Excalibur: the legend of King Arthur

Tony Lee (author)

Sam Hart (illustrator)

Walker Books, UK: Australian release March 2011;160pp

ISBN: 9781406321593

Genres: adventure, graphic novel, myth/legend

Issues: choices, ethics, friendship, identity

As Uther Pendragon, King of Albion, is dying, he thrusts his magic sword, Caliburn, deep into a stone in order to stop his murderer and one-time friend, Ulric, from claiming it. Merlin, great wizard and advisor to Uther, then prophesied that one would come who would draw the sword from the stone and become 'the once and future king'.

The people of Albion await the arrival of the legendary king who will free them from the cruel reign of false Ulric and his brutal men. Can Arthur, fourteen-year-old foster son of Sir Ector, claim his birthright?

There are many stories about this mythical sword and its legendary owner, King Arthur. Tony Lee's version seems to be based on what is perhaps the best known one by 12th century Geoffrey of Monmouth. Lee has performed an astonishing feat in capturing this complex story with its epic, conflicted heroes and their confusing ancestries in such a succinct narrative line. To be confined to dialogue alone to transmit so many story threads would be an impossible task without such clever illustrative work but Lee and Hart are well paired.

The overall look of Excalibur is fairly dark, capturing the bleak and uncertain times in Albion. Clever composition of individual panels allows the reader to feel an emotional connection to individual characters in a way that is not always possible with graphic novels. Careful attention to page layout ensures a dynamic visual experience, stimulating the reader with changes of panel shape, size and arrangement. Hart obviously sees the whole page rather than individual images, with the result that there are usually particular lines or contextual features that deliberately encourage the easy movement of the reader's eyes down the page.

An enormous amount of information is conveyed through concise lines and minimal colour changes. Predominant use of earth tones ensures that the very occasional use of blue/grey is particularly noticeable, drawing attention to dramatic turning points in the narrative, such as Lancelot's declaration of his love for Guinevere, and King Arthur returning his broken sword to the lake. Hart is an experienced illustrator and his work with DC Comics, amongst others, is seen in his ability to use stylised images to consistently convey individual characters and the relationships between them, as well as projecting a complex range of emotions and contexts.

Highly recommended, especially for visual readers unfamiliar with this famous legend.