Broken Frontier

Vikings, christian monks, space battles, alien larvae and young delinquents : Midgard has it all.

The knights of the round table have suffered through many variations, inspirations and parodies; most famously perhaps being the hilarious and subversive Monthy Python and The Holy Grail movie by the legendary british comedy ensemble Monthy Python. The Knights of Kaamelott is another humorist take on Arthur’s legendary band of knights, being a French television series that spawned an equally popular comics series of the same name in Europe. It also launched the international career of resident Belgian artist Steven Dupré.

Steven Dupré’s drawing style is heavily character driven coupled with an excellent attention to body language and facial work; all traits essential to a comedic tale and part of the stew that make Midgard such an enjoyable read. Behind two (bear with me here) truly horrible covers actually lies an exciting action adventure tale written and drawn by Dupré himself. Taking place simultaneously on earth and in space, Dupré has both tales occupy their own space in the comic, opting to forego on the mixing of storylines in a sequential manner. Midgard is designed a a flip flop book, a format mostly seen in alternative comics. Since each tale has its own specific rhythm, sense of timing and genre stylings, it is a rather ingenious and smart move. 

One side is a rather comical sci-fi chase adventure featuring an alien delinquent called Don, stuck on a drifting spaceship he is determined to escape the favoured punitive method of his race for young criminals : larvae baby daycare. One scheme leads to another and ends with Don hijacking a ship to escape from the mother ship, his persistent probation officer hot on his tail. It is a lighthearted story full of humour and Dupré takes his time in the telling of it, illustrating some great chase scenes over multiple pages and delivering it all with a certain manga flair that only works to its advantage.

At the same time on earth, Vikings roam the land in search of bounty. We follow a wisecracking orphan in an eternal quest for food who crosses paths with the Vikings while plundering a village. Moodwise it is a bit of an odder mix, the bloodthirstiness of the Vikings standing in shrill contrast with the humorous attitudes Dupré gives the other characters in the tale. This is even enlarged by Dupré mixing humour and bloodshed in the same scene which leaves a rather wry taste. The earth tale is a bit more surprising though with a few twists and turns that the rather straightforward sci-fi tale lacks (though this not noted as a shortcoming). 

Both tales end at the same scene but viewed from their own respective points of view. It makes for a nice bit of closure and provides a great starting point for volume 2.

On a side note it is one of the first of two publications of the Stripgilde, a gathering of creators and business people in the comics business. Together they have started an independent non-profit publisher with a business model not unlike that of Image comics. It’s basically the first in Belgium and it will be interesting to see which creators will make use of this independent model.

Steven Dupré’s Midgard is a nice start though. It plays visually and storywise to his main strengths: great facial work coupled with a focus on character. The comedic nature of both tales contain great pacing and terrific action scenes and the interesting format make this a great popcorn tale of a comic, perfect to drift away in on a long train ride or drowsy afternoon.

Midgard volume 1 by Steven Dupré is published by in Dutch by Stripgilde.