Nikolai Dante: Tsar Wars v. 1 (Nikolai Dante)

You wouldn't be blamed for not having heard of Nikolai Dante before; he seems only to be famous amongst those who've already heard of him. In fact, he's barely left the pages of weekly British anthology "2000AD" since his first appearance in 1997. If you've never had the pleasure of sampling his cheeky exploits in a semi-futuristic alternate Russia, there's no time like the present with this sixth book, newly released by the "2000AD" team.

"In the aftermath of the war, Imperial Russia entered a time of terror. Purge Squads cut a massive swathe through the land, as the Tsar wreaked his revenge on those who had betrayed him..." So begins the latest graphic novel, drawing a run of Nikolai Dante strips from 2002 to 2005. It follows Nikolai's roguish exploits following the long, dark story arc of the Tsar Wars, in which the disgraced member of Russian royalty led troops to battle against the mighty Tsar.

Artists Simon Fraser and John Burns return, bringing levity or drama to the stories when required; the book is written by the unparalleled Robbie Morrison. Great stories that strike a perfect balance between humour and the darker emotional side of Dante, as well as pivital back-story about his family and childhood. Excellently written, beautifully drawn with real class and flair. A great book in the series!

Hurray for Dante! (1/1 people found this helpful)

Excellent, excellent, excellent. 'Sword of the Tsar' is fantastic stuff.

The book opens with two all-time classic Dante romps, 'How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life', set in the not-so-swinging London of mad monarch Henry Windsor McKray, and 'Primal Screams', set in an African casino run by talking humanoid animals, which put a great big happy smile on my face at the outset that still hasn't faded several hours later.

Most of this seventh volume of the Dante chronicles, however, is devoted to the conclusion of the pirate storyline started in 'Hell and High Water', and a triumphant conclusion it is. I found the seafaring stories collected in the previous book to be somewhat sedately paced, certainly by Robbie Morrison's standards. Here, though, it all comes together and builds to a rip-roaring climax. Dante's tortuous relationship with his pirate-queen mother, which I thought was harped on slightly too much in earlier installments, works brilliantly here and becomes genuinely moving.

John Burns's artwork is simply astonishing. Well, it always is, as far as I'm concerned, but this book contains some of the very best work he's ever done. And Dante co-creator Simon Fraser is also bloody excellent on the title story.

Nikolai Dante is the best fun in comics today and will surely rank among the immortals. The loveable rogue himself is a classic character and is ably abetted by a remarkably broad and vivid pantheon of co-stars and supporting players: beautiful feisty women, colourful villains, scoundrels, schemers, waifs and buffoons.

For those who are new to the saga, this book is as good a place as any to start. Once hooked you'll certainly want to catch up from the beginning, but I almost envy any new readers being plunged straight into the middle and discovering the incredibly rich backstory, wide cast of characters, and lovingly detailed world.

Pirate queens! Animal casinos! Leopard women! Petulant princesses! Voodoo pirates! Mutants with shark teeth! Sex, romance, hilarity and swashbuckling derring-do! To hell with graphic novels, to hell with what passes for entertainment in TV, film and books nowadays, this is why a grown man reads comics.

Nikolai Dante is back (0/0 people found this helpful)

I didn't like the first stories so much in script or artwork so much, but as we go to the main story (Romanov Empire) i can say only one thing amazing.

The script is getting more and more complex as time passes, Morrison is developing the char, especialy Nikolai seems to grow up and become more of a man starting to resemble the Tsar in the way he command and inspire his men bringing back thought of what Jocasta said about how much nikolai reminds her the Vladimir when he was young

The artwork is exceptional and i can say that Burns is even better than Fraser. The new scetches of Andreas is much closer to the romantic playboy than any previous scetch has been and the melancholy of loneliness in Viktor life is much more obvious.

I am waiting to see how Nikolai would develop and i wait to see if he will keep his promise to raise an army of thieves and conquer any known empire.

He's too cool to kill (1/1 people found this helpful)

Cult UK comic 2000AD has always been prone to periods of stagnation but has always been able to produce stories from nowhere that drag the readers in an unexpected direction. Nicolai Dante was an instant hit with fans, for a while even outshining Judge Dredd. Dante is a gentleman thief in 27th century Russia, try to imagine Han Solo played by Errol Flynn, who discovers he has royal connections. In ten pages Morrison's thrilling narrative provides a whole world for our hero to play in: aliens and lasers rub shoulders with sword duels and court seductions. It's inventive, clever and witty - and above all... fun.

Still too cool to kill (3/4 people found this helpful)

Set in 27th century Russia, volume two of 2000AD's terrifically entertaining series builds on the set-up from "The Romonov Dynasty." Deprived of the element of surprise, Morrison stages a series of vignettes to introduce the extended cast and their special abilities. These feel a bit like bridging stories between the intro and the main plot but are still fast and funny and the last story is, if you're in the know, utterly hilarious. Make sure you've read a little Sinister-Dexter first.

Nikolai Dante: Tsar Wars v. 1 (Nikolai Dante)

Robbie Morrison

Reader Reviews:

Hell and High Water (0/0 people found this helpful)

Hurray for Dante! (1/1 people found this helpful)

Nikolai Dante is back (0/0 people found this helpful)

He's too cool to kill (1/1 people found this helpful)

Still too cool to kill (3/4 people found this helpful)

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