Broken Frontier

Ivan Brandon has dealt with crime tales before, in series such as NYC Mech and Ganglords of Chinatown, but now he’s going back a few centuries to the days of axe-swinging, fur coats and manly men. The aptly titled new series Viking, from Image features gorgeous art by Nic Klein and a modern take on despite the setting, with two brothers attempting to become big boss crims.

BROKEN FRONTIER: The tag-line used in the first promotional images was "A crime book for the 9th Century." Why is that a good summary of your approach?

IVAN BRANDON: The Vikings were some of history's most famous strongarm men.  The characters in Viking take everything they want at the point of a spear from people who've earned it.  Our story follows Finn and Egil, two young criminals trying to make a name for themselves by pulling off heists and jobs that are way over their head. 

BF: Vikings are kind of overshadowed by other warriors such as ninjas and samurai in pop culture. Do you think their time in the sun has finally come?

IB: Vikings aren't overshadowed by anything in my book.  Except a mountain of dead bodies.

BF: Did you and Nic Klein swing around a lot of heavy swords and drink ale for research?

IB: We drank wine coolers and watched Desperate Housewives. Inspiration is weird sometimes.

BF: Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape sounds like an intriguing premise. What stars of the DCU can we expect to see?

IB: Nemesis, Cameron Chase, Amanda Waller... more will get revealed as we go.

BF: Were you familiar with the DC characters before Dan Didio tapped on your shoulder?

IB: Even if I was, I'm sort of obsessive with research... this is the shelf in my office devoted to reference for Escape.

Viking is out now from Image Comics and is priced $2.99.