“Anno Domini 1000” with story and art by Thomas Gilbert is a graphic novel set in medieval Europe.

Brunehilde is a skilled healer and wolf charmer traveling across a landscape in ruins. As Brunehilde travels from village to village, she encounters death, famine, and fear and various travel companions. The villagers she meets are terrorized by a mysterious wolf, believed to be responsible for a series of child murders. She sets out to solve this mystery and bring peace to the ghostly children that haunt her.

The artwork in Anno Domini 1000 is great, especially the full panel illustrations that show up from time to time. The art is very detailed and intricate. I enjoyed this story of mystery and cruelty.

Interesting but very graphic. I struggled a little to get through it. Artwork is not my cup of tea but very effective.

Year 1000 a.d., Europe: considered to be the boundary date between the Early Middle Ages and the High Middle Ages, and predicted in the Bible to be the end of the world.
And you can actually see the end approaching by the behaviour of the people living through these times.

There's this theme of division between Christians and pagans, between religion and nature - but isn't nature itself a bigger part of religion? Isn't it the mirror of the faith?
But the hardest subject to reflect upon is madness: what is the (supposed) madness of the single, compared with the madness of the masses? The fear of the other as is unknown; the church's fear of the devil, found in everything that isn't in the schemes of the church itself; the feudal lord's fear of a rebellion from his subjects; the subjects' fear of their lord or of the uncertain times - fear that's turned on scapegoats (the scapegoats being the weak and the lost, and the animals); the animal fear of an attack from your neighbor; the fear of hunger. Fear permeates the air.

[This book is about animals, the people who understand them, and the fate that many creatures are left to face. The animal side within all of us, and what we do with it. The balance of power between humanity and nature.]

The book itself is not divided in chapters, but broadly by theme - like the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse: famine, death, war, and conquest, the last one acting as a substitute for pestilence. If you pay close attention, though, you can spot a page that could represent the plague, which in my opinion is the biggest theme of this book: infestation in the mentality of the masses via religious fervor.

Interesting and brilliantly illustrated graphic novel. Unfortunately it took a few tries to actually get through it. But i truly recommend it.

The art style is not to my taste, though it contains some stunning full page illustrations. Keep in my mind, that its quite explicit and gory.

A beautifully illustrated book with the harsh reality of humanity.

From my point of view, it portrays the correct reaction of humans to anything they cannot explain, whether it be a natural phenomenon or supernatural.

Once they are stuck on a notion, they will stick by it regardless of other evidence.

This one was emotional for me with its depiction of the destruction by humankind.

Highly recommend.


Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this!

It’s 1000 AD and Brunehilde is a wolf-charmer. As she travels from village to village, she hears talk that the End Times are coming, and then children start disappearing. When these children are found brutally, grotesquely murdered, the people turn on the wolves and the woods, but Brune is positive a human is to blame.

This graphic novel is violent, disturbing, and, well, graphic. It’s certainly not a good time, but I’m extremely impressed with it. Though the art isn’t really to my taste, it is beautifully done, and you get a sense of the roughness of the time period it’s set in. There are explorations of systems of oppression, religious trauma and extremism, mob mentality, patriarchy, and exploitation of the poor. It’s about finding compassion in the midst of all these things, and it’s about caretaking the earth we sprang from. It pulls no punches, either in the gory art or in its discussions.

Brunehilde herself is a fascinating character. Shunned her whole life for being a wolf-charmer, she still manages to be so understanding and full of goodwill for the people around her. She is happy to help whoever will allow her to, and she does all she can to understand the motivations of and have compassion for even the most despicable, deplorable people. She is strong-willed and self-sufficient and a boundary-setter.

This story is like nothing I’ve ever read, and if you have the stomach for it, I recommend it.

The artwork and story were very compelling. I'm still not sure if certain aspects of the book actually happened or if a character imagined them, but either way it drew me in.

Anno Domini 1000 is a hard-hitting graphic novel with gorgeous art, solid writing, and a contemplative plotline. The overarching themes of morality, brutality, and their unending war were so well executed they will keep this graphic novel on my mind for a while. It goes without saying that the art style and color grading are gorgeous. The creature design was also impeccably done, with unique designs where creature features often fall flat. I liked how the plot progressed in a convoluted way that kept me guessing which parts of the narrative were true and which were psychosis - in a way that mirrored Brunehilde and Othon's warring perspectives. Additionally, the writing for this graphic novel was solid, holding some of the hardest-hitting lines I've ever read. Anno Domini 1000 doesn't shy away from the brutality of the past and holds a mirror to what brutality remains today. I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel - it will be on my mind for a while.
Justice for Wolfy, though. That was one slight too far.

<blockquote>This is an ugly world you were born into.
<img src="https://imgur.com/EWQwzGD.jpg"/>
You Will See A lot of violence.
<img src="https://imgur.com/dQ8aY10.jpg"/>
Yes Not all is well in this world.
<img src="https://imgur.com/Yx1Ltip.jpg"/>
But you will see, we can resist, little by little we can heal it.
And when we've had enough of misery.
Maybe one day kindness will triumph.
<img src="https://imgur.com/r7TG5K3.jpg"/></blockquote>
Thanks so much to Thomas Gilbert, Europe Comics, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this Graphic Novel ARC, which is out now by the way, so you don't have to wait this time, Europe Comics puts these out on NetGalley 2 weeks before release date i think, i got so greedy this time and requested all of them, they are always read now.

Read This if you like the next words by the writer, because they embody what i felt this Graphic Novel was about through out the Novel.
<blockquote>I hate all systems that prey on the weak, the miserable, and the invisible, my work aims to expose and examine the violence perpetrated by states, social systems, and those close to us, That has been the through line of my art and my writing, it has been exhausting but, I think necessary.
This book is about animals, the people who understand them, and the fate that many creatures are left to face, the animal side within all of us, and what we do with it, the balance of power between humanity and nature.</blockquote>
This was very good read, Impactful on my mind, eye opening, powerful message, in defense of animals, and powerful message against the regimes that have persecuted them, one way or another, blinding everyone to the atrocities perpetrated on these creatures.

<blockquote>Children die everyday, some are simply too weak, some are too sweet for this world, only the strong survive.</blockquote>
"Some are too sweet for this world" this part was one of the most beautiful perspectives, on children dying i have read.
I like to always talk to trash about a shitty "god" who takes the lives of children before they experience this world, that they were brought into without their choice.
But some are too sweet for this world...
This story is about a serial killer who is killing kids, and the people in each village are targeting wolves instead killing them, and burning down forests around them, killing all animals inside them.
Animals are the invisible that Thomas talks about in his final word on this beautiful work.
We don't see their suffering, out of ignorance, or out of callousness.

<blockquote>I am here to baptize any who have not yet passed from this world, so they do not suffer the fate of this little damned soul!</blockquote>
It's a strong message against religions, in parts of it, past present future?
The Priest quite literally said that in answer to a woman who wanted him to baptize her baby who died after being born, she never even had a chance to baptize him in the first place.

The issue with holy texts and i always say it about Islam, Is they are simply horrible, They were wrote by horrible men, in horrible times, and we worked our asses off, to try and find different meaning to these texts, because our times are not that horrible anymore, so we are trying to find a different meaning, that goes along with our own times, with our own principals, or else the religion dies, or at least it dies in our hearts, one by one, in it's way out.

<blockquote>If you have any doubt concerning those women of yours who have finished with menstruation, then their count is three months; as it is with the ones who are still not menstruating. With those who are pregnant, their term will be whenever they give birth. God makes His matter easy for anyone who heeds Him.
at-Talaq 65:4</blockquote>
The Quran says this about when you are allowed to divorce women, and other men marry them, and it quite literally has this text on underage girls, which is through more than 10 explanations of the Quran by the biggest names in Islamic history, is always translated the same way, underage girls, for them they are saying the most casual thing in the world, it's not horrible, they know their prophet slept with his wife of 9 years old, But only in our age you will find people trying to change the meaning of the text, because it's one of the biggest weaknesses of the entire religion, which is full of weaknesses honestly.

For me i feel we are going around in circles when it comes to religions, it doesn't matter if we are living in the good times, where we can for the most part protect kids from these horrible texts, We still can't protect LGBTQ people from similar texts, we still can't protect atheist people from extremists who would kill them, because they are allowed to by holy texts, we still can't protect women who get beaten by their bigot husbands because they are allowed to by similar texts, There is always countries and people who will vehemently be against such things, even if against the world of "Allah", And there is always those who give passes because of his word.
And there is no allowance to change these texts once and for all, so you can give them a different interpretation now, but maybe in 100 years or 200 years, things go so far down the shit drain, that the extreme interpretations float to the surface again, and again people will suffer because of them.

<blockquote>What other laws are there?
Do Not Deliberately cause suffering.</blockquote>
If in the end we can agree on this, all would be better, We have all these laws in place, but sometimes it feels that we are in a lawless world somehow, It's a big ass world, Russia is at war with a country that quite literally just wanted to make a choice effecting only their lands and their people.
How many countries are fighting in Syria and using it as a test ground for their new weapons? including Russia who used weapons in Syria they would never use in Ukraine?
How many Mass shootings we hear of each year in USA? how many victims?
The Voiceless masses in Islamic countries, who get discriminated against, because of religion, sexuality, gender, each year, i really stopped using facebook, to not be so educated about the misery in our part of the world anymore, and feeling helpless to change it, i got tired of blocking people, nothing is going to change it seems.

I really don't think we are there yet, we are free yet, we are living in a good world yet, since what i was afraid of happened, and i already strayed many times from what the book is about, i ll just go on.

<blockquote>You know Brune, I'm happy to be on the road with you.
and it's fine if you don't want to sleep with me, i like you anyway.</blockquote>
You know what Paulini fuck you, this guy was horrible honestly, He was the traveling partner of the protagonist Brunhild for most of her journey, if a man ever tells you that sentence, block his ass.

<blockquote>A man? what for? we spend enough time in their world, It's a world i don't like, I've endured too much at their hands.</blockquote>
You know i love feminism, I Identify with Feminism, i speak about and defend Feminism to the best of my ability and understanding of it all, could i fail sometimes? yes, Do i look bad when i fail? probably i don't know, i speak about so many touchy subjects, that i am not sure why i get unfriended anymore 😂
But here is the thing, and i notice it a lot, why does Feminism talk always descend to killing men, or cutting their dicks and balls?
It's beyond me, it's stupid i know the writer is male, but i see real females who do this shit, so why does it have to go there?
is that kind of talk helping women? Nope
Is it hurting the movement and giving it needless haters? Probably Yes
Did women in USA and Europe start getting equal pay suddenly that we don't need to talk about such things anymore, and need to instead talk about penile dismemberment?!
I am not sure, but last i heard and that was ages ago, Ricky Gervais gets paid the same money that two women get for doing the exact same job, and actually we should never stop speaking of such matters, because even if you do get equal everything, there are still women in other countries suffering what you used to suffer, we should give them voice, and spotlight, But no forget about all that, let's just speak about killing men, or cutting them up, and totally getting away with it, on the most famous of social platforms, when men wouldn't even dare speak of similar stuff.
Little things like that blind from bigger goals, and i feel that's usually how all movements end, in petty squabbles, being happy with little gains that they got in the start.

I keep getting derailed, and i jinxed myself thinking this was going to be an awesome review after the first two quotes, Read this there is a wolf charmer, a crazy serial killer pastor, and best of all ugly ass angels inside, not sure what else i should say for you to read it, they are really ugly!

This is so deeply meaningful. My brain is still struggling to find the words. The purpose of this book and two others by this creative team is to question the violence and injustice enacted by societal systems like government, religion, etc.

This graphic novel is set in 1000 A.C. in Frnace that follows two characters in multiple timeliness, as their stories intertwine. Brunehilde and Othon. Brunehilde is a wolf charmer and naturalist who tries to bring peace and health with her. She is constantly trying to help people in need despite danger. People look down on her as a possible witch, while they praise the monks and priests who are promoting wholly unethical things and gluttony. It definitely shows how someone's faith is no indication of their morality.

Othon is a man who began having visions that led him on a path, likely due to the onset of schizophrenia due to his age and being a male. As a monk, who violently lost his best friend to an attack by norsemen on their monastery, his vision was "awakened". This is such a deep and poignant commentary on religious delusion and cults, set in medieval France, a time rife with extreme religiosity and persecution of the pagan faith and vagabond lifestyle.

I think this can also teach a great lesson on how to follow the path of truth, rather than doctrine. I do not recommend this for children. This should probably be treated like a rated R movie for graphic violence, gore, and other heavy topics. This was a rough one on my soul, so be cautious with this book as it will make you think.

Anno Domini 1000 is a brutal (extremely so) yet beautiful story of the eternal fight between kindness and violence. A thrilling and heartbreaking story of preseverance in the face of injustice, and the fading connection between humans and nature.

A wonderfully illustrated graphic novel that takes the reader back to 1000 A.D. where religion reigns, mysterious happenings are punishments, and lore and superstitions are deemed witchcraft and sorcery.

I felt let down horribly by this book. There was just so much senseless violence and a barely there plot. Yes, humanity is cruel, but what is the point of the story? This was a violent, illogical pain to read and I disliked most of the character designs and art style.

TW; religious trauma, graphic religious imagery and indoctrination, graphic injury, death / murder of a child, animal death / injury, ritual sacrifice, execution,




Set in Europe in the year 1000, Anno Domini (or, as it translates, ‘The Year of our Lord’) follows the nomadic Brunhilde (and her trusty companion, Wolfy). She is a healer and wolf-charmer, traversing the wilderness before becoming caught in a frenzy of famine, death, and of mysterious, brutal child murders. Determined to solve the mystery and appease the lost souls of the children, Brunhilde sets out on a mission - at her own peril.

Please be warned that this graphic novel is precisely that - GRAPHIC. There is truly nothing left to the imagination here; despite the title Anno Domini (‘The Year of Our Lord’), this comic truly caught me off guard with the strength and intensity of the violence in the name of religion throughout. If you are coming into this with any semblance of religious trauma please tread lightly - this is PACKED full of ecclesiastical, pious litany concerning eschatology, cleansing and redemption - spread by zealots of the so-called-apocalypse which they claim is fast approaching. This is an unsettling and potentially upsetting read, but I found myself gripped by it. There were moments when the plot felt it was jumping around a little, which could potentially have used a little refining but ultimately the story and the message was conveyed as intended.

I thought this was a really interesting way to remind us of the violent history not only of religious fanaticism, but of power, poverty and injustice throughout lands - the drastically unjust distribution of wealth between monarchs and peasants, the fight for respect in oppressive systems of societal hierarchies, and even dwells lightly on human nature when it comes to altruism vs self preservation.

I must also add that I was honestly blown away by some of the art throughout this - despite the gore, often the imagery is staggering, arresting and powerful - the horsemen of the apocalypse were a consistent highlight.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was an interesting tale to read, but also had an odd plot pace. There were several points where I found myself confused about what was happening within the story. This story is from the viewpoint of Brunhilde, a wandering healer, and wolf charmer, though many would call her a witch or heretic. She travels across southern France and sees many terrible things on her journey. Murder, famine, the desolation of the forests, and invading armies. But she also sees good. The plot largely is about Brunhilde and her travels, but in the last part of the book, it turns into a murder mystery. I did find it interesting each chapter starts with a beautiful illustration of one of the four Horsemen. This graphic novel doesn't shy away from the truths of the time period. It is very gruesome at points, though honestly life during that time could be just as gruesome. I did like this novel.

Well drawn and a nice story, but not my case. I don't like how the story unfolds, it's not gripping at all and I really had to force me to finish it.

Still the reason for that is just my personal liking, objectively speaking it's a well done graphic novel.

Very exciting story with great art and writing. The story is well developed and easy to follow. A twist at the end! Could not put it down. Well done.

Many thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for the ARC!

5⭐ for a thoroughly enjoyable comic.

Anno Domini 1000 begins with a beautiful landscape just before a storm with sheep and their shepard boy dotted along it. The colors shift into darkness as the winds pick up and the rain begins to pour, and we're left with a scenery of profound emotion found in the eyes of ewe and child. The scene shifts to that of the main character, Brunehilde, and her companion, Wolfy, as the meet a fellow traveller, Paulini. They become companions on the road as they go from village to village discovering much of the same at each one: famine, death, and the hunting of wolves.

Children are being slaughtered, and at each village, the assumption is the same: wild beasts are after the young. Brunehilde thinks differently though; a wolf-charmer, she speaks and knows the wolves. This is not how they kill or hunt. But to those she tries to redirect, she finds no listening ears and fear of being labeled a witch shuts her mouth before long.

She decides to go on the hunt herself and find the killer, but if she's not careful, she may be the next victim.

I really enjoyed the art style, the use of color, and the heavy dive into depicting angels according to biblical standards. The way memories are depicted and made distinct--mimicking the way images flash in ones mind when hearing a story. There were what felt like Hieronymus Bosch references at points in the novel. And I really appreciated the historical accuracy in depicting crucifixion on an x instead of Christ's t-cross.

Highly recommend it.

"Have pity, Lord!" "There, there… Do not fear. Only you can swell our ranks with soldiers. You can sense when a soul is pure."
A mysterious killer, haunted by heavenly visions, roams free and kills children, while frightened villagers blame wild animals in the forests besieged by axes and flames.

"Your daughter will be a link between men and nature, so that we do not forget where we came from."
A mysterious girl who talks to wolves, sees things unseen and heals the wounds of flesh and soul roams the forest, accompanied by her half-dog half-wolf guardian.

"A bed of straw... a roof... and some beer will do me fine."
A wise, cynical, thieving, crooked wanderer sells cures and trinkets in the villages he passes (just once).

"Reject Pagan heresy!"
A fat, exalted monk shares the word of God to undernourished villagers.

"What a fine tree. It will yield a magnificent cross for the new refectory."
A young monk, haunted by longings and nightmares, searches for his way.

An earl who imposes his justice. A wandering woodsman. A peasant whose poisoned harvest forces him to seek his fortune elsewhere. Women who weave silence. Invaders. Assassins. Thieves. Angels. Saints. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. So many real and imaginary characters in the tragic saga of a woman trying to follow her own path and stamp out evil in a cruel and violent Middle Ages, when men are beginning to impose order on nature, when women are trying to civilize their men, and when the old gods are being destroyed by the new faith.

A superbly drawn book, with a strong, elegant line and colorful, atmospheric, colors-messages in the service of a rocambolesque and programmatic story, with surprisingly modern themes and messages, despite the medieval clothing. Excellent.