Review by Ian Keogh

Bear Pirate Viking Queen has a title scrambling words together in what transmits as desperate attention seeking, yet it defies expectation. The sensationalism of the title actually conceals Sean Lewis having a fair bit to say on the abuse of power and the eventual futility of occupation.

It begins with 18th century pirate captain Paul Reddish, survivor of a naval battle who awakens to find a bear on his boat looming over him. It’s a false threat, and we soon see Reddish going about his regular business by targeting a British ship carrying money back from the colonies. A storm is approaching though, both literally and metaphorically.

Attention is immediately drawn to what Lewis has to say by the eye-catching art of Jonathan Marks Barravecchia. It’s not always good, not least because telling a story is a distant second to a striking image, and because at the start there’s no indication of what the priority within a panel should be. However, it’s restless art, Barravecchia constantly experimenting. The complicated lines are doused in muddy watercolour that often does them no favours, yet their strength is apparent when Barravecchia restricts the colour to a pale blue wash. Both imagery and storytelling become stronger as the book progresses,

Lewis tells his story as if a timeless ancient fable, which in some ways it is from the point the Viking appears. That marks a sea change, and eventually all four aspects of the title are comfortably accommodated in a study of single-minded entitlement. However, for all the toying with archetypes Lewis is a muddy moraliser equally incapable of cutting to the heart of the matter as Barravecchia. It leaves Bear Pirate Viking Queen, a title that needs some commas, as marker of what’s to come rather than showing the creators at their finest now.