Berserk, Volume 17
Posted in Other Comics on 30. Jul, 2010
- ISBN13: 9781593077426
- Condition: New
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$6.24
Product Description
Warrior supreme Guts, the Black Swordsman, has seen better days - and more popular - in the kingdom of Midland, a land he once defended as captain of the Band of the Hawk. But the Hawks were betrayed and slaughtered, and now the hyolier-than-thou Holy Iron Chain Knights have captured Guts and plan to whip some repentance into him - literally. But Guts isn't so easily held at bay, at when he manages to escape with the Holy Knights' leader, Farnese, as his hostage, the demons that are drawn to Guts' Brand of Sacrifice are all too willing to show her the teeming darkness in her own soul!
Berserk, Volume 17
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Berserk, Volume 17 (thankfully) picks up where Volume 16 left off (thank God for no more background stories). Guts kidnaps the leader of the Holy Iron Chain Knights to escape from their camp, while fighting the darkness. There is more character development, as we see Guts’ rage stemming from his past experiences with the God Hand, which allows the reader to understand Guts’ hatred towards them. **SEMI-SPOILER ALERT** Also it seems that Griffith will be reincarnated into the human-realm, which is exciting! Near the end of the Volume 17, we are introduced to even crazier characters. This is definitely NOT kid’s stuff! And I’m glad that there’s a graphic novel that is both smart and entertaining, and happens to be for the “older” crowd. My only quip is that these Volumes tend to take a long time to come out!
Rating: 5 / 5
berserk is the best comic ever. but even the best comic ever can get a little off track sometimes….the last couple issues have had a little too much comic relief from guts’ elf sidekick. but issue 17 it getting back on the right track. insanesly detailed drawing and viciousness that continues to surprise. and the feeling that something bigger and more unbelievable plotwise is developing. and new mysterious crazy looking bad guys! someone just tell Miura to be careful with the jokes and cuteness.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book starts out with Guts kidnapping Farnese, and showing her a world the likes of which she couldn’t have dreamed, one that is sure to give her nightmares (and perhaps a fantasy). After fending off his night-time attackers, Guts rests while Farnese becomes striken by his strength and courage, which only adds to her personal conflictions. As a whole, there is interesting dialogue and chemistry between Guts and Farnese, but Guts is devoted to vengeance. He does, however, seem to derive joy from taunting Farnese about her religion, and how naive she’s been up ’till now.
The main purpose of this book as a whole seems to be to set the stage for upcomming events. That’s not to say plenty doesn’t go on in the meanwhile, as it paints a desperate picture of the world at it’s breaking point, one with Plague in Midland, famon in the Holy Lands, sinister evil masquerading as the word of God, dreams of a white hawk amongst the people, and prophecies of it’s return.
Couple all that with an appearence from Zodd and the Skeleton Knight, the course is set for something big looming on the horizon. Guts has a terrifying dream about Casca being burned for heresy, and awakes to see Casca’s Demon child in the shadows, who warns him of the dream’s truth. He now has a new mission, and visits Godo’s house in the mountains to find Casca’s been missing for a month. He takes a break to get his equipment repaired at the hands of an older Rickert who is taking up the blacksmithing trade as Godo is in bad sorts at his age, but is still cognizent enough to give Guts advice to move on with his life after he finds Casca and give up his quest for revenge. While resting in the cave away from the spirits that torment him, he begins to reflect on the past, and recieves a visit from the Beast within him again, but shrugs the encounter off to my joy as he appears to resist being swayed by it -for now. With his equipment repaired, he sets off to find Casca.
Casca is being cared for by a group of prostitutes in the Holy See, who are wise enough to protect the fragile and aloof Casca by wrapping her face in bandages and keeping the men at bay with misgivings of Syphilis. But it’s in the Holy See that we are introduced to Mozgus, the inquisitor. We find out that Mozgus is a madman who kills a ton of people in grusome ways under the misguiding that he’s doing it for god, and the people are very upset at him for it. He also travels with a group of servants to help torture and kill, who, as a group, would make for a tough fight even for the Black Swordsman.
All the players are in place, the stage is set for Griffith’s return, and Guts is still looking for Casca who might be in danger. As you can see, there’s a ton going on in this book, alot of plot development, alot of character development, it’s a little light on swordplay though. On the upside to action junkies, there’s decent gore, but this book is crucial to the forthcomming plot and acts accordingly. But it’s an intersting read anyway, I highly recommend it as you will miss out in later books not knowing the set-up this book provided.
Rating: 5 / 5
Berserk’s 17th volume is a fantastic addition to the epic storyline already in motion. The story picks up exactly where the 16th volume leaves off, with no introspection or backstory to get in the way. Guts must free himself from the Holy Iron Chain knights and attempt to reunite with old friends and allies. The plot quickly progresses, and by the end of this volume you are definitely wanting to see what happens next.
If you’re this far into the series, you know what to expect in terms of content, and this volume definitely doesn’t disappoint. Blood, guts, and nudity are standard issue, as is the series’ dark humor and wicked violence levels.
If you are still reading this, just stop. Seriously. I’m done here. Buy this as fast as you possibly can. You’ll definitely enjoy it.
Rating: 5 / 5
…and Guts realizes that while he’s been on his quest for vengence, he’s left someone near and dear to him to suffer on alone.
This volume starts us off with Guts being held captive by Farnese, Serpico and the Knights of the Holy Chain… the so-called elite order of the Papacy which is filled with sons of nobility. Of course, they’re nowhere near as resourceful as Guts, who has his own elf to help him whenever he’s in a jam. One kidnapping later and Guts has Farnese hostage with Serpico in hot pursuit… but darkness falls and the demons come out to play. Later, Guts makes a return trip to Godo’s smithy for rest and repair only to find Casca is missing.
The mundane world of men is certainly given a dark slant as the corrupt council of cardinals is only interested in politics and money when Farnese is forced to report her failure in capturing the Dark Hawk, the inquisition is in full force killing any of the accused as witches and heretics, and the world is certainly going to pot with Midland being overrun by the Kushan army and plague everywhere. On top of that, though no actual apostles of the Godhand are seen, the spirit world is also in motion as the deformed ghostchild that haunts Guts and Casca appears to warn our vengeful hero.
It is a time between battles as old characters are relagated to supporting roles and new characters are given depth… and new villains are introduced. It is good to see several familiar faces have brief scenes to give a wider view of the darkness that is infecting the land and show that while the world is turning around the axis of a few select characters we know and love/hate, the ripples of effect are wide and far reaching.
The art is standard Miura love with an equal amount of time and detail put into everyone from the high and mighty grand inquistor, to the lowly peasants who dare to challenge him. Be warned, though, in typical Miura style, nudity is NOT taboo… particularly in a scene between Guts and Farnese that would drive a Freudian to fits.
All in all, book 17 is a great volume of character development the fleshes out both the individual motives of many of our characters and gives a greater sense of the politics of the powers that be.
A solid buy recommend, with the caveat that this is NOT a kids book.
Rating: 5 / 5