Chivalry

Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran

★★★★★

Beautifully drawn and painted, Chivalry is a sweet, charming take on Arthurian legend brought into modern times. Worth it for Colleen Doran’s art alone, which continues the style you can see on the cover: painted scenes and panels, with borders and calligraphy and margin drawings like an illuminated medieval manuscript. I’ve read other graphic adaptations of Neil Gaiman stories that tried to keep too much of the prose, but here the words and illustration are balanced perfectly to serve the story, and again, the art is amazing.

The story is kind of fantasy fusion comfort food. It follows familiar patterns, mixing the magic-item-found-in-a-shop trope with the Arthurian grail quests.

An old widow picks up the Holy Grail at a thrift shop, takes it home and sets it on her mantelpiece. Soon after, Sir Galahad shows up. He’s been looking for a long time. He keeps coming back, offering one thing after another in exchange for the end of his quest. They strike up a friendship, he gives neighborhood children rides on his horse, and eventually brings her something she’ll accept in return.

Colleen Doran (official site) · Neil Gaiman (official site)