Cryowulf – Comic Review
As elevator pitches go, writer Sam Roads‘ Cryowulf had me at “gender-flipped Beowulf in space”. I mean seriously, how am I meant to pass that up?
Synopsis
Cryowulf is set on a long-abandoned space station sited over the black hole Cygnus X1. It centres on a young Apprentice Keeper called Crow. Mourning both her birth-mother and her foster-mother, she dreams of the sleeping folk hero Eortha, who might one day rise from her sleep under the station and save the tribe from prowling Grendel.
But will the help of her level-headed sister Raven and her pugnacious friend Puffin be enough to overcome the forces that threaten Crow, her tribe and the entire station?
And who will save them from Grendel?
By the Sleeping Eye
Cryowulf fascinated me from the very beginning. And not only because of that pitch. You’ve got a glorious space station floating above a black hole…
entirely lit by candles and run by clockwork.
As visuals go this was pretty striking.
Beowulf…in Spaaaaace
I studied Beowulf at university so I was excited to see how Sam handled the story. The first two issues (there are, I believe, 9 planned) are out now and set up the basics of the world where the story unfolds. In a nutshell, the space station Heorot has been above a black hole for untold years, and the inhabitants of the station maintain it by certain rites and rituals, to prevent it being sucked into the event horizon. Meanwhil, in the darkness, a terrifying monster – Grendel – hunts the unwary.
This is pretty close to the original epic poem in which the monster Grendel attacks Heorot, the hall of King Hrothgar. Minus the being in space part.
The Good Stuff
I think my favourite thing about Cryowulf (in terms of the story) is the way they maintain the station. The Keeper passes her knowledge of how to maintain the station’s backup systems on to her apprentices. This is done by rote, rituals passed down through the generations. Young Apprentice Keeper Crow is in training but she chafes against the ways of her people. She questions the way things are, seeking something she doesn’t quite understand.
This reminded me greatly of Qora, the rambunctious protagonist of Si Spurrier and Caspar Wijngaard’s Angelic: Heirs and Graces. Both Crow and Qora have been born into a strict caste system, destined for fates neither one is happy about. Both chafe against the strictures of their upbringings, asking questions of their elders, speaking out of turn. In both cases their questioning nature gets them into trouble, and sets them on a potentially dangerous path.
I also love the art, here courtesy of Ben Matsuya. There is a warmth that you wouldn’t expect from a story set in space. Of course when Grendel attacks the warm, orange light turns to blood red. Evoking both emergency lighting and blood, it’s perfect as Grendel stalks the corridors of Heorot Station.
You can pick up a PDF of #1&2 from Sam’s website for £6. Or if you prefer physical copies, keep an eye out for Sam appearing at conventions near you.
