Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur

This graphic novel is suitable for teens and tweens. Overall, it was well-written (I did like how the author did the love story between Arthur and the Lady of the Lake) and drawn, but I only rated it 3 stars as it changes much of the traditional legend of King Arthur--(SPOILER ALERT)Arthur is now half-man and half-fae; Lancelot dies at the battle against Mordred (instead of becoming a priest) and Guinevere (while I liked that she fought with Arthur in the battle against Mordred) becomes queen of Camelot rather than retiring to a convent to spend the rest of her life. ( )

A disappointing graphic mash up of Arthurian legend. ( )

Here is another graphic novel on the reading list of my YA book club: Excalibur by Lee and Hart. I don't think I need to justify why I picked this one. It's a King Arthur legend. 'Nuff said.

I really liked the overview of the legend of King Arthur that this graphic novel gave. Some of the finer elements of the legend were missing, but a novice wouldn't notice. All of my favorites were in the story: Morgana, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The way everything fit together made the plot feel more like a well-developed story than the other graphic novels I've read.

I wasn't that impressed with the illustrations, though. They were only so-so. I found them to lack facial expression and detail. This made the pictures seem like they were better suited for a low end comic book. ( )

The retelling of the King Arthur story in a spectacular graphic novel format.

The land of Albion is at war and yearns for the prophecy to come true, for the true king to come forward and to bring peace and unite the people once more. Arthur Pendragon is that man but he is only a boy when he pulls the fabled sword Caliburn from the stone and Merlin works his magic to create a warrior King in a single night.

This telling is one of the best I have read, it delves deep into the back stories of the warring kings of Albion and the magical realm of Avalon and Merlin and Morgana le Fey. It includes characters that are often in the Arthur stories such as the Lady of the Lake and Lancelot but it has a darker spin on the story and it comes across as a more genuine version which I appreciated.

Thoroughly enjoyable read about the 'Once and Future King'. ( )

Reason for Reading: I had read Lee's earlier book Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood and was anxious to read this one.

This book, surprisingly, takes very different angles of the King Arthur legend to focus on than the usual run-of-them mill retelling aimed at children/teens. The story of Camelot and the knights' adventures is not a focus here. Camelot is briefly in the story but the main focus is on Arthur's early years, obtaining the sword in the stone and his early years as king. All the major plot points are there: the sword in the stone, Guinevere & Lancelot, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, Morgana & Mordred, and The Lady in the Lake. Major focus is put on the Fairy Realm in this retelling. On Morgana's background story that made her hate Arthur so much, the seelies and the unseelies, the Realm of Avalon, the love story of Arthur and the Lady of the Lake and, of course, Merlin's part in all this.

I especially enjoyed this version of King Arthur's tale. There are plenty of battle scenes but more than anything it is the coming of age story of Arthur as a great king and the coming to pass of the vision he has seen since his early childhood of his dying for his kingdom. The unique focus brings a fresh presentation of the story forward to even die-hard Arthurian readers. The artwork is exquisite using various monochromatic colour schemes throughout to match the mood of the story with an emphasis on golden yellows and browns. A masterful new retelling of an ancient legend. ( )