I enjoyed this tale of the interaction of mortals and immortals centered in Norse mythology. With the culturally unlikely premise of homosexual social equality. More than the plot, I found the artwork to be quite splendid, spirited, expressive and fluid. Watch this artist!

Aydis is a young Viking lady who has been outcast from her tribe because she was caught kissing another girl. She is a brave, determined warrior who vows to break a curse Odin has put on the immortal Brynhild. Along her journey she meets a number of gods, the Valkyrie and immortals. A well drawn, well written graphic novel which kept me interested to the end and finished with me looking forward to Aydis further adventure in Volume 2.

This was such a delightful read. The art is pretty with a slightly messy feel. But it’s a good type of messy it fits the story perfectly and really added a lot. The art style was actually what pulled me to this book and the story was what kept me there.
Heathen follows the story of Aydis a young warrior who has been exiled form he clan for being a lesbian. But she does not give into despair or simply lay down and accept her fate. Instead she sets out to free Brynhild who is a fallen Valkyrie. In her quest, she hopes to bring justice not only for herself but for Brynhild and other people who have been cast out by society.
This book is filled with interesting characters and while many of them we only meet shortly they all have an impact on the story. They all have personality and come alive on the page. I found myself falling in love with just about everyone I met. But I love Aydis most of all. She’s such a great character with a good heart and strength to match. But what I love the most is while this is a story filled with warriors it is also a story filled with love.
By the last page I was already hungering for more and I cannot wait to read the next issue. What a wonderful series. And we’re in luck because I think the second volume was kickstarted recently so keep your eyes open!

Norse mythology, queer love, dreamy artwork - be still my heart! This is the best graphic novel I've read this year. I can't wait for the next part.
(I will be tweeting about this book on publication day.)

Heathen is so awesome that wow. I wish it had been longer, since wow. You cannot really go wrong with lesbian Vikings and Valkyries and of course awesome ladies kicking asses. A Viking girl named Aydis is an outcast for she wants to be the greatest warrior and well, she has a thing for the ladies instead of gents. She decides to save the Valkyrie Brynhild from her eternal flame doom with her talking horse and it's all about Odin. She wants to destroy him. The whole thing sounds so awesome and the atmosphere is dark and meaningful in a sense. The plot is surely interesting and I loved how the girls don't need men to be what they are. The flow of the comic is great and the rhythm is well paced so that the whole comic is over before you wanted it to be. The characters are multifaceted and versatile, which makes the comic very real.

The art is crude but light with darkness in it. It's just perfect for the comic and reminds me of rock paintings, so very Viking-like. The brownish color world is perfect and the women are gorgeous. The panels are simple and effective - more or so it's not in the art, but how Alterici has managed to put the atmosphere into her art that is quite simple. That in itself in awesome. More pages would've been better though, since the comic hardly even started. Otherwise I'm sold. I love it.

Aydis is the heroine of this story, clad in a bikini under a fur coat out in the snow. She’s telling stories to her horse—not so farfetched, as it turned out—as exposition about her quest, which is to save Brynhild—as the chief Valkyrie is spelled here—and maybe kiss her. But of course things are never that easy, especially when mythological creatures are involved; in her case, she might be lucky that becoming a plaything of the gods is the worst thing that happens to her.
It doesn’t take long to find some hilarious characters, in this case the two wolves who bicker like an old married couple. “I liked him.” “Me too. I’m glad we didn’t eat him.” The horse they’re talking about, Saga, might be my fave equine of all time, even if he’s described thusly: “Oh that’s right, you’re not the flying kind of horse, just the annoying kind.”
Best line: “Let’s walk off that stutter.”
Norse mythology is a bit different than usual here. This Freya, for example, reminds me of Aphrodite—playful yet plotting—when the two goddesses of love are usually so different. And just because I’ll never have another chance in my entire life to say this, “Don’t hate the Freya, hate the game.”
The cliffhanger did its job; I want more. This was thoroughly enjoyable; I liked just about every character, except for some of the gods. The artwork is not typical, somewhat like sketches that have been watercolored, but it works well with the stark landscapes featured here.
About 10 pages of other covers to finish things off.

Initially when I started reading this comic, I wasn't overly sold on the art style. I'm used to bright colours and clean lines with other graphic novels, however as I continued reading, the art style really grew on me and I enjoyed the muted tones and the rougher, sketched art.
One of the main things I enjoyed about this comic was the fact that along with it being based on norse mythology, it was also a coming of age story and about finding out who you are regarding sexuality - this wasn't something I was expecting and added a little something extra to the story.
I loved the characters Skull, Hati and Saga - they added pops of unexpected humour and some of the artwork for the wolves were some of my favourite pages in the comic. I'd happily have the full page art as prints for my room.
The cover art gallery at the end had some really beautiful art too that I'd also happily have as prints.
I only wish this was a bit longer because once I finally got invested into the story it ended.

When I saw this I was like queer vikings? SIGN ME UP! And it definitely did not disappoint. Really the only reason this got 4 stars from me instead of 5 is because it's the first volume so a lot of it is introduction and I really think it could have benefited from stretched out into 5 issues instead of 4 because it was good but it did feel a little bit rushed. Still the art is absolutely gorgeous, I love Norse mythology, I love queer characters in a historical setting, and the entire thing was just really fun. I can't wait to see where it goes next!

I loved this graphic novel. Amazing art and story. I'll recommend this one to everyone.

Gorgeous artwork but the story lacked that sense of excitement for me.

This book had me at 'female Viking warrior', to be honest. When I started reading Heathen, I was happier to learn that it is basically a story about a lesbian Viking warrior named Aydiswho gives a finger to the patriarchy and Odin. Oh, and it also retells Brynhildr's story, with Aydis being the latest mortal to free her, in an attempt to prove to her clan (that cast her out for kissing a girl) that she is as brave as any male warrior. The main theme of the book is, you guessed it - fight the patriarchy. We also have appearances by Skull and Hati, who are the cutest wolfs to ever wolf, and can bring Ragnarok for all I care.

Aydis's story, while starting out as a result of her realizing her sexuality and the fact that she lives in a world where queerness is considered unnatural, develops into a story about a brave warrior who sees that is wrong for anyone, even the god-king to dictate how a woman should live out her life. She promises to free Brynhild from her curse of marrying mortals and living out in exile till the end of the world. Brynhild, too, sees her bravery and is reinvigorated to defy Odin and his curse. There are the Valkyries, who are being held by Freya (for the meanwhile), who thinks they should not be just in the business of war. The mood is mostly dire but there are a few comic scenes involving Saga, Aydis' horse.

The artwork looks rough-hewn and has frantic brush strokes, and usually I'm a fan of clean lines, but in this case, it lends a beautiful sense of dynamism to the storytelling, bringing out the action scenes in much more detail. The character design and costumes are also quite beautiful, and I loved the call out to the idea that Vikings have horned helmets.

As a whole, this is one feminist retelling I think a lot of people would like. Coupled with the interesting artwork and the brilliant story, I recommend this for fans of Norse mythology.