Written by: Marc Legendre
Illustrations: Fabio Bono
Coloring: Dimitri Fogolin
Publisher: Standaard Uitgeverij
De Rode Ridder #250 De Uitverkorene – Comic Book Review
When a comic book series has been running for 250 issues, it’s a sign that it’s a rather popular one. Nonetheless, it also means that it’s a rather ancient one too, knowing new albums only appear every several months. While up until now the series only shifted its illustrations by adding very small changes here and there, things have remained pretty much the same over the last 57 years, including the valiant red knight’s enemies and friends. After the success of the Standaard Uitgeverij’s series such as Amoras and J.Rom, the publisher decided to give this well-known series a new lick of paint, persona, friends and enemies that cross his path. By Saint George, we’re certainly in for an adventure.
Allis, a young, rather boyish girl, lives in a peaceful village where the liege is rather kind for his vassal. Everyone goes around his own merry way, at least as long as they do the job they’re supposed to do. Sadly, Allis doesn’t really fit into that picture, as people view her as a demon spawn, a witch or whatever comes into their thoughts. She only has one friend, the slightly disabled Knut, who oversees the entire village and blows his horn when danger lurks in the distance. All of that being said, the rather peaceful scenario soon turns into a grim and macabre play when Malfrat and his men show up in the village. Not only did they kill the original liege, they will rule the village with an iron hand and in the process claim what’s theirs, such as beautiful young maidens to well… try out? When Allis confronts Malfrat, she makes a run for it and hides in her house in the middle of the forest, at least after having a rather odd dream in which she sees a knight who tells her certain words to remember.
In the middle of the night someone comes knocking at her door, and it’s none other than the valiant red knight, Johan. Johan has been travelling through the woods for quite some time now and his trustworthy horse and companion are too beat to continue. While rather hesitant at first, Allis decides to allow Johan inside and even offers him a warm meal. The very next day the villagers arrive at Allis’ door to burn her as a witch, but it seems Malfrat is also looking for the girl, as she might be able to break the curse that was cast upon him. Then only one mystery remains: is Johan the knight she saw in her vision? And what happens if she utters the words from her dream against him?
Overall the flow of this album is a rather rapid one, as everything seemingly starts again from zero. Johan is slowly being reintroduced as a knight who seemingly suffers from the deeds he had to do in his past during the crusades. While the current team behind De Rode Ridder felt it was good to keep the very limited amount of pages per album intact, it’s actually quite sad that the album isn’t thicker. It also seems like the formula is changing to a series where each album will be continued in the next one, instead of separate adventures. This key point might actually be something that adds a certain drive to the series, as it keeps the audience pondering about what might happen next. Marc Legendre presents us with a tale worthy of this change of scenery. Of course, Marc has written for other issues of De Rode Ridder, but he adapted perfectly to the style the series is now headed towards.
Illustration wise things have been altered in such a fashion you’d never link the old series with the new one. Things are headed towards the same style as the recent success stories: Amoras and J.Rom. While this style is certainly perfect for a medieval tale such as this one, it raises the question if longtime fans, perhaps even older fans, will still experience the series in the same way. Nonetheless, things look great, with a decent amount of details, all thanks to Fabio Bono, in combination with the rather dark coloring by Dimitri Fogolin.
Things have become a tad more explicit compared to the older albums. Again it feels like Amoras and J.Rom were the sources of inspiration as certain scenes have become a lot more violent, and voluptuous women are also ‘more present’ than they used to be. Also, Johan seems to be a bit colder than he used to be, which might add to the mystery surrounding his persona in this first album of the reboot.
Conclusion
De Rode Ridder #250 De Uitverkorene turns over a new leaf in the saga of the valiant red knight. While it seems as if the current team behind the series just wants to make things more like Amoras and J.Rom, they certainly made sure the story value itself is top notch. This current episodic story seems very promising and the action presented is a bit more gore-ish, but certainly exciting. Even though older fans might be hesitant at first, it’s certainly worth trying out this first volume (and we reckon you’ll like it).
De Rode Ridder #250 De Uitverkorene - Comic Book Review,
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