If anyone knows anything about me, they know I am a sucker for a good Swashbuckler. Yes. I love stuff like The Three Musketeers, Zorro, and just about anything and everything to do with Pirates. My introduction into this type of genre probably comes from films like the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones (tonally, very much based on old Swashbucklers and westerns and Sci-Fi). If it’s been a while since you’ve sat down and read a book with some panache, or you’ve only seen some Disney flicks, pull up a seat and a pint o’ grog ‘cause Ol’ Johnny will give ye some tales.
(As this is a very large and diverse genre, I will keep it to stuff that is more recent or as of this writing still in print and available)
One of my favorite stories from when I first read it in High School is The Count of Monte Cristo. This has probably been adapted too many times to count, from Classics Illustrated #38 (extreme “Cliff Notes” version of the story), to Marvel Classic Comics #17 (again, extremely abridged) this tale of revenge still gives me a rush of excitement every time I read it. If I had to recommend one edition at the moment it is the Manga Classics version that came out a few years ago. It stays fairly close to the book, and you still don’t have to sit through all the Napoleonic War stuff that is abridged out of most versions of the story. If you have never read this, definitely give it a shot.
If you enjoy stories like Man in the Iron Mask, or The Three Musketeers (okay, I like Alexandre Dumas a lot), there was a book published by Aftershock in 2021 titled Seven Swords. It is a high seas adventure starring characters from literary history Such as Captain Blood, Don Quixote & Don Juan and Cyrano De Bergerac in a world spanning adventure chasing down Cardinal Richelieu (from Three Musketeers) to thwart his diabolical plans. If you like classic literature, it’s a fun time.
“But Johnny, I thought you liked Pirates”, and ye’d be right. Jury is still out on Skull & Bones, although the first two issues I’ve read have been decent (just not really knowing what to expect from the game as it’s been through production hell with too many changes to what the game is supposed to be), but if I had to pick one that’s just stupid good fun, it would be the Sea Of Thieves comic that tied in with the game. Sea of Thieves follows the two rival children of The Pirate Lord, a spectral figure who is one of the first characters you meet in the game tutorial to show you the ropes. The comic follows his offspring on their way to find the Sea Of Thieves and if you are unfamiliar with the game, this is a good primer that can help you learn a bit about the lore and some of the game mechanics (like bananas being a bit of a cure-all). The follow up “Origins” is an anthology set in the game world. Fun times.
For something a bit less cartoonish, I would say check out A Man Among Ye from Image Comics. It follows Anne Bonnie and Mary Read, set in the early 1700’s Caribbean, however that’s about where the historical accuracy stops. It is very much in the style of Hollywood blockbusters like Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean… closest you’ll get to Captain Jack Sparrow in this would probably be “Calico” Jack Rackham. But yes. If you enjoy canon fire, cutlasses and lowlifes, and a bit of female empowerment, this is a pretty good place to start.
Having loads of memories from a kid watching old Errol Flynn movies, one of my favorites (other than The Sea Hawk) is actually a collection released about a month ago. Fleetway Pictures Library Classic Presents Captain Blood collects some early adaptations of four different Raphael Sabatini Captain Blood stories originally adapted in the 1950s. One thing I loved from the original novel that felt missing from the movie is some of the more Piratical adventures (movie gives us a montage, then jumps almost immediately into a duel with the legendary Basil Rathbone). It will be excellent to see some of that fleshed out more here as like I said, these are some of my favorite stories.
There are plenty more books I could throw out recommendations for, like Sea of Red, the Curse of the Black Freighter backups in Watchmen (even the Crimson Corsair backups from the Before Watchmen series), any of the numerous Zorro stories that have been published by Dynamite and now American Mythology Productions or even Marvel’s Starjammers and the classic Swords of the Swashbucklers for a more sci-fi slant, but hey, I can’t do all your adventuring for you. All I can do is give ya a map an’ tell ya a tale…
