Northlanders
Northlanders is an American comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The stories are fictional but set in and around historical events during the Viking Age. Written by Brian Wood, illustrated by various artists on a per storyline basis, and with painted cover art by Massimo Carnevale.
Northlanders
- Creator
- Brian Wood
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Northlanders is an American comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The stories are fictional but set in and around historical events during the Viking Age. Written by Brian Wood, illustrated by various artists on a per storyline basis, and with painted cover art by Massimo Carnevale.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Northlanders. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3344228
In this article
The object
The object
The first issue of the series was published on December 5, 2007. The series was canceled by Vertigo on April 11, 2012, at issue #50.
Key facts
Key facts
• Schedule — Monthly • Ongoing — y • Historical — y • Publisher — Vertigo • Startmo — February • Startyr — 2008 • Endmo — April • Endyr — 2012 • Issues — 50 • Writers — Brian Wood • Artists — Davide Gianfelice Massimo Carnevale Dean Ormston Ryan Kelly Vasilis Lolos Danijel Žeželj Leandro Fernández • Letterers — Travis Lanham • Colorists — Dave McCaig Dean Ormston • Editors — Mark Doyle Will Dennis Casey Seijas • Creators — Brian Wood • Tpb1 — Sven the Returned • Isbn1 — 1401219187 • Tpb2 — The Cross + the Hammer • Isbn2 — 140122296X • Subcat — Vertigo • Sort — Northlanders
Plot
Plot
Northlanders alternates long and short story arcs, each of which deals with a different protagonist in a different time period within the Viking Age. The first story arc, "Sven the Returned", runs through issues #1–8 and is set in A.D. 980. It follows a self-exiled Viking warrior named Sven who has been serving in the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and is now returning to his birth region in the Orkney Islands in order to reclaim his rightful inheritance. The second arc, "Lindisfarne", runs through issues #9 and 10, and is about a young boy and the sacking of the Lindisfarne monastery in A.D. 793, the beginning of the Viking Age. The third arc, "The Cross + The Hammer", runs through issues #11–16 and is set around Dublin, Ireland circa the Battle of Clontarf, which took place in A.D. 1014; it deals with the pursuit of an Irishman and his daughter who attacks the occupying Viking forces using guerrilla tactics.
Interviews
Interviews
• Y1K PARANOIA: Brian Wood talks "Northlanders", Comic Book Resources, October 16, 2007 • Interview/Preview: Vertigo's Northlanders, IGN, October 22, 2007 • Ragnarok n' Roll: An interview with Brian Wood, Comics Bulletin, November 20, 2007 • Brian Wood Talks Northlanders 2009, Comic Book Resources, January 27, 2009 • The Viking Chronicles: Brian Wood Talks Northlanders, Newsarama, June 24, 2009
Collected editions
The series was collected into trade paperbacks: Northlanders trade paperbacks • # — Title — ISBN — Release date — Collected material — Artists • 1 — Sven the Returned — October, 2008 — Northlanders #1–8, "Sven the Returned" — Davide Gianfelice • 2 — The Cross + the Hammer — July, 2009 — Northlanders #11–16, "The Cross + the Hammer" — Ryan Kelly • 3 — Blood in the Snow — March, 2010 — Northlanders #9–10, "Lindisfarne" Northlanders #17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat" Northlanders #18–19, "The Shield Maidens" Northlanders #20, "Sven, the Immortal" — Davide Gianfelice, Vasilis Lolos, Dean Ormston, Danijel Žeželj • 4 — The Plague Widow — October, 2010 — Northlanders #21–28, "The Plague Widow" — Leandro Fernández • 5 — Metal — July, 2011 — Northlanders #29, "The Sea Road" Northlanders #30–34, "Metal", Northlanders #35–36, "The Girl In The Ice" — Fiona Staples, Riccardo Burchielli, Becky Cloonan • 6 — Thor's Daughter — February, 2012 — Northlanders #37–39, "The Siege of Paris" Northlanders #40, "The Hunt" Northlanders #41, "Thor's Daughter" — Simon Gane, Matthew Woodson, Marion Churchland • 7 — The Icelandic Trilogy — January, 2013 — Northlanders #42–50, "The Icelandic Trilogy" — Paul Azaceta, Declan Shalvey, Danijel Žeželj Later also collected in the following paperback omnibus editions: Northlanders omnibus editions • # — Title — ISBN — Release date — Collected material — Artists • 1 — Book I: The Anglo-Saxon Saga — June, 2016 — Northlanders #9–10, "Lindisfarne" Northlanders #18–19, "The Shield Maidens" Northlanders #1–8, "Sven the Returned" Northlanders #41, "Thor's Daughter" Northlanders #11–16, "The Cross + the Hammer" — Davide Gianfelice, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, Marion Churchland, Danijel Žeželj • 2 — Book II: The Icelandic Saga — November, 2016 — Northlanders #29, "The Sea Road" Northlanders #20, "Sven, The Immortal" Northlanders #35–36, "The Girl In The Ice" Northlanders #42–50, "The Icelandic Trilogy" — Fiona Staples, Danijel Žeželj, Becky Cloonan, Paul Azaceta, Declan Shalvey • 3 — Book III: The European Saga — September, 2017 — Northlanders #17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat" Northlanders #21–28, "The Plague Widow" Northlanders #30–34, "Metal" Northlanders #37–39, "The Siege of Paris" Northlanders #40, "The Hunt" — Vasilis Lolos, Leandro Fernández, Riccardo Burchielli, Simon Gane, Matthew Woodson
Catalogued output
Versions and prints
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Sport and travel in the northland of Canada / by David T. It is also recorded that that terrible time: eye-witness accounts of the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand / compiled & edited by Geoffrey Rice.
Where the work is held
Archives and holdings
Institutional holdings are recorded as follows.
Awards
• 2007: Nominated for the Eagle Award for "Favourite Comics Cover published during 2007" for cover of issue 1B by Adam Kubert
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Norman PettArtist
- Norman ThelwellArtist
- Norman W. MarshArtist
- Norman WorkerArtist
- Nosatsu JunkieSeries
- NosferatuSeries
- Not Enough TimeSeries
- Not LivesSeries
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of Northlanders?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.