I started reading this last night in bed, and though I didn't finish it all I can tell you right now, it is beautiful. The artwork is amazing, and really shows what can be done with a graphic print medium like comic books. And the writing translates the Opera into a enjoyable and entertaining read, which is more than what you can ask for. Honestly, this makes me believe in comic books again. Unlike Superman: Red Son, which more or less put me off DC stories for good, there is just a sense of wonder in The Ring and its tale of corruption, betrayal, curses and twilight.
It's good fantasy. Votan/Odin is imperfect, but is tied to the ill-advised bargain he made with the two giants who promised to build him Valhalla. The Rhinegold is a wondrous treasure, but only one who has forsaken love can wield it. Enter Alberich, who does so after being teased mercilessly by three beautiful but cruel mermaid sisters (the guardians of the Rhinegold). He forsakes love, captures the Rhinegold, and makes off to become Lord of the Nibelungs, an underworld of dwarves whom he enslaves to make them toil day and night for his own pleasure. They craft piles of gold trinkets for him, but it is never enough to satisfy him. Votan is of course desperate to find a way to cheat the bargain he made with the giants, who were promised the beautiful goddess Freia who gives the gods their vitality. He cannot let them take away Freia, for it would mean the end of the gods. He cannot renege on the bargain, for the Giants would be outraged and attack him.
So, through the advice of Loge/Loki, the demi-god trickster, he finds a compromise. Seize the rhinegold that has now been fashioned into a ring and worn by Alberich, and use that to tempt the Giants away from Freia. But to do so requires trickery and thievery, and Alberich curses the ring so that any who wield it shall never find contentment, shall only find destruction. Votan/Odin reluctantly gives up the ring to the two Giants, who quickly turn on each other. Once brothers, now enemies. Fafnir emerges triumphant after bludgeoning his brother to death, and claims the ring - and the gods, who had stood aside and watched the butchery, realise what a terrible curse the ring has on it.
And that's all I managed to read. Great stuff, huh? :D I love the fact that there is NO perfect man or character in this. Votan is tied to the bargain he made and cannot free himself from it. Alberich forswears love to have power, and finds neither in the end. Loki is despised by his siblings for not being a 'full' god, and he is bitter and cunning for it. Fafnir kills his own brother because the ring entices him, confirming the curse. And the three sisters who though were playful, were nevertheless cruel to Alberich.
Get it. Read it.
