Valhalla 15: Vølvens syner
Av: Peter Madsen och Henning Kure
56 pages, color, soft cover
Language: Danish
Carlsen Comics, 2009
ISBN: 978-87-626-5805-9
Peter Madsen has been working on his magnum opus Valhalla since 1979. He has, since then, produced 15 stories in the classical French-Belgian album-format, one feature length animated film, children’s books, comic strips and so on, and so on. Valhalla is simply one of the most successful of all Scandinavian comics. It has been translated to a great number of languages and the first volume alone has sold more than 100 000 copies.
All these impressive numbers would not mean a thing, though, were it not for the fact that Valhalla truly is a masterpiece with great storytelling, wonderful character design and beautiful artwork. The stories in Valhalla are all based on authentic Norse myths, but translated by Madsen and his co-writer Henning Kure. They have given these old character new lives and told some really good stories throughout these last 30 years.
This, the 15th and very much final volume, in the series, deals of course with Ragnarok, the mythical end of all the Norse gods. Madsen has not made any attempt to hide the fact that there would be an end to his stories, and this is the obvious way to go. As with all stories in Valhalla, it is well-told and even though Madsen does follow the original myths and let the apocalyptic forces reign, he pulls it off and delivers yet another good story, with an end that feels fulfilling both for the album, and for the whole series.
Today, I often tend to neglect comics in the traditional album format, as I feel that this is a thing of the past. With Valhalla, though, it feels perfectly right. Madsen started out a young artist deciding upon this format, and has – like a European Dave Sim – stuck it out for 30 years, never straying from the original concept. Now, with Valhalla finished, I expect that he will try other formats. He has already done so, as I received the three first volumes of his new series of children’s book, Troldeliv (Troll’s life), written by his wife Sissel Böe. So there is a life after Ragnarok.
Oh, and then there is the fact that Peter Madsen is one of the nicest, most decent persons I have met in the comics business.
