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aoc's review
4.0
From what I remember of the novels, Stormbringer is essentially an expanded version of the other half of the origin story when it comes to Elric, our albino emperor of Melnibone who is now rather mental over finding his abducted love. I won't go ahead and spoil the story, seeing as it actually is a rather sharp heel turn, but we find out why Elric decides to expand his adventuring skills somewhat. Not to mention what he was like before, well, lugging the eponymous sword around with him. Needless to say artwork present is breathtakingly GORGEOUS with those same rich and vibrant colors bringing pages to life. This is one of those instances where I wish I was apt at describing comics so I could actually talk about paneling and inking, but alas. If I had one criticism it would be for couple of instances when Elric goes on ancient history expose which could've been done with fewer dialog boxes. Also, Arioch is one cheeky bugger.
zare_i's review
4.0
Second book in the series. Elric seeks his rebellious cousin Yyrkoon in order to punish him for fighting and conspiring against Elric and especially for threatening Elric's lover Cymoril (she is - to complete the entire tragedy setup - Yyrkoon's sister who Yyrkoon plans to take for his wife after Elric is thrown and Yyrkoon made the Emperor of Melninbone).
Following is possible spoiler (but only if you never read anything about Elric before) so I will mark it as such because I do not want to spoil anything to anyone.
In order to defeat Yyrkoon, Elric makes the pact with one of the Chaos Gods, Arioch. Always one to torture people in most subtle ways, Arioch tricks Elric by giving him the magical sword Stormbringer and basically making Elric sword's own puppet. But Elric, although slightly driven mad by the strange weapon still has sufficient powers and is able to cling to his sanity. Faced with awful situation he decides to leave everything to avoid death of those dearest to him - and so he becomes the wandering exile from Melnibone.
Art is excellent as in previous issue (although different artist did the job). Again this is dark fantasy (sometimes very dark - especially scenes of the human village Elric and his warriors come across while chasing Yyrkoon) so keep that in mind.
Highly recommended to Moorcock's and Elric's fans and fantasy fans in general.
Following is possible spoiler (but only if you never read anything about Elric before) so I will mark it as such because I do not want to spoil anything to anyone.
Spoiler
In order to defeat Yyrkoon, Elric makes the pact with one of the Chaos Gods, Arioch. Always one to torture people in most subtle ways, Arioch tricks Elric by giving him the magical sword Stormbringer and basically making Elric sword's own puppet. But Elric, although slightly driven mad by the strange weapon still has sufficient powers and is able to cling to his sanity. Faced with awful situation he decides to leave everything to avoid death of those dearest to him - and so he becomes the wandering exile from Melnibone.
Art is excellent as in previous issue (although different artist did the job). Again this is dark fantasy (sometimes very dark - especially scenes of the human village Elric and his warriors come across while chasing Yyrkoon) so keep that in mind.
Highly recommended to Moorcock's and Elric's fans and fantasy fans in general.
jalp's review against another edition
5.0
Igual de bueno que el anterior. El final es enloquecedor...
jobot0's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
daybreak's review
4.0
Much more interesting than the first one. Violence (thankfully) toned down with a nice plot twist at the end.
Spoiler : I don't know but I really like the twist about him giving up his throne in the end. Plus I liked the trap Yrikoon (?) pulled, it was rather intelligent but how this situation came to a resolution was disappointing. So much could have been done there.
Spoiler : I don't know but I really like the twist about him giving up his throne in the end. Plus I liked the trap Yrikoon (?) pulled, it was rather intelligent but how this situation came to a resolution was disappointing. So much could have been done there.
annasirius's review
3.0
Still great art, but the story remains flat and adds the trope of the token women being a damsel in distress. Bit of a let down.
nagia's review
3.0
I liked it, the art in particular, but it strayed too much from the original material. I prefer Moorcock’s version of events and Elric.
markyon's review
4.0
Back in September 2014 I reviewed Volume 1 of this series, The Ruby Throne which introduced us to a new graphic novel version of Michael Moorcock’s most famous literary creation.
This series is the retelling of Mike Moorcock’s famous Elric books through the graphic medium, the story of albino Elric, Emperor of Melniboné and his betrayal by his brother-in-law Yyrkoon and the consequences of this on Elric, the Ruby Throne and the Kingdom of Melniboné. In Volume 2 we start to get really interesting, building on the events set up in Volume 1:
‘The ruby throne stands empty. The soldiers are amassing: Elric the albino Emperor of Melniboné, is marching on the Young Kingdoms in search of what has been stolen from him. Aided by the great Lord of Chaos, Arioch, he will wreak his revenge on those that dare to challenge the White Wolf… ‘
This time around, the book is shorter, yet more intense. Having shown the alienness of the Melnibonéan race in Volume 1, here we see the ferociousness of a king determined. With his cousin Yyrkoon in hiding, Elric leads the Sea Lords to the Young Kingdoms in order to find Yyrkoon and Elric’s lost love Cymoril who Yyrkoon has kept in slumber there. The need for Elric to save his lover is so important that Elric has summoned the Lord of Chaos, the great Arioch to help them.
A tale of war, mystical gods, arcane power, blood, vengeance and love – there’s a lot here to love for fans of Epic Fantasy. Readers of the original books (Elric of Melniboné, Stormbringer, Weird of the White Wolf) will be pleased to also find that, despite some changes to the original stories, it is here that we have one of the key revelations of the Elric mythos appear, that of the true nature of Elric’s mystical sword Stormbringer. One of the biggest (and coolest!) ideas of the series is that Stormbringer is a sword that in return for its use demands living souls for Lord Arioch. Elric is duty-bound to provide them.
Moorcock’s original tale shows a multi-layered tale of imagination and depth and this graphic version manages to convey that very well. Elric is now the encapsulation of a tortured soul, angry and vengeful, torn between his love of a woman and his duties as King to the people of Melniboné, addicted to whatever Stormbringer provides and restrained by his destiny. His obsession with bringing back Cymoril means that he makes inappropriate decisions and deals with the Gods that are expensively bought, and which will have eternal consequences. It’s clearly not going to end well.
Comparing the book with the first volume, it is evident that although the roster of people involved has varied slightly (Jean Bastide added to with Jean-Luc Cano and Julien Telo, although Didier Poli from Volume 1 is on the first 12 pages), the elegant style, detail and elegance of The Ruby Throne has been continued here. Pictures are fluid and memorable, the world of Elric supremely realised. As with the first volume, though, Stormbringer is quite graphic (appropriately), with sex and nudity (although I think tastefully done myself) and the violence may not be for younger readers.
Whereas in the first volume there was an introduction by Mike himself, this time the honours go to Alan Moore, the graphic writer known for his creations The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V For Vendetta and Watchmen. It is as gloriously literate, lively and as lyrical as you would expect from this noted fan. He tells of his initial teenage interest and tries to explain the importance of Elric both in the context of an iconic character as well as a graphic novel character. Alan does not give plaudits out liberally, so when he writes
‘I’d like to join with Moorcock in declaring this to be the most successful, true-in-spirit re-imagining of his fate harrowed icon.’
you know that it comes from the heart.
At the end of this book, as last time, you get an insight into the series with the artists, writers and colourists giving an insight into the production of the graphic novel. Though Stormbringer was hinted at in this part of Volume 1, I’m pleased to see it in its full glory here. This time around the section gives some nice detailed drawings of Elric and Stormbringer and The Dragon Caves (yet to appear fully in this tale.).
In summary, the series continues to develop and expand on what has gone before. The quality of the artwork is as fine as ever and the story is developing nicely – there is more to come! I’m pleased that Volume 2 continues the standard set by Volume 1.
I loved it. Recommended.
This series is the retelling of Mike Moorcock’s famous Elric books through the graphic medium, the story of albino Elric, Emperor of Melniboné and his betrayal by his brother-in-law Yyrkoon and the consequences of this on Elric, the Ruby Throne and the Kingdom of Melniboné. In Volume 2 we start to get really interesting, building on the events set up in Volume 1:
‘The ruby throne stands empty. The soldiers are amassing: Elric the albino Emperor of Melniboné, is marching on the Young Kingdoms in search of what has been stolen from him. Aided by the great Lord of Chaos, Arioch, he will wreak his revenge on those that dare to challenge the White Wolf… ‘
This time around, the book is shorter, yet more intense. Having shown the alienness of the Melnibonéan race in Volume 1, here we see the ferociousness of a king determined. With his cousin Yyrkoon in hiding, Elric leads the Sea Lords to the Young Kingdoms in order to find Yyrkoon and Elric’s lost love Cymoril who Yyrkoon has kept in slumber there. The need for Elric to save his lover is so important that Elric has summoned the Lord of Chaos, the great Arioch to help them.
A tale of war, mystical gods, arcane power, blood, vengeance and love – there’s a lot here to love for fans of Epic Fantasy. Readers of the original books (Elric of Melniboné, Stormbringer, Weird of the White Wolf) will be pleased to also find that, despite some changes to the original stories, it is here that we have one of the key revelations of the Elric mythos appear, that of the true nature of Elric’s mystical sword Stormbringer. One of the biggest (and coolest!) ideas of the series is that Stormbringer is a sword that in return for its use demands living souls for Lord Arioch. Elric is duty-bound to provide them.
Moorcock’s original tale shows a multi-layered tale of imagination and depth and this graphic version manages to convey that very well. Elric is now the encapsulation of a tortured soul, angry and vengeful, torn between his love of a woman and his duties as King to the people of Melniboné, addicted to whatever Stormbringer provides and restrained by his destiny. His obsession with bringing back Cymoril means that he makes inappropriate decisions and deals with the Gods that are expensively bought, and which will have eternal consequences. It’s clearly not going to end well.
Comparing the book with the first volume, it is evident that although the roster of people involved has varied slightly (Jean Bastide added to with Jean-Luc Cano and Julien Telo, although Didier Poli from Volume 1 is on the first 12 pages), the elegant style, detail and elegance of The Ruby Throne has been continued here. Pictures are fluid and memorable, the world of Elric supremely realised. As with the first volume, though, Stormbringer is quite graphic (appropriately), with sex and nudity (although I think tastefully done myself) and the violence may not be for younger readers.
Whereas in the first volume there was an introduction by Mike himself, this time the honours go to Alan Moore, the graphic writer known for his creations The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V For Vendetta and Watchmen. It is as gloriously literate, lively and as lyrical as you would expect from this noted fan. He tells of his initial teenage interest and tries to explain the importance of Elric both in the context of an iconic character as well as a graphic novel character. Alan does not give plaudits out liberally, so when he writes
‘I’d like to join with Moorcock in declaring this to be the most successful, true-in-spirit re-imagining of his fate harrowed icon.’
you know that it comes from the heart.
At the end of this book, as last time, you get an insight into the series with the artists, writers and colourists giving an insight into the production of the graphic novel. Though Stormbringer was hinted at in this part of Volume 1, I’m pleased to see it in its full glory here. This time around the section gives some nice detailed drawings of Elric and Stormbringer and The Dragon Caves (yet to appear fully in this tale.).
In summary, the series continues to develop and expand on what has gone before. The quality of the artwork is as fine as ever and the story is developing nicely – there is more to come! I’m pleased that Volume 2 continues the standard set by Volume 1.
I loved it. Recommended.