This is unlike any comic I can remember reading. It's basically a first-person monologue in comics form which was unsettling at first. But once I got used to it, I never thought about it again. The narrator, a 13th-century longbowman, walks us through the battle of Crécy, one of the first battles where longbowmen dominated over crossbows and calvary, and it's effects. The story, in typical Warren Ellis fashion, is unflinching, brutal, profane, but still Romantic. The art, by Raulo Caceres is lush black and white, and evokes the look of medieval woodcuts at times. Ellis brings a great deal of research to bear over a very short narrative and he does while providing the reader with a great deal of characterization and action. No easy feat. ( )

I love graphic novels that teach. This is all about the battle of Crecy, covering the events leading up to it and the social/historical background that precipitated the battle. While irreverant and not for children, the language and illustrations were in fitting with the narrator and what we may assume a soldier was like at the time. ( )

A longbowman's account of the battle of Crecy. Crude and simplistic in parts this is also a perfect way to teach about how divided things really were and how this was a turning point for England and in warfare.

Densely illustrated and holding nothing back, it's an interesting read, could be useful for educators, be prepared with a decent bibliography for afterwards, the only thing this is really lacking! ( )

Warren Ellis' Crécy takes the reader into the field on the side of the English during the Battle of Crécy (1346) in the Hundred Years' War. The narrator, an English long-bowman named William of Stonham, discusses many aspects of war and tactics with the reader during the English trek to Crécy. He briefly mentions the differences between the various English folk (Welsh, Cornish, Iceni, etc.) and his xenophobia is apparent. More interesting, however, is his education on warfare - how the long-bowmen came to be and their tools, methods and tactics. After all, the Battle of Crécy was one of the most important battles that revolutionized warfare.

Crécy is interesting, educational, humorous, and - perhaps most important - very gripping. Ellis has written a wonderful graphic novel and Raulo Caceres' illustrations are exactly what one would expect for the time period. Caceres is able to bring detailed, well-drawn illustrations to the story without being fancy. However, with how well-written and illustrated Crécy is, many readers may be left wanting as it is a very short volume (48 pages). But for a measly $6.99, this volume can't be beat. ( )

Ellis is in the muddy woods with the proles and bastards again - just where he likes to be. Excellent account of the battle of Crécy, with crunchy historical fact and wonderful lines. I found the art a trifle overdrawn, but it didn't bother me much after the first few pages.

Warren Ellis' Crécy is an archer's-eye view of the famous French battle. It's almost a monologue, an essay set to pictures which covers the tools of the longbowman's trade and the story of the battle in a lightning sweep. The writing is characteristic of Ellis' best style; incisive, evocative, profane, hilarious, and clear.

The book is valuable to the longbow archer for several reasons; the account of the battle of Crécy; the discussion of the longbow, its arrows, and their uses in medieval warfare; and an insight into the changes this foretold for European warfare.

Ellis is clearly fascinated by the destructive capacity of massed longbows, and the ingenuity that went into their design and use. He delights in the dirty, unfair, unchivalrous tactics the English used: intentionally dirty weapons which provoked infection, and stabbing the knights where they lay, rather than preserving as many as possible for ransoming.

For Ellis, Crecy is a parable of the arrogant rich being slain by the long-suffering underclasses. He emphasizes that the English were peasants, men whose towns had been harried by the French for generations (Ellis passes lightly over the fact that that the battle takes place many miles from these men's villages, and could only loosely be thought of as self-defence). The French are feudal lords who believe their blue blood has given them immunity from the weapons of "men of no account."

As our narrator tells us at the end, holding up two fingers: "I can kill you from three hundred paces with these." ( )