Adapted by Roy Thomas, Michael T. Gilbert, George Freeman, P. Craig Russell, Tom Orzechowski & various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78276-290-4 (HB/Digital edition)
As we’re all waving swords about, here’s another splendidly fantastikal romp everyone should have in their personal casque of delights and wonders…
A milestone of the Sword & Sorcery genre Elric is the last ruler of a pre-human civilisation. Domain of a race of cruel, arrogant sorcerers, Melniboné ruled the world in primordial times before its debased lords embraced boredom and decadence. Trapped in gradual decline after millennia of dominance, the end came through its final king. An albino, Elric is physically weak and of a brooding, philosophical temperament. He cared for nothing save his beautiful cousin Cymoril, whom he killed whilst battling her loathsome usurping brother Prince Yrrkoon. After Elric destroyed his own love and race he wandered the world a broken, dissolute wreck…
When some prose tales – The Dreaming City, While the Gods Laugh and The Singing Citadel – were compiled with framing tale The Dream of Earl Aubec into a single novel Elric: Weird of the White Wolf, the tragic revelations were devoured by fans devoted to the epic of inescapable doom, and translation into comics was as inevitable. Ultimately, the epic adaptations alighted in these carefully curated chronicles courtesy of Titan Comics, in both physical and digital formats.
Following a warmly informative Introduction by pioneering comics writer and publisher Mike Friedrich, and creator biographies, the saga resumes.
This stellar graphic adaptation gathers not only the novel but also many of the disparate previous adaptations (partially or in full) to form a logical chronological sequence, based on a 5-issue miniseries and collection which originally saw the light of day from the much-missed innovators First Comics in 1990.
Death and drama manifests in ‘The Dream of Earl Aubec’ – by Roy Thomas, Michael T. Gilbert & George Freeman (spectacularly supported by letterer Ken Bruzenak) – as the greatest warrior champion of his world fights to the very edge of reality, seeking more glory and searching for approval from his queen Eloarde of Klant. Where solid ground meets raw unformed Chaos-stuff, he finds a castle and is seduced by inexplicable, incredible creature Myshella, the Dark Lady. She gleefully shows him visions of the future in the raw material of unformed reality, and particularly the travails of a tragic Emperor, as yet unborn: Elric.
The first vision is an abridged and modified version of Thomas and P. Craig Russell’s ‘The Dreaming City’, taken from the 1982 Marvel Graphic Novel. It’s followed by the pair’s superb adaptation of ‘While the Gods Laugh’ which first appeared in fantasy anthology magazine Epic Illustrated (#14) in 1984.
There and then, the “white wolf” searched for the Dead God’s Book: a magical grimoire that promised to answer any wish or desire. In the quest Elric picked up the first of many disposable paramours in Shaarilla of the Dancing Mist: a woman with an agenda of her own. Most importantly. Elric met his as his truest friend and aide, human wanderer Moonglum.
Interspersed with the unfolding drama of Aubec and Myshella, the collection moves into an all-new interpretation of ‘The Singing Citadel’. Thomas & Gilbert co-adapted the tale for hugely underrated George Freeman to illustrate and colour.
When Elric and Moonglum take ship they are attacked by the magical pirates of Pan Tang, before being drawn into the dire schemes of Queen Yishana. She needs a better magician than her own lover Theleb K’aarna to investigate an incursion of murderous, melodic chaos into her kingdom…
After convincing the newcomers to join her, their search turns up a macabre, manic invader who turns out to be the Balo, malevolent Jester of the Lords of Chaos, intent on establishing his own domain and playpen beyond the interference of his fun-averse superiors…
This is a phenomenal tale of heroism and insanity, and art and colour here fully capture the drama and madness of the original. Gilbert & Freeman are every bit the imaginative, illustrative equals of the magnificent Russell and this book is inarguably one of the most impressive graphic fantasies ever produced.
Michael Moorcock’s irresistible blend of brooding Faustian tragedy and all-out action is never better displayed than in his stories of Elric, and Thomas’ adaptations were another high watermark in the annals of illustrated fantasy. Every home and castle should have one…
Another groundbreaking landmark of fantasy fiction and must-read-item, this resplendently flamboyant tale is a deliciously elegant, sinisterly beautiful masterpiece of the genre, blending blistering action and breathtaking adventure with the deep, darkly melancholic tone of a cynical, nihilistic, Cold-War mentality and the era that spawned the original stories.
Adapted from the works of Michael Moorcock related to the character of Elric of Melniboné © 2016, Michael & Linda Moorcock. All characters, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and all related indicia are TM & © Michael Moorcock and Multiverse Inc. Elric: The Weird of the White Wolf is © 1990 First Publishing, Inc. and Star*Reach Productions. Adapted from the original stories by Michael Moorcock, © 1967, 1970, 1977. All rights reserved.