Customer Reviews

Knights of Pendragon, The Vol. 1 (Knights of Pendragon 1)

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Well, 20 years since I first read this series and it didnt let me down. Back in the late 80's/early '90's the late lamented Marvel UK's main output was lisenced titles such as Transformers and Doctor Who. They had tried to tap into the US market with Death's Head and Dragon's Claws but these were largely set within their own universes....Knights of Pendragon was an attempt to tie into the main Marvel Universe. Taking some of the supporting cast of Exclibur and Captain Britain it delves into the possiblity of the Earth striking back at man in macabre and supernatural ways. Sometimes in quite gruesome fashion.

By using essentially non powered resdients of the Marvel Universe as the main characters rather than the A-List was a novel approach and certainly was aimed at the more 'mature readers' market that was then beginning to arise. Indeed Captain Britain's supporting role in this series led to some controversy (as a big CB fan I personally found it brilliant). Gary Erkines art has weathered well and the Alan Davis covers to some of the chapters are as amazing as ever.

With three fantastic and revealing write ups from the creators (although John Tomlinsons mention of this all being retconned out of continuity isnt correct) this is an absolute gem and any Marvel UK fan should have this on their shelf. The next volume is desperately needed.

The Knights of Pendragon hold a very special place in my heart. I remember collecting all 18 issues of the initial run avidly (and less so the second volume, Pendragon II), way back in the early 90s. I loved the mix of Arthurian lore, eco issues and the sheer bravery of storytelling. There was nothing else like it then, and there still isn't. I reconnected with "The Knights..." a few months ago when I had to go home to look after my sick mother. Leafing through my old comic collection for something to take my mind off things, I found the first volume and read an issue before I went to sleep; I was suddenly a young man again, just before heading off to London, just before my father died, dreaming of the Green Knight and the future. It takes a while for the art to become comfortable, but once you read a few issues you realise the a title like this needed this sort of style - without it, the book would have suffered a little, I think. And the writing is incredible for its boldness although admittedly the dialogue sounds a little jarring to my ears now though at the time it didn't. I can't express how much this series inspired me to follow a creative writing direction in my life... something I am still doing with a degree of success twenty years on. I just hope that this volume sells well enough for Marvel to put out the second volume (issues 10-18) to complete at least the first series of this incredible book.

I've never said this, much less written it, before but in the case of "The Knights of Pendragon", make mine Marvel!

Knights of Pendragon was a Marvel UK comic that hit the stands in 1990. It was a pretty risky comic that was trying to do something different in a comic book industry that thrived on giving the reader what it was sure it would buy. So a book that was thick with ecological and political issues, with only the barest dusting of superhero action and an undercurrent of mythological and literary themes was always going to be a bit of a sticky wicket. Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson took it in turns to pen the issues and along with editor Steve White they provide three fascinating forewords about the early development of the series. Other notable topics include the controversial 5th issue where Captain Britain beats Dai Thomas to death, which viewed on its own is indefensible but if you read the whole series and absorb the Arthurian Sir Gawain and the Green Knight concept, then it becomes justifiable though no less shocking... context rules. I'm not in the camp that wants to hide Knights of Pendragon in a phone directory of alternate realities. The other noteworthy aspect of the book is how unreservedly the writers pursue the green themes, even down to the books being printed on environmentally friendly paper. You've also got to admire the sheer balls of kicking off the first issue with two pages of people coughing up their bloody guts in a burger bar.
This book collects the first nine issues. Superhero content is very light with just a few short appearances of Captain Britain and Union Jack. The main focus is watching Dai Thomas, followed by reporter Kate McClellan, investigate environmental disasters for W.H.O. (Weird Happenings Organisation) and track down a serial killer called The Jigsaw Man.