Graphic Novel Review: Excalibur
Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur, by Tony Lee and Sam Hart
Other than my childhood obsession with Arthur - aided by a traveling exhibit of medieval armor that my friends and I drooled over at the Seattle Center back in the early 80s, as well as one summer between eighth grade and freshman year in which I devoured both Roger Lancelyn Green’s and John Steinbeck’s books on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (Sir Thomas Mallory’s seminal text was still a few years away in sophomore year) - what initially drew me to this was writer Tony Lee himself, who is the scribe on the IDW’s Doctor Who series.
No surprise, Lee proves masterful at weaving together the disparate Arthurian legends. You’ll not only find the Pendragon curse, but Guinevere, Lancelot, the Lady of the Lake, Merlin, Nimue, Morgana, Mordred, Sir Gawain, and the Green Knight - all classic standbys - but new permutations (Guinevere, Lancelot, and Mordred’s conception) and additions (the faerie realms of the Seelie and the Unseelie, the former of which Arthur is sent to before being crowned king). True, the Grail Quest is missing here. But even with its conspicuous absence, Lee and Hart manage to breathe some fresh life into a well-trodden and frequently retold legend.
Other than my childhood obsession with Arthur - aided by a traveling exhibit of medieval armor that my friends and I drooled over at the Seattle Center back in the early 80s, as well as one summer between eighth grade and freshman year in which I devoured both Roger Lancelyn Green’s and John Steinbeck’s books on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (Sir Thomas Mallory’s seminal text was still a few years away in sophomore year) - what initially drew me to this was writer Tony Lee himself, who is the scribe on the IDW’s Doctor Who series.
No surprise, Lee proves masterful at weaving together the disparate Arthurian legends. You’ll not only find the Pendragon curse, but Guinevere, Lancelot, the Lady of the Lake, Merlin, Nimue, Morgana, Mordred, Sir Gawain, and the Green Knight - all classic standbys - but new permutations (Guinevere, Lancelot, and Mordred’s conception) and additions (the faerie realms of the Seelie and the Unseelie, the former of which Arthur is sent to before being crowned king). True, the Grail Quest is missing here. But even with its conspicuous absence, Lee and Hart manage to breathe some fresh life into a well-trodden and frequently retold legend.