The Vikings were known as pioneers (and pillagers and plunderers, of course), so they fit well in the November edition of Nerdcore Friday that will culminate on Thanksgiving. Or, well, the day after Thanksgiving.
I’m in love with The Exile by Erik Kriek. The grayscale art with red thrown in for a dramatic accent is a stroke (pun intended) of genius. This is why I also enjoyed the Wonder Woman Black & Gold series, apart from it being a worthy addition to the Wonder Woman universe.
There’s a diving scene, so it feels like a nice segue from last week’s Tarzan entry. And it’s wonderful to see just so many panels with full-frontal male nudity. Plus, Kriek’s a cat lover!
The blurb:
2023 MoCCAArtsFest Award of Excellence Recipient!
After seven years of exile, battle-hardened Hallstein Thordsson returns home to Iceland, only to find that old wounds haven’t healed. His stepmother Solveig and his half-brother Ottar are besieged by wood thieves, directed by her unwelcome suitor, Einar. The Exile’s presence disrupts the delicate balance and threatens to tip all of Iceland into violence.
A remarkable decades-spanning epic, Erik Kriek’s The Exile is equal parts action “Western” and family drama, with a surprising story of violence and consequences at its core. Told in a naturalistic modern style but with tremendous fidelity to the historical period in which it is set, The Exile depicts the Viking age in all of its conflict, turmoil, and social structure, with every detail depicted vividly on the page.
Hailing from the Netherlands, Kriek is an internationally-decorated illustrator known for his work on In the Pines (2015) and Gutsman. Lushly told with gorgeous traditionally-drawn brush work, and a limited palette illustration style reminiscent of the great three-color illustrators of the 1940s and 50s, Kriek’s art is alternately breezy and gritty, but always stunning, whether he’s depicting a full-blown Viking battle or a wearying sea voyage.
Original title: De Balling/The Exile
Writer, artist: Erik Kriek
Dutch letterer: Frits Jonker
English-language adapters: Erik Kriek, Sean Michael Robinson
English letterers: Sean Michael Robinson, Graham Millar, Frits Jonker
Publisher: Scratch Books (Dutch/2019), Living Line Books (English/2023)
Dollsexposed showcases queer erotica, kink, fetish, and activism through twelve-inch doll photography. Their adventures in the doll world began in 2011 before establishing a home on dollsexposed.com eleven years later.
Dollsexposed's works have been displayed at Seattle Erotic Art Festival and Los Angeles Leather Getaway.