There's some hints at larger plots and infighting but my big take away was some big fights where you couldn't tell which side was which so it's just random battle images. This is the kind of history comic that I have little interest in. 50 pages was enough.

'Ira Dei 1: The Gold of the Qaids' by Vincent Brugeas with art by tonan Toulhoat is a graphic novel of adventure during the Byzantine era.

The story starts with a Norman named Tancred landing on a beach in Sicily. Tensions build with the locals and are exacerbated by a monk who calls him by another name. Tancred's motives are not known to those he meets.

It's a period of history I'm less familiar with, and this story just kind of launches right in. I'd have appreciated a bit more backstory, but that could be just me. The artwork is pretty standard action style, just like the plot.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Confusing and kind of boring. You don't get much actual story until the last couple of pages and by then you just kind of don't care anymore.

This wasn't for me. The artwork is good and the story is engaging but I didn't really follow the story. I think the story will become clearer in future volumes. I am glad I read it but I wont be reading future volumes.

The first third of a historical graphic novel, that only lovers of the genre need sign up for. A hodge-podge of different antagonists try and get Islam out of Sicily, and we see the trickery of Tancred, a newcomer from Normandy to the field of battle – and some of the secrets of a priest in his company. It wasn't bad, but didn't do a lot for me.

A graphic novel/ comic about a Norman that makes landfall in Sicily with a motley international mercenary crew.
The art style was a little bit weird and I was confused about what was happening around 80% of the time. The art style made it very hard to see what was going on and also the story itself was confusing. So I wasn't really a fan of it and I don't think I will read the following volumes
Overall 2/5 stars

Pretty straight forward storytelling, nothing too exciting honestly. Characters where the typical mercenaries, each trying to out do one another. Some of the writing became repetitive with names of places and ethnic groups.

Art was nice, I love raw, messy, sketchy art, and the style fit the type of storytelling.

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

DNF

I started this one and immediately the font made it difficult for me to read and the story just didn’t capture my attention enough for me to continue it.

Another teaser with the first instalment of this series being available from the brilliant Europe Comics through NetGalley.
The quality and high professional standards of the publisher are here to sea. However, Ira Dei 1. The Gold of the Qaids is set at a very confusing and chaotic time in European history.
This series centres on a Norman warlord and leader of a band of mercenaries who joins the siege of a town in Scilly where Muslim forces have captured the Island. Their powerful advance into Europe is losing impetus as internal struggles threaten to divide and dilute their powerful armies.
The Catholic Church in the East, the Byzantine Empire still has powerful armies but different groups and nations were re-establishing themselves amid this chaos and Rome’s failing power. Fragile alliances quickly became jealous power struggles and soldiers and mercenaries taking different sides.
It is therefore a difficult time to set a story that has its roots in this political melting pot and where the truth is not always known even from the mouth of the Pope’s emissary.
The action is terrific though, the illustrations vivid and blood splattered. Set at a time where life was cheap but to the victor the spoils. The central character is Robert a Norman Duke stripper of his lands and position. Declared dead and placed in a cruel and deadly prison camp. A sulphur mine.
Freed by the Pope’s man and tasked with a mission, Robert has his own plans to reclaim his glory, wealth and reputation.
I liked the character of Robert. A fine resourceful leader. A Norman full of charisma, strategic nous and able to lead men to their deaths or glorious victory.
It bodes well for a series set at such a dramatic time, less known within the U.K. from a historical perspective since the 11th Century is mostly all centred on 1066 and he Battle of Hastings.
So I loved learning more and Vincent Brugeas does give a potted summary at the end to bring more clarity to this period and makes this review seem that I know what I’m talking about.

I picked up Vincent Brugeas' Ira Dei on a whim. I'd no experience with either the material or author, but something about it caught my eye so I jumped on in.

In terms of story, I thought Brugeas’ use of 11th century cultural and religious conflict intriguing, but I couldn't help feeling the characters and plot lost amid in the contextual drama of the age. The fictional elements of this piece simply develop the way I needed them to and, much as I'm loath to admit it, great fiction requires more than interesting subject matter.

Artistically, I found the panels roughly drawn, but I want to stress that a matter of personal taste. There is nothing wrong with Ronan Toulhoat’s work, I simply prefer the smoother lines of Jean-Pierre Gibrat, Enrico Marini, Juan Luis Landa, and Ralph Meyer.

Not for me and not a series I foresee myself recommending to other readers.

Ok! My first even adult graphic book. The graphics are amazing but that’s it for me. This wasn’t for me for sure!

First off, I don't know why more historical comics are popular. This is a literal treat. It's rare you get historical comics that deal with such an under-rated area of history. I also love the fact that this world is more multi-cultural than it will ever be in the history to come. Imagine, so many people of faiths and cultures serving under the Byzantine Regime. For me the Byzantine Regime is one of the more under-rated and less known areas of Western history.

I liked Tancred, and he is a cunning and intelligent man. Although I would have preferred to him seen with a beard. He's a useful ally especially to Lord Harald. But I wanted to see more of the Byzantine officals, the Byzantine diplomats to have more scenes. To show how they were really running the show here. With Bjnak, I think he needed more scenes here. The Church and the Cardinal were responsible for Tancred's abduction, his kidnap and his scar. Robert as a priest serves as some sort of a 'fanatic' that is intent on spreading the word of God, when anyone would really see he's just too much of himself.

Tancred had also increased the Church's privileges of Normandy. The Church took his dutchy and his name, but when Robert arrived in the mines to talk with Tancred and free him, this reveals a more complicated plot at hand. Robert convinced him that return to his dutchy would spark civil war and it was wiser to have his son rule. Hence, why Tancred arrived in this siege, to gather a warrior of three hundred men, and you get the idea.

Because Tancred is a Norman after all, and at one point, his ancestors under Rollo had been worshippers of Odin at some point. I didn't see much of the wealth at some point, and wonder if we'll travel to the glorious kindgoms of the East at some point. But this is a wonderful treat, so much plot involved, that you'll be amazed in this adventure. It doesn't shy away from the brutality of war either. Then again, what else is history?

9/10.

Ira Dei is an exciting adventure tale. I was really impressed by how vivid the artwork was. The action felt very visceral. The characters are mysterious and you will definitely want to know how the story continues.