The difference here being that – as opposed the sometimes haphazard coupling of a random penciller with a random inker to the hectic monthly comic schedule of US comics – the whole team was selected with care and each artist has a specific contribution to the look and feel of Elric.Īll creators involved succeed in creating a truly grand and tortuous vision of Elric’s troubled world where medieval swordplay and sorcery go hand in hand. In a rather remarkable move for a European comic book, this edition was done in the full blown US mode of comic making: writing, drawing, inking and colouring all done by separate persons. While Moorcock recognizes the work of Simonson, Druillet etc in his introduction, this edition by Julien Blondel, Didier Poli, Robin Recht & Coloriste Jean Bastide is first version that he feels adds more to the novels than any other previous work did and you can’t aim for higher praise than that as an artistic team adapting another visionary’s work. 1: The Ruby Throne is how he would do it. But apart from the Druillet adaptation, the comics fell a bit by the wayside, coming off as flat without adding much to the Stormbringer’s world and never succeeding in capturing the grandeur and bleakness involved so essential in the novels… until now that is!Īs stated in the introduction by Moorcock himself, if he was able to go back and tinker with the world of Elric a bit more, Elric vol.

Craig Russell, Walt Simonson, Frank Brunner, etc., and European creator Philippe Druillet. In comics though, Elric has been adapted by a – mainly American – all star cast of creators: P. Up till now, Hollywood has not yet successfully released an Elric movie though several attempts have been made. Often translated to other media and most notably in comics, Elric has also been featured in quite a lot of music and role-playing games. After the world-building the novels focus on Elric’s relationship with Stormbringer, a magical sword that can be a great force for good but also saps Elric’s strength while absorbing the souls of everyone it slays. In order to keep his position he relies on drugs (or ‘special herbs’) to keep him going while becoming a powerful sorcerer and summoner. Descendant of a royal lineage and a frail and weak albino, he finds himself ruling a violent race bent on torture and conquest.

I would go with his Jerry Cornelius series of novels but that would be too obscure probably and the experimental approach Moorcock often takes in this series too inaccessible to a general audience.Įlric though is full blown fantasy. Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, later to be revealed as one of the many incarnations of Moorcock’s Eternal Warrior multi-persona, will probably be Moorcock’s everlasting contribution to popculture.

Fantasy legend Elric of Melniboné is back in a European comic series endorsed by Michael Moorcock with the words ‘If I could go back, I would do it like this.’

Elric stormbringer p craig russell