Absolutely STUNNING graphic novel. With a heart-breaking hero story!! If you want an amazing fantasy journey, ingageing hero's tale and dragons... this is the story for you!!

The Dragon Knight was a pleasure to read overall, with the standout quality being the incredible art. Based on old Arthurian manuscripts, I would encourage all readers to check out the foreword and acknowledgements after the story where the author writes about his experiences with these manuscripts and how they played into his original tale. Despite the beautiful artwork, the story does have quite a few moments that a fairly dark, and I would caution young or particularly sensitive readers of this. Filled with magic, danger, and adventure, the story takes readers on memorable quest through medieval times, encountering friends and foes both new and old. The pacing did feel too quick sometimes, and the story might have benefited from being expanded into a trilogy or series, but all in all The Dragon Knight was a good time.

My favorite part of this story by far was the art style. It was very beautiful visually. Where it struggled was the actual story itself. There were so many parts that just info-dumped and not enough parts that actually showed you what happened. I think there was just too much story being squeezed into only about 100 pages. It also used fridge-ing, not once but twice, to try and force growth for the main MC, but it didn't really add anything to the actual story itself. This needed to be more fleshed out, and maybe broken into 2 or 3 books to really get the full story. I will say I really enjoyed Golian and Didan's dynamic, they were my favorite part of the story besides the art.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for any type of Arthurian-inspired folktale. I don’t care if it's a new take, a completely made-up story, or an aesthetic, so I jumped at the chance to read The Dragon Knight.

The Dragon Knight is a graphic novel that tells the story of Sivar who grew up in an isolated village during the reign of King Arthur. After it is revealed to him that his father is not his birth father and that the wizard Merlin left him in the village, Sivar goes out on a quest to learn about his mother. However, his village is destroyed and he must go to Camelot to gain Merlin and Arthur’s support so he can avenge his hometown. This leads into the famous hunt for the Holy Grail.

This graphic novel appears to be the life’s work of Emauele Arioli who wrote his doctoral thesis on his reconstruction of the forgotten Dragon Knight or le chevalier au dragon in Arthurian lore. This story is retold within the graphic novel which adds an extra layer to this story. I loved the nods to Arthurian canon like Nimue entrapping Merlin and the hunt for the Holy Grail. This graphic novel appears more as a retelling of the story rather than an adaptation or take on a forgotten Arthurian legend.

The art of this graphic novel was stunning. Emiliano Tanzillo balances gore with detailed landscapes and exquisitely drawn characters. The art carried what the story lacked. I could gush about the use of colour, especially red which juxtaposes the often grey backdrops. If I were going on the art alone, this would be a 5-star read.

However, there was a lack of signposting with the story moving quickly through time not allowing the reader to catch up. For example, I would have liked to see Sivar's quest up the mountain rather than have him run away from home in one panel and then be at the top of a mountain the next. The dialogue often fell flat or was just too on the nose leaving nothing for subtlety. The dialogue served to push the plot forward rather than revealing things about the characters. Part of this may be the source material missing parts that were not reconstructed. However, that is one of the things that can be changed in a retelling, those gaps can be filled rather than just using the bare bones of the story. Creative licenses can be taken to tell a good story. Characters need to emerge as agents rather than marionettes dancing across a stage with strings attached. Throughout the story, there are anachronisms which I quite enjoyed — and that the author acknowledges in a tongue-in-cheek statement earlier in the preface — but it shows that changes have been made to the source material, I just wish more changes were made.

That leads me to the women. Again retellings allow for the fleshing out of characters and nuance that may not have been recorded. They can be updated for the 21st century. Women can have more motives than just being evil, psyches can be explored and different people can showcase different facets of their world. There is an interesting contention between women’s and men’s worlds, with men outlawing women’s knowledge. This is an important theme that is barely explored. Meanwhile, the women are confined to the tropes of the temptress and innocent, naive dupe. Then there’s the fridging trope. Only men seem to survive in this world.

The story behind the graphic novel is fascinating and the art incredible. I just wish the story was more fleshed out.

Plot:
Arioli collected fragments of an Arthurian tale to piece together the story of the Dragon Knight. He turned something so unknown to the public into a fast-paced graphic novel.
I deeply admire his dedication to his work, however, because there is so little information on the Dragon Knight, Arioli seemed to have built the story only on plot points. The Dragon Knight lacked soft moments and filler, making it feel like an outline of a story. It leaves you wanting more and feeling like you were cheated out of learning something more about the characters.

Characters:
Sivar, the main protagonist, seeks out King Arthur, but is sidetracked when he sees something else no one else can see. On his adventure, he’s accompanied by Didan, a gnome who knows a lot more than he lets on, and Golian, a half giant who’s a gentle giant.
Because the plot moves so fast, the major character points are there, but there is no buildup.

Art:
The designs and layouts were beautiful. Rarely were there white pages with panels and the backgrounds transitioned so well.

Overall: The plot was incredibly fast and felt like character development was missing. If you like Arthurian tales and wanted to read something you probably didn’t know about it, then I’d highly recommend it.

A standalone graphic novel depicting the story of the mysterious Knight of the Round Table, Sivar.

The cover is the selling point. When I see it, it invokes a feeling of adventure, danger, warmth and new beginnings. The art style seems rough around the edges, yet detailed and inviting. The colors utilized are contrasting yet subtly muted so as not to overshadow anything. And this is the same artwork found throughout the graphic novel. If anything is missing, then it’s the lack of facial expressions.

The story itself is unevenly paced making for a disjointed connection. It starts with a sort of prologue but then immediately indulges into Sivar’s life giving us bits and pieces with time skips throughout. Afterwards, the story goes back and forth between a narrator’s briefing and letting the reader’s experience the journey with the characters. The narration basically served to give information while allowing the story to skip ahead. I think if this was a series then the pacing would have been better. Also, it would have also allowed the reader to understand the characters better; they’re personalities and decisions.

The plot is interesting although why certain decisions and events happened were confusing. Since the story skips and doesn’t allow the reader to connect with the characters, it was hard to understand certain things. The story uses a sizable cast, each unique and critical for the development of the story. My favorite was surprisingly Didan, as he was witty and resourceful.

This story is quite dark in some aspects. Death of humans, death of animals including cannibalism, dark magic, ostracizing, are some of the topics in this graphic novel. I would avoid this graphic novel if any of those are not something you’re comfortable with. This graphic novel does not shy away with showing those in its artwork.

Overall, this was an interesting story but not really something I would reread. Honestly, I don’t know much about Arthurian Britain but I wanted to give it a chance because the cover was appealing. In the end, I’m still glad I did because the artwork, although detailed, was beautiful and the story was good while it lacked execution.

the art is so beautiful, it’s definitely the stand out feature of this graphic novel !! the story was interesting but the pacing felt off & i think lacked a little depth. but still an interesting enough, quick & easy read with beautiful artwork :)

Thank y9u so much Netgalley for an advanced ARC of thos Novel

I do love history and rhis is a graphic novel of Arthur and merlin, the art style is lovely the story is engaging and also u want to see him succeed, its a very quick read with action that is really good.

This was not for me, unfortunately. Firstly, the artwork. There were a few full-page drawings that were absolutely stunning. In fact, the backgrounds and the creatures were a visual treat. There was one panel that reminded me of Nightmare before Christmas. But the drawings of the <i>characters</i> weren't really my style, in the sense that it felt like we were watching puppets move across the panels.

As for the story, it was okay. The characters could have had more depth. I think this book could have been split into two parts instead of trying to jump through so many plot points in one graphic novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. My reviews are my own.

I fell in love the second I saw the cover. The art style of this book is truly remarkable. It continued to amuse me throughout the whole book. But sadly, I cannot give 5 stars to the publication. Even though there is an introduction at the beginning, for me, the story felt too rushed. I couldn't really get attached to our characters because we had no time to get to know them.

For me, it was a bit disturbing that we switched between storylines so often. This way, it's difficult to get really involved in them; the flow feeling is not very strong.

But it is enjoyable, the plot is great, and it is definitely lore-heavy and beautiful! Those who don't like gore should avoid this comic book.


Thank you for the ARC Netgalley!

A quick, interesting comic about a missing chapter in arthurian legend. If you're a fan of legends, it's definitely worth the read! The story was bizarre and interesting, and I read it in one sitting. For a really old legend (several thousand years), the weird events and plot holes make sense, though I found Arthur to be needlessly cruel at first and Merlin was just a bumbling buffoon, which was a little annoying. Hard to really critique given that the story was reconstructed. I also found myself wondering after the races portrayed, and wondered why the majority of the cast was white, even though the main trio were not from the central Europe/London area like the other arthurian knights. I feel there was some lost potential to explore unheard stories there.
The whole concept of a dragon that only the MC could see that guided him to the hidden grail was really interesting though, and made for cool art.

The Dragon Knight follows the legend of knight Sivan from Author’s round table. He embarks on an epic quest to find his family’s history as well as save the world.

To start, there is animal violence which I personally did not like and felt that it did not add anything to the story. If the death of an animal companion is going to be written, I feel it needs to be a pivotal moment in the character’s story line. The relationship of the characters are surface level. I did not feel their connections between each other or their reasons for their actions. There are mysteries to Sivan’s mother that we never solved as a reader. If more was discussed I would find more interest in Sivan’s journey. The story jumped around a lot which lost me a little bit. I would like history and world building to be more invested in the story. We did not get snaps of the character’s thoughts, just their conversations.

I really enjoyed the art style of this graphic novel. The colors are vibrant and the layout was stunning. The epic journey was interesting, just lacked the emotion and the why. I found the story attractive since it was inspired/based on a recent discovery of historic documents that explore the tale of King Arthur and his knights.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy to review.

I liked the style opf this graphic novel. I really enjoy anything related to Arthurian legend. However, the pace felt somehow off?

The art style is what attracted me in the first place and rightly so. The art in the book is stunning and each characters are really distinct features which make it easy to follow the differents characters. However the pacing of the book felt off. A lot of scene were cut abruptly and jerky so i was confused about a lot of thing and often. There are no really moment were we can learn more about the main character because nothing is really built to give us information on him so we couldn't get attached.

I liked the art style, and as someone that holds a passion for medieval literature and history, especially Arthurian, I was glad to see a new addition! It was interesting that there was mention of Saxon culture, as well as the Romans leaving Britain. As a history lover, I enjoy seeing those details. I understand that the story is cobbled together from texts that were found, but the flow of the story didn’t feel well paced at times.

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

3.5
This was an interesting graphic novel, focusing for the most part on Sivar, one of the lesser-known knights of the Round Table. The story is fantastical, but the plot feels a little jerky. There were a lot of moments where the story would go "And then [name] succeded!" and just rushed off to the next story beat. Apparently, this story was cobbled together from parts of ancient manuscripts about Arthurian legends of Sivar, which I suppose explains why it feels so stop-and-start at points. The ending was lackluster, but again, they used the manuscripts as references. I did enjoy the art, though some expressions were a bit weird. I didn't care for the design of Merlin, but you barely see him, so it's excusable.

I have always been fascinated by Arthurian legends but have to admit that I had never heard of the Dragon Knight before I read this. At first I even thought that this is a character imagined by the author. It was when I read the postscript that I realised that he is based on manuscripts from the past.

The book is beautifully illustrated and the story is fascinating. There are bits where I wish it were more detailed. But I think generally speaking, graphic novels are not supposed to spell everything out but to leave some to the readers' imagination and deduction.

On the whole, this is a stunning book.

Arthurian legends were some of my favourite stories growing up, so finding retellings is always a joy. And The Dragon Knight didn't disappoint. The illustrations are gorgeous and as unique as the plot as an Arthurian retelling. The plot does have a few pacing issues when it comes to some of the scene transitions, but that by no means lessens the tale. The plot mirrors many aspects of the classic Arthurian romances but with a well-woven contemporary feel, blending the old and new perfectly. I also loved the inclusion of the source and Postface, showing Arioli's love for the original tale and the research put into bringing it to life.

Overall, it is a beautiful, magical adventure that hooked me from page one and kept me wanting more even after the end. I would read more Arthurian retellings if Arioli decides to do more.

Thank you Netgalley and Europe Comics so much for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a big fan of Arthurian legend, it was so exciting to see this newly discovered storyline brought to live in such a vibrant way. The illustrations were beautiful and really gave an ancient, enchanting feel to the story. Honestly I just wish that there was more content in between some of the scenes to make the transitions smoother and give me more to know about this hero, but I do understand trying to stay as true as possible to the original texts. Speaking of, I loved the image of one of the texts and the research information included in the final pages! All in all, an incredible story to add to an incredible legend.

Also, please let it be known that I would die for Golian.

This was an amazing and magical graphic novel. Truly a work of art! The illustrations were truly amazing! The storyline was superb with good historical background. I felt like I was right there with the characters and couldn't put it down. Five stars!