Review by Frank Plowright
Farewell, My Odin is ominously titled as the story of a young feral boy who’s given the name Odin and becomes the greatest warrior of his era in 11th century England, a harsh place, regularly raided by Vikings, but with Christianity taking hold in small communities.
Chihiro Yoshioka opens with the as yet not named Odin being shown human kindness after being raised by wolves, how he first becomes known as Luke and settles among new people with trust eventually flowing in both directions. As is common in stories featuring a warrior, the comforts of life have to be swept away, and Yoshioka ensures Luke’s period of contentment is brief and simultaneously supplies him with an arch-enemy. The Odin name is bestowed by the invading Vikings as Luke becomes a man and sets about them with a vengeance. He’s lost an eye and he’s accompanied by two wolves.
Combat is raw and brutal, fought with axes and swords, and Yoshioka is unconcerned about showing the bloody results, with the shock a little diminished by this being in black and white. The Vikings weren’t known for kindness among those they conquered, and are shown raping and pillaging with little concern for life, while Luke is equally brutal when encountering them. Yoshioka delivers the violence as a whirling blur of kinetic action with attention to the effects of shadow, all drawn in a loose style, and sometimes showing Luke in wolf-like poses.
Yoishioka differs Luke from the conventional warrior via his heritage giving him some advantages. He’s savage in battle, and has a more refined sense of smell, able to sniff out emotions in the manner of his wolf companions. Indeed, what puzzles him about his major enemy is the absence of smell. At the same time we see the Viking killer Einarr as confident and ambitious and when his background is revealed in flashback similarities are intended to be drawn between two abandoned children.
It’s an interesting set-up that at times lingers too long in places, yet ultimately presents stirring historical adventure with no quarter given. As might be expected, it doesn’t look good for Luke/Odin as we head toward Vol. 2.
