WOW! I finally picked up The Hedge Knight trade paperback; so, I can start reading the current Dabel/Marvel book, The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword. This is probably the best of all the Dabel Bros. titles, including Anita Blake. It definitely surpasses all of the fantasy stuff, like Wyrms, Ptolus, and Magician Apprentice.
The Hedge Knight is taken from the world of George R.R. Martin's highly successful
A Song of Ice and Fire series. As one reviewer describes Martin's great writing style, "Martin's writing is crisp, his characters and plots textured and realistic, and he skillfully avoids the usual pitfalls and clichés associated with the fantasy genre."
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The Hedge Knight itself takes place a hundred years before the events in the
A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and chronicles the misadventures of Dunk, a burly and somewhat oafish commoner who has spent his life as a squire to Ser Arlan; a now elderly hedge knight who earns his living wandering aimlessly from both jousting tournament and battlefield alike. Like many young squires, Dunk naturally longs for the day when he too can take up the mantle of a knight; a chance he is finally given when the elderly Ser Arlan finally passes away on a mud splattered road in the middle of nowhere. Armed with nothing more than his former master's sword and a weary steed, Dunk makes his way to the great tournament at Ashford Meadow posing as an ill-born hedge knight and determined to earn fame and fortune on the jousting field."
This is just the beginning of the six-issue first series, and it really just focuses the story on telling of Dunk's attempt to pass himself off as a Hedge Knight and get to compete in his first tournament. It's character-driven storytelling. Plus, for a nice, glossy trade paperback, it will only set you back $14.99.
After you read The Hedge Knight trade (which just came out last Wednesday), you will want to pick up Dunk's second adventure, The Hedge Knight II. I've only read the first two issues, but it has the same character-driven storytelling. The premise is easy enough to understand: "(Dunk) and his squire..have continued to roam Westeros as hedge knights, offering their services for meat, mead, and occasional lodgings. They find themselves in the service of Ser Eustace, an aged knight whose glory survives only in the memory of deeds long past. Ser Eustace's fiefdom is ravaged by drought, and matters turn serious as Dunk discovers that the unbearable heat may bring him more trouble than he bargained for in the form of a war over a dammed stream."
This is the beauty of both tales. They aren't grandious and epic. I'm sure being told the first story is basically only about a tournament and the second one is about a war over a dammed stream, you might pass it over as kind of dull. But, Martin makes you care about the characters. (Issue #2 of Hedge Knight II is pretty much about training some peasants to fight and Dunk realizing how much trouble he's really in with this cast of miserable fighters.) If you want to get away from the usual superheroes or zombies....you cannot find a better fantasy comic.
