Obscure
Comic of the Month is a column where I take a look at a comic or
series that hasn't really been talked about. This covers independent
comics, zines, weird spin-offs, webcomics and more.
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Knights vs
Pirates by Jay Martin, Chris Imber and Chris Jenkins - 2020 Reckless
Hero
Contains
Mild Spoilers
We like to
get somewhat intellectual here at Obscure Comic of the Month (and by
we I mean me.) Whether it's dissecting the Life is Strange comic's
criticism of it's own source material, or discussing what the alien
societies of Prism Stalker have to say about mankind's inhumanity to
man, dissecting themes, subtext and metaphor is what a lot of this
column is all about.
Sometimes,
however, along comes a comic that is shaped exactly as it is. Where
there are no depths to plunge. What you see it what you get. Knights
vs Pirates is one of these types of comics.
Pitting
King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table against the crew of
legendary pirate Blackbeard, Knights vs Pirates steps into a long
standing genre of historical mashups that we have previously seen in
such things as the video game For Honour, the tabletop game Unmatched
Battle of Legends and the Half-Life mod Pirates, Vikings and Knights.
The video
game comparison is apt, really, as Knights vs Pirates is all about
the action. Jay Martin isn't here to bring us a story about the class
differentiation between noble knights and stateless pirates. He's not
here to bring us any kind of exploration of each character's mythic
qualities and the legacy they left in historical folklore. He's here
to have a bunch of cool looking guys with swords smash up against a
bunch of cool looking guys with guns, on boats. It's not dissimilar
to downloading a skin pack for Unreal Tournament 2004 so that you can
have Gordon Freeman fight the Master Chief.
If it
sounds like I'm counting all this as a negative against the work of
Martin, Imber and Jenkins you may be surprised to find out that I'm
not. If you know me, you know I actually love downloading skin packs
for Unreal Tournament 2004 so that I can have Gordon Freeman fight
the Master Chief.
Is there a
reason that King Arthur here wears the St George's Cross and a
crusader's bucket helm, despite predating both those things by
centuries? Because it looks cool that's why. The historical and
folkloric perspective doesn't really matter. This is pure popcorn
munching entertainment. It's smashing action figures together in
comic book form, and Knights vs Pirates manages to excel at such
goals with high speed and panache.
The story,
such as it is, takes place during Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail,
as pestilence stalks the land. However, he and his knights become
embroiled with the machinations of Poseidon of Atlantis (Why is there
a Greek God here and why does he also happen to be a fish man?
Because it's cool, that's why,) as has, centuries later, Blackbeard
and his crew, who are lured to the Bermuda Triangle and sent
backwards in time with the promise of riches and glory.
As the
Knights come to terms with gunpowder weapons and the pirates
capitalise upon the confused forces of the past, so proceeds a series
of battles and skirmishes between Arthur and Blackbeard's forces. The
characters are all larger than life, more akin to Street Fighter
characters than their historical counterparts, with their own
colourful set of unique designs, motivation and gimmicks.
Chris
Imber's fast and bold art really stands out in these battles. Keeping
a sense of movement and logic at the same time, while making every
bloody strike and blow feel heavy and visceral. Likewise, Jenkin's
vivid colours really pop out of the page, and bring to life the
personalities of these colourful characters (pun intended.)
The writing
is archetypal with Arthur so noble it's almost maudlin, and
Blackbeard very much the pantomime villain. Still, there are genuine
moments of pathos here and there, such as Blackbeard expressing his
past admiration for Arthur when he read stories of his adventures as
a boy, and being nightmarishly torn between the optimism of his youth
and the cynicism and selfishness that has overtaken his life.
Like any
good versus story, after many bloody losses, the two sides eventually
join forces to fight the real villain. Poseidon rises at the end to
reveal the full extent of his schemes, which primarily concerned the
retrieval of Excalibur, the sword having been constructed from his
three pronged trident (Why? Because it's cool, that's why.) The
climax brings an action packed battle as Imber really pushes the
visuals to create a striking melee between Knight, Pirate and aquatic
sea-folk.
Knights vs
Pirates is excellent evidence that you can produce a story that is
silly and over the top without being dumb. It's shallow only in the
sense that greater depth would actively make the story worse. The
story need not be saddled with attempts at highbrow storytelling.
This is a monster truck rally. This is professional wrestling. This
is a visual cavalcade of larger than life characters carrying larger
than life weapons.
I can
safely say that if I had read this as a sixteen year old I would have
easily become obsessed with it, and sometimes, you just have to give
the sixteen year old inside yourself something like this every now
and again, as a treat.
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Jack
Harvey 2023. Knights Vs Pirates (c) 2020 Reckless Hero. Images used
under Fair Use.
