Raiders

From a young age, I always loved a good story. I routinely "borrowed" my brother's comics and immersed myself in the bright colors and fascinating stories. All these years later, I still immerse myself in comics, graphic novels, and gaming. Lately, the spandex clad heroes are on the back burner for more fantasy-filled adventures. My backlog of reading is large, but today I received "Raiders" and had to devour it. I have always loved a story that involves interesting characters that are well designed. I do not necessarily need an overly complex story but there needs to be an arc and character development. "Raiders" was what I had been looking for.The story of two brothers, one at the end of his career and one just beginning, "Raiders" weaves a tale of adventure, dungeon exploring, loot gathering, and revenge. Much like the rpg's that I love to play, "Raiders" helped put me "into the game". The story felt like a small portion of a much larger series of adventures. And therein is a major draw of the story. The world established is not one that is completely handed to the reader. You see some character designs and you immediately start to wonder about them and what THEIR story is. One panel showcased a trio of adventures and I had to ask myself, "what were they up to and what happened to them?" I NEED TO KNOW MORE! There is group of royal guards who are designed to showcase detailed pauldrons and helms and then simple black cloaks. Part of me thought they would be revealed to be demons underneath. I did't know, but I needed to know. There is so much more that can be told in what I hope becomes a continuation of the world and its inhabitants.I always appreciate a well-crafted story, especially when it is accompanied by stellar art. The designs of the characters are believable and not overly cluttered or hindered by unbelievable or unrealistic armor. And yay to a female combatant with an amazing design that speaks to her skills. Often, a dungeon crawl will be dark and gloomy. Instead, "Raiders" opts to have juxtaposed bright backgrounds for more muted character coloring. At first I thought it would be distracting, but as I read more, the brighter backgrounds made the action pop more and truly gave the combat a feeling of movement.Reaching the story's eventual end, I was left wanting more of the world, while still feeling satisfied with a complete story. I wanted to go back with a fine-toothed comb and examine each character. Thankfully, "Raiders" also comes packed with a lot of extras to showcase the characters and their development. It made me get out my ipad and Procreate and start to sketch.

This primal fantasy story about love, loss, revenge, and mortality manages to weave a harrowing yarn that is all the more compelling for its minimalist approach. Freedman's writing is simple, understated, and naturalistic - a perfect mirror for those readers who would engage with the graphic novel in relation to their own possible experiences from tabletop RPGs, but also speaking to the basest human emotions and expressions of life in a way anyone should understand and empathize with. And this raw, bleak, almost Hyborian storytelling is perfectly visualized by Crom, whose page-engulfing single panels, velvety blacks and earth tones, and unique interjection of art, nature and tranquility among scenes of slaughter and exposition are nonstop compelling to the reader's hungry eyes. Raiders is truly a work of art, when far from every comic-style publication can compare. I cannot recommend this graphic novel enough to anyone who enjoys the work of Robert E. Howard, Frank Frazetta, Mike Mignola, Andrzej Sapkowski, Dungeons & Dragons, or who just enjoys a classic revenge tale.

I didnt expect to like raiders as much as i did, mainly cuz swords n sorcery are not my go to genre, and I thought maybe I’d have had my fill with the image comics series headlopper. I was wrong!!!The crom Art is sososooooo good and the story keeps a brisk pace while exploring some great themes about responsibility/ manhood/ personal growth... all amidst some of the most cool action scenes.The book is also chock full of extra materials in the back, for process junkies or crom fans who just wanna see more of his art.Definitely recommend this refreshing self-contained tale

I got this because I love Crom and everything he puts out. I just got it in the mail and am excited to get to it, but man, I am really disappointed that it came so banged up. I understand the issues with mailing packages but I've gotten plenty of graphic novels before that weren't so bent. Just a bummer.e: have already gone thru it a ton. I love Crom's style and all the extra pages of art and sketches. Unfortunately had to get it replaced hoping I would've been sent a mint copy. Replacement was better but still some dings. Otherwise would be 5 stars, but just want people to be aware of the possibility

Great Read! Great Illustrations! The story is cool and so are the graphics/illustrations....a little reminiscent of the anime Berserk slaying monsters in half with a big sword, but they are slaying monsters and raiding to get to loot inside dungeons. I enjoyed the read a lot thanks! And I recommend this comic it is definitely worth reading don't pass it by!

Really solid storyline, wonderful character development, beautifully executed in a simple style. 11/10 would read again.

Great Artwork

I can't recommend this highly enough, especially if you like your adventure stories with spots of darkness. It would spoil it to reveal any of the plot but from the first page to the last you're taken on quite the journey, carried effortlessly by CROM's artwork which communicates so much that you just can't help but fall-for/hate-on/fear-for the cast of the tale.I've been following CROM's work for a long time now and even so I couldn't help but be impressed with what a master of his craft he's become.

Love it. Crom’s art it so charming and a compelling sorry.

This is suuuper cool, I've been waiting for something like this for a while, there really aren't enough fantasy type graphic novels.

Great art and classic dungeon crawling action. Loved it.

Excellent story with beautiful art! Read it front to back in one sitting, I really want more!!