By Rosinski & Sente
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849184984
There are two panels in his new Thorgal story that made me pause. On page 11, a ship is sailing up a river flanked by snow-covered banks. Grey skies and a white mountain set the backdrop, while, in the foreground, wisps of a chill mist hang in the air. There are no word balloons or boxed text to distract from the scene. It’s a perfectly painted panel that captures both the moment and sets the scene for what’s to come. A few pages later, Rosinski bookends the sequence with a similar panel, this time showing the ship’s destination.
While Sente has done an admirable job stepping into Van Hamme’s shoes with the scripts, it’s hard to picture anyone else illustrating Thorgal other than Rosinski (although, I note from the back cover, that will indeed happen in four volumes’ time). No matter what the challenge, he seems capable of bringing anything that’s required to life upon the page.
In this volume alone, he has to tackle a dog sled, wooden ships, an ambush, a slave market, white tigers, orcas, and clifftop peril. And that’s not the half of it. For the first time in several volumes, Thorgal’s story is the driving force, while Jolan becomes the subplot. This isn’t unwelcome as it helps to ground the book back in a world that we recognise. This isn’t to say that I’ve not been enjoying the whimsy and magical nature of Jolan’s adventure, but I do prefer it when Thorgal is going up against the natural world and people with evil intent. And there’s plenty of that here.
The weather may be a little warmer as I type this, but this snow-bound romp across the ice had me reaching for an extra layer. That’s how good a job the creative team has done.
And if you liked that: Check out more of Rosinski’s work on Lament Of The Lost Moors
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