them pay for what they have done. For the first half, I was nonplussed by this book, for I have little time for scoundrels and Egil is beyond redemption to me. They get what they deserve. King Bram is easily the best character in this, and if he were given more page time, I would have liked it even better. Graphically I liked the layouts, some of the artwork is superb, but in all the darkness at times it is hard to make out who is who and at times every one looks much alike. The princess is drawn in a style leaning toward manga, which I find off-putting as it doesn't mesh with the aesthetic of the rest of the book. The brief interlude with the princess ends up being handled poorly, and her character, a strong willed woman who wants freedom from King Bram's nine century helicopter-parenting, runs into the arms of the first bad man she finds... Well, I gave it an extra star because I like King Bram, I like Vikings, and there is a kitty, that doesn't die, so there is that. Not exactly the most original book, though it does deal with the consequences of a violent life better than some books, which ignore it, it still manages to get a little cutesy, and to be frank, Egil is not remotely likeable from the beginning. It would have been more effective to see these two at a point where there was some decency in them, and then see their slow fall, then this. They start out bad, and become worse. They suffer some. The story is a set up for more that is never produced. Interesting enough on its own? Maybe. I like the large format of the graphic novel, I enjoyed it enough to finish it. If you really like Vikings and darker stories...it might be for you.
April 7, 2018
Good except i wished there was more violence.
Pros
Nudity, good two pages worth, was not expecting it but thanks
Violence was alright i mean, there could of been tons more
The artwork on the blood + gore was extremely done well.
Cons
Story was confusing, near the end it was better to understand.
Needed a better storyline, like it worked but there could of been a better one
Art was touch and go, too realistic for my liking.
In Conclusion
I was expecting this one to be 5/5 but sadly it just hit 4, bit of disappointed, hope Vol 2 improves.
Pros
Nudity, good two pages worth, was not expecting it but thanks
Violence was alright i mean, there could of been tons more
The artwork on the blood + gore was extremely done well.
Cons
Story was confusing, near the end it was better to understand.
Needed a better storyline, like it worked but there could of been a better one
Art was touch and go, too realistic for my liking.
In Conclusion
I was expecting this one to be 5/5 but sadly it just hit 4, bit of disappointed, hope Vol 2 improves.
June 28, 2011
This opens with a hapless constipated viking inviting his own murder by whining about his nether troubles ("I make sounds, but nothing falls from me"), then explodes into abrupt violence, then cuts randomly to a fierce Shel-Silverstein looking king trying to man up his court. Things go on this way -- one strange/blood-spattered/beautiful scene cutting off another with little continuity -- and you've entered what seems to be a myth, a disjointed tale with obvious importance, wisdom to impart. For example, one scene in a pub features two major characters colored by Klein in more uniform palette as they get drunker, as if they're turning into ghosts, half-real. Similarly, a bear randomly props our heroine up against a tree when she's talking to her dad, the king. The characters fill out with each scene, and the plots inevitably collide -- a kidnapping, a brazen royal kidnapping, makes the plot all Tarantino-crazy, tense and strange, the myth cracking open: "This is not some bardic poem. This is all of us, in a place, all of us free not to do whatever horrible thing we all think is going to happen. We're all of us free, do you understand me? And maybe angry and scared but we're free and we can leave this thing."
I'd like to read into Brandon's plot something modern, like the selfish greed of the two central thieves here, Finn and Egil, capturing and nearly killing with the eternal verities -- the social contract! -- of the King and his daughter. The plot compositions and plot invite this kind of broad exegesis -- but the excitement and strangeness, the nasty vikesploitation violence, the idiots and geniuses reversing roles, that crazy random bear, all of this makes for an exciting and strange comic. One of the best I've ever read.
I'd like to read into Brandon's plot something modern, like the selfish greed of the two central thieves here, Finn and Egil, capturing and nearly killing with the eternal verities -- the social contract! -- of the King and his daughter. The plot compositions and plot invite this kind of broad exegesis -- but the excitement and strangeness, the nasty vikesploitation violence, the idiots and geniuses reversing roles, that crazy random bear, all of this makes for an exciting and strange comic. One of the best I've ever read.
September 1, 2013
A book which starts with a dude constipated can't be good.
Now, seriously, it starts all messy, narrative wise and with an art which is nothing sequential. It then gets better, ever so slowly, but it escalates into some sort of mortality tale, very boring, and while this is a personal taste, I don't like Klein's art at all. Some saving grace with the characters' ambiguity, which is always a plus in this binary world/media.
Now, seriously, it starts all messy, narrative wise and with an art which is nothing sequential. It then gets better, ever so slowly, but it escalates into some sort of mortality tale, very boring, and while this is a personal taste, I don't like Klein's art at all. Some saving grace with the characters' ambiguity, which is always a plus in this binary world/media.
May 11, 2019
This book is straight up a bad investment. The Narrative is insultingly one note, terribly paced and not very well researched. It's trying too hard to be a viking age Guy Ritchie movie. But theres never enough context given to when and where the story takes place; a problem exacerbtaed by the fact you can tell it was written by someone who knows nothing about the viking age. Maybe this woulndt be so bad if any of the characters were likeable, or at least not cardboard cut outs, and the problems here are again made very noticeable by the lack of coherency or context to teh narrative progression. I will say, in the book's favour, the artwork is gorgeous, but i dont htink artwook alone warrants the price of admission. All in all, this book is so bad I cant decide whether I'm sad or glad there isnt a volume two, because they could fix all these problems in a volume two but then again, without that prospect at least I'll be spared further bullshit.
January 6, 2019
The icon on the back cover says "Viking Crime." I admit, I don't know if I'd have picked up on that if it weren't spelled out for me, but now it seems kind of obvious. You know the story of the two criminal brothers, where one is hotheaded and always getting himself into trouble, and the other tries to get him out but only pulls himself in deeper? That's what we have here, in a viking era setting.
I picked this up because I've liked other stuff by Ivan Brandon. In this book, I feel like he had a good idea of the characters and plot in his head, but I don't think enough detail made it onto the page. Similarly, I think the artwork was solid in and of itself, but the characters all looked too similar and I had trouble following the story. Multiple times I had to reread pieces to try and figure out what I was missing.
Maybe I just need everything spelled out for me?
I picked this up because I've liked other stuff by Ivan Brandon. In this book, I feel like he had a good idea of the characters and plot in his head, but I don't think enough detail made it onto the page. Similarly, I think the artwork was solid in and of itself, but the characters all looked too similar and I had trouble following the story. Multiple times I had to reread pieces to try and figure out what I was missing.
Maybe I just need everything spelled out for me?
July 16, 2022
While the art was good, I felt like the transitions where confusing and made it hard to follow the story. The story itself was ok, perhaps after I read the follow up books it will all be fleshed out better.
March 1, 2015
My blog: https://mycomicopinion.wordpress.com/...
La Cosmo sta tirando fuori dei veri pezzi da 90. Devo dirlo. L’ho scoperta da poco ma già l’amo. Fedelissimo lettore della collana West ( da un seguace di Tex che vi aspettate), sto iniziando a leggere molte o forse quasi tutte le loro testate che in genere si risolvono nell’arco di vari volumi. Partiamo da un assunto semplice: A me Viking non è piaciuto. Ripeto , a me non è piaciuto. Perchè sono io, semplice. Mai stato amante della mitologia norrena, mai stato interessato ai VICHINGHI, secondo me erano dei barbari e basta. Appunto. Questo fumetto questo ci espone. Rozzi, mossi da ideali di potere, ci racconta del mondo vichingo come senza morale, sporco, dove il sangue spesso versato inutilmente lo fa da padrone. I giapponesi se non ricordo male avevano tirato tuori la VINLAND SAGA , poi qualche anno fa era uscito Valhalla Rising (pessimo), ora se non erro c’è proprio una serie tv sui vichinghi. Serie Tv che non sto guardando perché non ho la tv. E vivo benissimo in mezzo ai miei romanzi e fumetti vari. La trama inizia a svilupparsi dopo parecchi bagni di sangue dove questi due fratelli Finn ed Egil al’inizio uccidono random un po’ chi gli capita fino a quando non iniziano a mirare in alto complice un pesante lutto. Più o meno questa è la trama, chiaramente io nelle trame ci vado leggero, voglio evitare gli spoiler ai lettori. I disegni non mi sono piaciuti, a volte non riuscivo a distinguere i personaggi e tutt’ora non distingujo Finn a Egil. Ma ripeto a me non è piaciuto. A coloro ce amano il power metal e sono covninti che la Svezia sia il posto più bello al mondo piacerà di sicuro.
Voto 1 su 5
La Cosmo sta tirando fuori dei veri pezzi da 90. Devo dirlo. L’ho scoperta da poco ma già l’amo. Fedelissimo lettore della collana West ( da un seguace di Tex che vi aspettate), sto iniziando a leggere molte o forse quasi tutte le loro testate che in genere si risolvono nell’arco di vari volumi. Partiamo da un assunto semplice: A me Viking non è piaciuto. Ripeto , a me non è piaciuto. Perchè sono io, semplice. Mai stato amante della mitologia norrena, mai stato interessato ai VICHINGHI, secondo me erano dei barbari e basta. Appunto. Questo fumetto questo ci espone. Rozzi, mossi da ideali di potere, ci racconta del mondo vichingo come senza morale, sporco, dove il sangue spesso versato inutilmente lo fa da padrone. I giapponesi se non ricordo male avevano tirato tuori la VINLAND SAGA , poi qualche anno fa era uscito Valhalla Rising (pessimo), ora se non erro c’è proprio una serie tv sui vichinghi. Serie Tv che non sto guardando perché non ho la tv. E vivo benissimo in mezzo ai miei romanzi e fumetti vari. La trama inizia a svilupparsi dopo parecchi bagni di sangue dove questi due fratelli Finn ed Egil al’inizio uccidono random un po’ chi gli capita fino a quando non iniziano a mirare in alto complice un pesante lutto. Più o meno questa è la trama, chiaramente io nelle trame ci vado leggero, voglio evitare gli spoiler ai lettori. I disegni non mi sono piaciuti, a volte non riuscivo a distinguere i personaggi e tutt’ora non distingujo Finn a Egil. Ma ripeto a me non è piaciuto. A coloro ce amano il power metal e sono covninti che la Svezia sia il posto più bello al mondo piacerà di sicuro.
Voto 1 su 5
August 30, 2014
Where Nothlanders is all abotu characters, plot, and historical themes, this Viking graphic novel relies almost entirely on the quality of the artwork for its success. Each page is lushly saturated with colour (both the reds of battle and the greens of the scenery are good places to draw from), but the artists's style is painterly to the point of becoming difficult to track characters throughout the plot. It doesn't help that the story jumps around so much that you're never quite sure which characters are supposed to be the protagonists, much less the supporting characters. I would like to see more from the artist, but I would be happier to see him doing stand-alone covers or true artwork rather than attempting to confine himsdelf to the linearity of the graphic novel format.
January 17, 2012
I had trouble getting into this; the dialog is so sparse and the cuts between scenes so frequent that it was hard for me to follow the story or connect with any of the characters. I never quite sorted out who was in who in some cases. Then it just sort of ended, rather than being resolved or cliffhung. There were some interesting images, at least.
May 11, 2011
Great art with a good representation of the vikings. Good story too but can get a bit confusing due to the speech bubble organization. The main characters are enjoyable but randomly violent. This theme continues through their meeting of others and but other than that there isn't much of a story.
January 17, 2013
The Storytelling took time getting used to, it was random, confusing without continuity. Ones you get the hang of it, you realize the beauty of it. The Characters were powerful, Art superb. Ending was very disappointing as its left the plot in middle...the author must have scrapped the project.
July 31, 2013
Lots of surface parallels to the Northlanders series, but this is its own story with a distinctly grim but compelling mood. Love the Egil/Finn relationship in terms of the brothers' personalities. Really felt like these authors get the mindset of the time & place. Can't wait to read the next trade.
February 6, 2014
Much like Northlanders, it's a neat Viking story but I'm left a little hollow. Maybe the story is a little too simple or the characters just a little thin. It was good, but not great.
Great art, though.
Great art, though.
November 8, 2010
The art is strong, but the story and story telling leave a lot to be desired. The story ends with a thud and overall, felt like it was produced to fill out the artist's portfolio.
November 30, 2014
I liked the story a lot. Rough and bloody. The art was difficult for my eyes to parse, but nevertheless, fit the writing. I'd be interested in more.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews