Cinebook the 9th Art -Thorgal "0": The Betrayed Sorceress

Authors: Rosinski & Van HammeAge: 12 years and upSize: 18.4 x 25.7 cmNumber of pages: 96 colour pagesPublication: November 2019

TOTAL: £13.99 INC. VAT

ISBN: 9781849184434

The first two volumes of the adventures of Thorgal, published in 1980, translated into English at last in this retroactively numbered double volume.

Thorgal’s coming-of-age is painfully similar to the rest of his life: the young man finds himself tied up to the stone of sacrifice by Gandalf the Mad, king of the Vikings of the North and father of his beloved Aaricia. There, the Child of the Stars can do nothing but wait for the coming tide – and death. Until, that is, a mysterious sorceress with flaming red hair comes to offer him a deal: his life, and revenge, against one year in her service. 

When I looked at the cover I was confused. I recognised it but was sure I had not already been sent this by Cinebook.  Even more confusing (I'm getting old -Brussel sprouts on a plate confuse me) was the spine of the book told me this was volume "0"...were all the previous volumes of Thorgal just in my aged brain? What was going on here?!

Luckily, Cinebook explains not just the "0" but why this is a double sized book.  These are the very first stories published in French -The Betrayed Sorceress and The Island of the Frozen Seas- but, with the permission of the creators, Cinebook started its series with Child of the Stars. The "0" numbering  shows its position in the Thorgal run (before volume 1) to avoid confusion.

So these would have been stories I saw or got to read parts of in German looooong ago. Mystery solved and I breathed a sigh of relief! 

You get what you expect here: good story  and good art. It was nice to see a smattering of faery lore in the first story even if the ending was quite sad. There are vikings doing viking type things such as fighting, arguing and having to fight off wolf packs -if the vikings get a bad press think about the poor wolves!

In the second story we see more of young Thorgal and his viking comrades as they pursue the mysterious Lord of Three Eagles -whose identity is something of a surprise and shock to our hero.  Not quite as devastating a shock as what the mysterious one tells him....however, things end on a much happier note.

If you are a series completist then, yes, you need this one especially as it is a double story volume and at the cover price it is a bargain. You may want to start with this book then get volume 1 -it is a great series and the creators are top notch.