‘A RETURN TO THE SEAS OF FATE’ GN Review – Elric Vol. 1 Elric of Melnibone: Roy Thomas, P. Craig Russell, Michael T. Gilbert (Titan Comics)

Day Six of our graphic novel review a day here at Tripwire and today it’s Elric Volume 1: Elric of Melnibone, a hardcover published by Titan Comics.

Reprinting the PC comics adaptations of Moorcock’s Elric from the 1980s, the six chapters here written by former Marvel writer Roy Thomas and artists P. Craig Russell and Michael T. Gilbert, unlike the French Elric graphic novels I reviewed a few days ago, feel very much like American comic stories. Thomas was writer on another fantasy icon, Marvel’s Conan, for many years and he brings that same level of expertise when adapting Moorcock’s most enduring creation.

Elric, prince of Melnibone, in a world unlike our own, fights against his so-called friend Yrkooon and the lords of chaos, who seem bent on making him their pawn. Russell and Gilbert do a good job of bringing the world of Moorcock to life but my quibble here is that the matt paper used by Titan means that much of the art looks flat and lifeless. This is a tragedy when you contrast this with the glossy, vibrance that the original comics possessed when they were reprinted by First back in the 1980s.

Russell and Gilbert take their cues more from the Pre-Raphaelites than the French team who adapted Elric and their Elric is a tragic but beautiful figure. Titan have announced that they are planning to reprint all of the old Elric comic series and hopefully they’ll switch to a paper better befitting the art of those comic artists who followed Russell and Gilbert. Elric of Melnibone feels like classic fantasy and it is heartening to see it back in print but the format lets it down…

www.titan-comics.com