Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 2: Stormbringer

This is part of an amazing series of graphic novels covering Michael Moorcock’s Elric books. As the title tells this is when Elric finally gets the cursed blade Stormbringer. The art is fantastic full of dark images, evil and plenty of blood befitting Melnibone’s reputation. If you haven’t read the Elric books this is a fantastic introduction. If you have it brings the books to life.

Blondel/Poli continue to blow it out of the water. Liberties are taken with the story, this is true, but I went into this with an open mind as Moorcock himself praises the changes quite highly. This is part two of a four part series, so obviously the Elric story needs to be quite abbreviated in order to fit. At this point, with the changes I have seen I am truly in anticipation for the next two books. This book deviates more than the first one, but in a very refreshing, new way that makes me yearn to learn how exactly they will take this series to the conclusion. As others have mentioned the art is writ large, maybe even better than the first one, in ways that feel bombastic and epic. Each line of dialogue is carefully chosen due to the short space available; encounters are ramped up; events are condensed into more singular ideas. There is a short deviation I feel is a bit unnecessary, or perhaps too shortened? -- Dyvim goes to wake the dragons, but we don't see the finale of this action. Instead we turn a bit disconcertingly to Elric flippantly saying he no longer needs the dragons awakened. And the part with Dr. Jest and the baby...I do like the viciousness displayed in these new volumes, but storywise that bit wasted a page that could have been better used elsewhere. But heck, I don't even mind. The art is so lovely and the personalization of Elric so good (it is practically better than the original books in making him relatable!) I just don't care about these small blemishes. Keep it coming!Also, since the P. Craig Russel adaptation was so badly printed by Titan I will mention that these volumes by Blondel/Poli are flawless. The lines, colors, paper, everything, is flawless. Nothing to complain about on the printing front.

Not to be confused with the final Elric novel by the same name, this graphic novel covers the second half of the first chronological Elric novel, Elric of Melnibone. It's both wonderfully bound and illustrated. As you can see, the cover art is breathtaking. The art inside is overall less refined than that of The Ruby Throne, but this volume also has plenty of action, so it suits it very well. This is far from a mark against the book, since the art is still great. I love when artists can depict the characters and events from a story and make them look even better than I imagined in my own mind when first reading the original story, and these two volumes are no exception.I'll stay away from spoilers here, but I really like the changes that were made to the story. The Ruby Throne and Stormbringer are still a faithful retelling of Elric of Melnibone, but the tweaks they bring to the story are both epic and exciting. The original author, Michael Moorcock, himself said that the new ideas presented here were improvements on his original concept (high praise, indeed.)If you're an old fan of the White Wolf, or are looking for an introduction to one of the most iconic characters in all of modern fantasy, Stormbringer, and the preceding volume, The Ruby Throne, are a great place to start.

A unique interpretation of the novels. I do feel this that this series shows the debauchery of the Melnibone empire in a much more vivid way that anyone else has done before. I've been a huge fan of the series since it was published in the late 70's early 80's with the Michael Whelan covers.I would love to see the rest of the novels done by Julien and his team. Thank you.

Repeating what I said for volume 1, The Ruby Throne:Truly great adaptation of Elric. The art is wonderful for the tone of the series. Moorcock notes in the foreword that the comic book authors had made some changes to the stories, and that he thought they improved on his original stories. Personally, I agree. I think the story told in The Ruby Throne does one better on the original, and, with the great art, will make this series a definitive accompaniment to the original novels.I hope these are successful enough to carry the series through the entirety of the classic novels.The comic's dark magic telling continues in volume 2.

I’ve read the Elric books many times, they’re you favourite fantasy novels. This book, along with its prequel are an excellent realisation of the world of Elric. I read them on my tablet and was more than happy with the quality of the images. Wonderful conjuring of the landscapes and characters. Highly recommended.

This is a perfect graphic novel representation of the Elric novels. It is different from how I imagined it but that's part of the fun, seeing how others interpret the series.

wish it was longer

fantastic

Amazing artwork, great colours. However a lot is either omitted and/or told completely different, certain characters, Grome is the polar opposite to what he was in the book and I have to question why?If they wanted to tell a different version of Elric, bringing consistency to the character that Moorcock had evolved over the years they should of done a complete and new original story. I think that would of worked out the best because, source material aside, this is a great comic... if short, however.