Viking Sagas And Alien Possessions: The Spider King Is Coming From IDW This February
by Olly MacNamee
We’ve already had Cowboys and Aliens, but not Vikings and aliens!
Well we do now as IDW brings you The Spider King, originally a successful Kickstarter campaign from 2016 and first published as an original graphic novel, and now about to be re-released to a whole new readership as a 4 issue mini-series this coming February.
It was nominated for Best Graphic Novel at the 2016 Aurealis Awards and went on to win Bronze at the 2016 Ledgers, which acknowledges excellence in Australian comic art and publishing.
In the year 956 AD an unlikely group of Viking warriors in northern Europe face an even more unlikely adversary in the form of… Aliens! The debut graphic novel from Australian author Josh Vann and Italian illustrator Simone D’Armini, The Spider King, introduces a vicious and violent world of survival to an extra terrestrial threat unlike any mankind has faced before.
More than just a clash of genres, The Spider King is a classic Viking saga about loyalty, family, honour, and revenge. At the root of this story is Hrolf, the reluctant king of the Laxdales, who is on a quest to avenge his father and kill his Uncle Aarek. But Hrolf’s plans are complicated when Aarek is possessed by a bloodthirsty alien parasite, hell-bent on destruction.
It sounds like a cross between the rolling Icelandic sagas–in which men were men and ran to their bloody destinies headfirst rather than hid from it, such as the Laxdæla Saga –and Alien. Not a bad combo.
Launching in February, the four issue series will feature an impressive array of variant covers including covers by Skottie Young, Afu Chan, and Jakub Rebelka. The Spider King is available for pre-order now through your local comic shop.
We”ll give you more news when we hear of any. Until then, as the Vikings would say, Skol!
