Northlanders

Last updated
Northlanders
Northlanders -1.png
Cover to issue #1 of Northlanders (December 2007), art by Massimo Carnevale.
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo
ScheduleMonthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre
Publication dateFebruary 2008 – April 2012
No. of issues50
Creative team
Created by Brian Wood
Written by Brian Wood
Artist(s)Davide Gianfelice
Massimo Carnevale
Dean Ormston
Ryan Kelly
Vasilis Lolos
Danijel Zezelj
Leandro Fernández
Letterer(s) Travis Lanham
Colorist(s) Dave McCaig
Dean Ormston
Editor(s)Mark Doyle
Will Dennis
Casey Seijas
Collected editions
Sven the Returned ISBN   1401219187
The Cross + the Hammer ISBN   140122296X

Northlanders is an American comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The stories are fictional but set in and around historical events during the Viking Age.

Contents

Northlanders is written by Brian Wood, illustrated by various artists on a per storyline basis, and with painted cover art by Massimo Carnevale. The first issue of the series was published on December 5, 2007.

The series was canceled by Vertigo on April 11, 2012, at issue #50.

Plot

Northlanders alternates long and short story arcs, each of which deals with a different protagonist in a different time period within the Viking Age.

The first story arc, "Sven the Returned", runs through issues #1–8 and is set in A.D. 980. It follows a self-exiled Viking warrior named Sven who has been serving in the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and is now returning to his birth region in the Orkney Islands in order to reclaim his rightful inheritance.

The second arc, "Lindisfarne", runs through issues #9 and 10, and is about a young boy and the sacking of the Lindisfarne monastery in A.D. 793, the beginning of the Viking Age.

The third arc, "The Cross + The Hammer", runs through issues #11–16 and is set around Dublin, Ireland circa the Battle of Clontarf, which took place in A.D. 1014; it deals with the pursuit of an Irishman and his daughter who attacks the occupying Viking forces using guerrilla tactics.

Collected editions

The series is being collected into trade paperbacks:

Northlanders trade paperbacks
#TitleISBNRelease dateCollected materialArtists
1Sven the Returned ISBN   1-4012-1918-7 October, 2008Northlanders #1–8, "Sven the Returned"Davide Gianfelice
2The Cross + the Hammer ISBN   1-4012-2296-X July, 2009Northlanders #11–16, "The Cross + the Hammer" Ryan Kelly
3Blood in the Snow ISBN   1-4012-2620-5 March, 2010Northlanders #9–10, "Lindisfarne"
Northlanders #17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat"
Northlanders #18–19, "The Shield Maidens"
Northlanders #20, "Sven, the Immortal"
Davide Gianfelice, Vasilis Lolos, Dean Ormston, Danijel Zezelj
4The Plague Widow ISBN   1-4012-2850-X October, 2010Northlanders #21–28, "The Plague Widow" Leandro Fernández
5Metal ISBN   1-4012-3160-8 July, 2011Northlanders #29, "The Sea Road"
Northlanders #30–34, "Metal",
Northlanders #35–36, "The Girl In The Ice"
Fiona Staples, Riccardo Burchielli, Becky Cloonan
6Thor's Daughter ISBN   1-4012-3366-X February, 2012Northlanders #37–39, "The Siege of Paris"
Northlanders #40, "The Hunt"
Northlanders #41, "Thor's Daughter"
Simon Gane, Matthew Woodson, Marion Churchland
7The Icelandic Trilogy ISBN   1-4012-3691-X January, 2013Northlanders #42–50, "The Icelandic Trilogy"Paul Azaceta, Declan Shalvey, Danijel Zezelj

Later also collected in the following omnibus editions:

Northlanders omnibus editions
#TitleISBNRelease dateCollected materialArtists
1Book I: The Anglo-Saxon Saga ISBN   1-4012-6331-3 June, 2016Northlanders #9–10, "Lindisfarne"
Northlanders #18–19, "The Shield Maidens"
Northlanders #1–8, "Sven the Returned"
Northlanders #41, "Thor's Daughter"
Northlanders #11–16, "The Cross + the Hammer"
Davide Gianfelice, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, Marion Churchland, Danijel Zezelj
2Book II: The Icelandic Saga ISBN   1-4012-6508-1 November, 2016Northlanders #29, "The Sea Road"
Northlanders #20, "Sven, The Immortal"
Northlanders #35–36, "The Girl In The Ice"
Northlanders #42–50, "The Icelandic Trilogy"
Fiona Staples, Danijel Zezelj, Becky Cloonan, Paul Azaceta, Declan Shalvey
3Book III: The European Saga ISBN   1-4012-7379-3 September, 2017Northlanders #17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat"
Northlanders #21–28, "The Plague Widow"
Northlanders #30–34, "Metal"
Northlanders #37–39, "The Siege of Paris"
Northlanders #40, "The Hunt"
Vasilis Lolos, Leandro Fernández, Riccardo Burchielli, Simon Gane, Matthew Woodson

Awards

Related Research Articles

<i>The Sandman</i> (comic book) Comic series by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman is a comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vertigo Comics</span> Imprint of comic-book publisher DC Comics

Vertigo Comics was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.

<i>Hellblazer</i> 1988–2020 comic book series

John Constantine, Hellblazer is an American contemporary horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introduced. Its central character is the streetwise English sorcerer and con man John Constantine, who was created by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette, and first appeared as a supporting character in Swamp Thing #37, during that creative team's run on that title. Hellblazer had been published continuously since January 1988, and was Vertigo's longest-running title, the only remaining publication from the imprint's launch. In 2013, the series concluded with issue 300, and was replaced by Constantine, which returned the character to the mainstream DC Universe. The original series was revived in November 2019 for twelve issues as part of The Sandman Universe line of comics, under the DC Black Label brand. Well known for its extremely pessimistic tone and social/political commentary, the series has spawned a film adaptation, television show, novels, and multiple spin-offs and crossovers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Gibbons</span> English comics artist and writer

David Chester Gibbons is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything". He was an artist for 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977.

Guy Davis is an American creature designer, concept artist, illustrator and storyboard artist who has worked on film, television, comic book and video game projects. He is known for his collaborations with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, including the television series The Strain (2014–17) and the films Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015) and The Shape of Water (2017). Beforehand, Davis was the regular artist for the Hellboy spinoff comic B.P.R.D. (2003–2010), as well as the artist behind his own creator-owned comic The Marquis (2009).

<i>Fables</i> (comics) American comic book series

Fables is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series featured various other pencillers over the years, most notably Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha. Fables was launched in July 2002 and concluded in July 2015. It was revived in 2022 with a 12-issue continuation to the main series, as well as a 6-issue spin-off miniseries Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham, both published under DC Black Label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Delano</span> British comics writer

Jamie Delano is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, featuring John Constantine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Diggle</span> British comic book writer

Andrew Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on Adam Strange and Green Arrow for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series The Losers and a run on Hellblazer for DC's Vertigo imprint, and for his stints on Thunderbolts and Daredevil at Marvel. Other credits include Gamekeeper for Virgin Comics, written by Diggle on the basis of a concept created by Guy Ritchie, a three-year run on Robert Kirkman's Thief of Thieves at Image, several short arcs written for IDW Publishing's Doctor Who series and two James Bond mini-series for Dynamite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Wood (comics)</span> American comics artist

Brian Wood is an American writer, illustrator, and graphic designer, known for his work in comic books, television and video games. His noted comic book work includes the series DMZ, Demo, Northlanders, The Massive, Marvel Comics' The X-Men, and Star Wars. His web series work includes adaptations of his own short stories from the comics series The Massive and Conan the Barbarian for Geek & Sundry and YouTube, and his video game work includes three years on staff at Rockstar Games, co-writing 1979 Revolution: Black Friday and story contributions to Aliens: Fireteam Elite. His television work includes pilot scripts for AMC, Amazon Studios, and Sonar Entertainment. He is a contributing writer on HBO Max's DMZ adaptation of his own work.

<i>Demo</i> (comics) Comic book series

Demo is a twelve-issue limited series of comic books by writer Brian Wood and artist Becky Cloonan, published from 2003–2004 by AiT/Planet Lar. Each issue is an isolated story, but they all revolve around the lives of young people. Originally, the series was intended to focus on young people with supernatural powers—which many of the issues indeed do—but as the years progressed, the stories increasingly focused on people, relationships, and emotions, with the "supernatural" angle quietly deemphasized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Erskine</span> Scottish comic book artist

Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist.

Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic 2000 AD and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

<i>DMZ</i> (comics) American comic book series by Brian Wood

DMZ is an American comic book series written by Brian Wood, with artwork by Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. The series is set in the near future, where a Second American Civil War has turned the island of Manhattan into a demilitarized zone (DMZ), caught between forces of the United States of America and secessionist Free States of America.

Ryan Kelly is an American comic book artist, known for his work on books such as Lucifer and Local.

Steve Pugh is a British comic book artist who has worked for American and British comic producers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and 2000 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leandro Fernández (artist)</span> Argentine comic book artist

Leandro Fernández is an Argentine comic book artist, known for his work on various Marvel, Image, and Vertigo comic book titles.

<i>Viking</i> (comics)

Viking is a creator-owned comic book series published by Image Comics. It is written by its creator, Ivan Brandon, with art by Nic Klein.

Marian Churchland is a Canadian comic book artist and graduate of the University of British Columbia. They first came to prominence in 2009 with their debut graphic novel Beast for Image.

Simon Gane is a British artist from Bath known for his work in the comic book field.

References

Interviews