Norah’s Saga #1
Illustrated by Kelsey Shannon
Written by Blake Northcott
Allegiance Arts & Entertainment
2020
From Gym Class to Warrior Class.
New school–new world, literally. Sassy, book-smart Norah Karlsson’s quest to fit in becomes an epic tale of survival when she crashes through the mists of time and into a realm of ice and Norse legend. The high school’s mean girls had nothing on the god of mischief, and at least they never tied her to a stake. Bullies? Try trolls, and not the Internet variety. Forget sharing a table with the cool kids in the cafeteria; Norah would be just as happy if she didn’t have to slay her lunch.
Allegiance Arts & Entertainment just gets me. There’s something about their art style that I just love. The backgrounds are detailed when they need to be, but know when to fade into obscurity. The characters are easily recognizable and completely realistic, but always look like what I think a comic should. And there’s a huge variety in page design. Last week I said how much I enjoyed Bass Reeves, and Norah’s Saga looks every bit as good. It really is like it was made just for my tastes.
That’s why I loved Norah’s Saga #1 despite its pretty average storytelling. And it’s not like the story is bad at all either, I feel like it just covers a lot of ground too fast and misses all the high notes. It sets a large stage and keeps a lot of plates spinning, but some of those plates are so interesting, I kinda feel like they could have been whole issues themselves. And maybe they will be, which is why I am excited to read more. So I suppose this first issue did it’s most important job – I am going to come back for more. Even better, I’m going to tell my friends to check it out.
I like Norah’s Saga so far. It’s not as good as I’d want it to be, but there’s a lot of potential here. It’s got what makes Young Adult fiction fun for all ages, and something special to the people it’s written for. There’s a solid conflict, action, adventure, and excitement, and there’s tons of the trials and tribulations of teenagedom in the modern world. That’s a recipe for greatness, in my book.
Canadians Invade Vikings
Absolutely beautiful artwork let down by a perfectly average story. There's a lot to like here, and I'm excited for more, but at the same time, I wanted more from this issue.
Brian Reed
Brian has been reading comics since January, 1987, when the death of Optimus Prime rocked his young world. Once a regular presenter on The Nerdstravaganza Podcast, Brian now writes for Florida Geek Scene.
