I didn't really enjoy this and I found the writing to be a little complicated at times. It felt like it needed at least 2 rounds of edits.

“All civilized societies consist of masters and lackeys. Pirates are neither one nor the other.” Captain Sylla.

My thanks to Europe Comics for a review copy of ‘Republic of the Skull Part 1’ with script by Vincent Brugeas and art by Ronan Toulhoat. It was translated from the French by Edward Gauvin.

Set during the early 18th Century we are introduced to the dashing Captain Sylla, who with his flowing blond locks and swashbuckling attitude, sails the waters of the Caribbean with his close-knit crew in the pirate ship, Neptune. His first mate, the melancholy Dutch, enjoys composing log entries to a fictitious British ‘Commodore’, who he imagines will someday capture them.

Yet his instincts may be right as these pirates’ days of freedom and fraternity are numbered as the forces of law, order, and capital prepare to bear down on them.

In this first volume the pirates capture a British merchant vessel and offer its crew the opportunity to either be set ashore or join them. Sylla gives command of the new ship to Dutch assisted by The Marquis, a freed slave. They in turn come across what appears to be a drifting ship … yet is it? No further details to avoid spoilers.

It’s clear from the authors’ informative Introduction that they see these pirates of the Caribbean as the “first adversaries of soulless capitalism” and applauds their “communal life, founded on equality and sharing”. Having read a few nonfiction works on the subject I could appreciate this stance.

I enjoyed this graphic novel very much and felt that Ronan Toulhoat’s artwork perfectly complemented Vincent Brugeas’ text. His art is colourful and bold. While most of the pirates look suitably grizzled, his Captain Sylla is impossibly handsome and looks as though he stepped off the cover of a bodice-ripping historical romance novel. However, I would warn that there are also quite mature themes in it.

Overall, I was impressed by ‘Republic of the Skull’ and intrigued as to where the story will go. I have purchased Part 2 to read in the very near future. I feel that this graphic novel will appeal to those who enjoy robust tales of pirates and especially fans of ‘Black Sails’.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Weird kind of pirate graphic novel, that insists with its introduction that pirates were really a non-violent, socialist kind of concept, and through conversation later on that the quartermaster can be thought of as a union rep for the crew. Luckily, this kind of stuff is knocked to the back burner a bit when a newly-promoted captain sees an empty vessel ripe for pilfering from – only to find it was not empty at all, but carrying a remarkable example of authority...

This, then, like so many efforts, is one stuck between needing to do something standard, engaging and classically worth reading, and something much more revisionist. The status play of all the men in charge – even as they laud anything that removes them from royal or naval command – is the better side of this, coming across well even if we might have expected to prefer more dust-ups and swashbuckling. Only now and again does it feel woolly and wordy, and ultimately, despite its insistence on politicising so much about piratical habits and their situations, this is actually one of the better examples of the genre I've seen. Three and a half stars.

Fun story, super intriguing
Cannot wait for part two
the cliffiest of hangers
The art is beautiful, the writing was a tad small, had to zoom in a lot

The artwork is totally amazing, really enjoy my reading. An interesting story about pirate! It brings up the slavery issue, and I like that it concerns about human freedom. At the ending, I kind of have a suspection towards Sylla's character which makes me want to read the next book.

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Queen and Seas
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Syllas, Maryam
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Graphic Novel
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Pirate Fantasy
4.2/𝟱

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Pirate-y art with detailed faces
~ Great mix of characters (mixed origins)
~ Enticing & captivating female character

On the high seas of the Caribbean, a pirate has just given away his bad luck & latest haul in the form of a British ship. His navigator turned captain, is setting off with the crew that doesn’t like him & some new recruits, to parts unknown. Oliver, newly minted Captain of the Fortune comes across a ship that looks ready for the plucking - only to be confronted by its Queen & the mutinous crew-to-be, who slew Portuguese slavers. When faced with fierce fighters, in saving the lives of his crew, Oliver compromises his captaincy. A war of wills & arms continues on the sea as the dangers of bowing to a queen ripples across Caribbean waters.

~ I am intrigued by Maryam, encouraged to believe in better humans by Oliver, reluctantly attracted to Syllas & anxious about what will happen next. A solid and unexpectedly emotionally conflicting beginning for what I anticipate will be a great series.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🌱THE MEH
~ Too shorrrt!

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

A pirate's comic! Treasure, naval battles and high adventure! Yes, it is all that but it is so much more nuanced than that.

There is an introduction that presents the government of pirate's ships as perhaps the most democratic form of government that has ever existed then or now. The crews were amongst the most diverse as well, including former enslaved people (some rescued from ships, others who had freed themselves).

On the other side, the side that is often presented as the good guys in history, that of the industrious merchants trying to make their living and keep countries flourishing, ignoring how much they were involved the slave triangle and how the wealth of many nations was based on that terrible institution. They are clearly exposed in this story.

Not that the characters are perfect. Some are superstitious and not above considering possibly selling some enslaved people to make some money. Also, there is the conflict between cultures of those who follow a monarchy and those who believe in the freedom and equality of the sea.

So there is plenty to issues to mine in this story for development. A lot of this book is laying the ground word but there is some action. There is also some female nudity that does have some point. So it isn't completely just eye candy for men.

I would be interested to see where this story goes. For this is in the declining days of piracy. High adventure awaits but so does conflict. The forces of the British navy are closing in and the topic of slavery is an important part of this story.

A lot of the type is pretty small and can be hard to see. I liked the illustrations. I hope that there the story is further developed for there is a lot of potential here.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinon.

Loved the artwork, but I could not read this due to the tiny print.

Captain Sylla takes over another boat. That was all I could make out of the text due to the font size.

Just could not get invested in the characters or plot. It was probably a bad idea to try after rewatching the entirety of the pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

trigger warning
<spoiler> slavery, torture </spoiler>

When they capture a new ship, captain Sylla gives the command to a dear friend and they split up, each to their own adventures, to meet in a few days elsewhere.

This feels like a bad pick for this format. The story starts with a long introduction, which was not easy to read due to tiny font in white on black background - and I was reading a pdf where I could zoom in. In general, the font was bad to read everywhere, making it exhausting to read.
We have an epistolary narration with one guy filling the log book, and no solution was found to reduce the neccessary information a bit to a more fitting size.

I did not like the art style, or the characters. I just simply don't care, so I won't read on.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

Ooo, a great taster that leaves you ready for more. Most of this book is setting-up the plot and introducing the characters, which it does well, but now that's established I'm hungry for book two. Does what good pirate fiction should, which is combining high-adventure-style sailing and fighting with interesting characters to keep the plot moving. Lots of potential for interesting dynamics between Sylla (the dramatic, Fabio-lookalike Captain), Olivier (his first mate, newly promoted to full command of his own ship, and considered a Jonah/bad-luck by some of the crew), The Marquis (pirate and former enslaved man, well-versed in the politics of on-board life and Piracy) and Maryam (leader of slave revolution). Very interested to see where this goes next.

I like the sentiment behind this and how it delves more into pirates as being freers of slaves. It's an idea I never really explored before. I feel it was just lacking something but not sure what. Feel book 2 will be good so looking forward to it!

*****5 Stars!

“All civilized societies consist of monsters and lackeys. Pirates are neither one nor the other.”

First I would like to thank Europe Comics and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. I am honored to have been given the chance to read it and give an honest review.

This adventurous tale follows the dashing Captain Sylla who sails the Caribbean with his close-knit crew: The Marquis, a former slave who sports powdered periwig; the clever, rugged Dutch; the burly, bearded Lenoir; and the first mate, Oliver, given to gloom and considered a bringer of bad luck and spends his time composing log entries address to a fictive British “Commodore”, who will someday capture them. It appears Oliver might be the only clear-eyed one among them: luckless outcasts of imperial navies, these pirates' days of freedom and fraternity are numbered, as forces of law, order and capital bear down on them.

What really drew me to this book was the title; The Republic of the Skull. It sounded like such a strong and intriguing title for a story about pirates. I’ve always been a huge fan of anything pirate related, so it was only natural I was drawn to this story. If you're a fan of Black Sails, then this is a book I’d highly recommend! The author did such a wonderful job of mixing fiction with history, all while making the story interesting and easy to fall into.

One of the things that really stood out to me about this story was the information given at the start of the book; it was such an interesting perspective on the life of pirates. The Republic of pirates implemented the purest forms of direct democracy in recorded history, and ensured that their crew was well looked after. History paints them as monsters and tyrants, while they were just “honest men” in search of their own freedom no matter how short that life of freedom might be. I felt the author really brought that out in the storytelling, I really enjoyed seeing their ways and understanding the whys of their actions.

The pacing of this story was also very well done, I felt it was straight to the point and gave a decent amount of backstory to follow, only to build up to a point leaving the reader wanting to know more. I can’t wait to read part two of this story and see more of this stunning artwork!