Mrs Whitaker, an elderly widower, finds the actual Holy Grail in a charity shop. Which was nice. And who should show up on her doorstep shortly after? Only Sir Galaad, one of the Knights of the Round bloomin’ Table. It’s all kicking off for this pensioner!
Neil Gaiman rarely writes comics anymore but he’s well-known for it and I’m sure the demand from his large fanbase for more and new Gaiman comics is up there. Enter: comics adaptations of his short stories from years past. And so you have books like Chivalry, where Gaiman didn’t do anything except allow artist Colleen Doran to adapt his story from his first short story collection, Smoke and Mirrors.
Out of all of the narrative mediums Gaiman travels in - comics, novels, screenplays et al. - he’s the best at short stories. Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things are both outstanding books full of amazing stories - highly recommended if you’ve not read them. Chivalry translates really well into the comics format, entirely because of Doran’s skill as a cartoonist, though the original story was good too.
The only criticism I would say is that the story is quite one-note: it’s just Galaad offering Mrs Whitaker one fantastical object after another in exchange for the Sangrail. Still, the story has a pleasant light comedic tone to it and it’s unexpectedly moving at times too - both Mrs Whitaker and Galaad are written wonderfully. I liked that there’s no convoluted explanation to try and make Galaad’s appearance make sense either - he just is, and that’s fine. The ending is very sweet too.
Doran’s afterword is definitely worth reading as well. She explains why the adaptation is happening now, and you’ll learn just how dedicated an artist she is - the lengths she went through to get the effects in this book bordered on unreasonable.
And the art is the most amazing part of this book. Her watercolours are beautiful and the illuminated manuscript pages are remarkable. The level of craftsmanship in this story is nothing short of astonishing. It’s no wonder she was awarded the Eisner earlier this year for Best Adaptation From Another Medium.
Chivalry is one of those rarest of books: an award-winner that deserved it. I really enjoyed this one - Chivalry is a charming, delightful gem of a comic as worthy as Galaad for the Grail itself!
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