Despite being the title character, Thorgal himself appears only once in flashback, but that has no negative effect on the story, further proof of just how much time Van Hamme has put into character development.

He’s been developing his cast since 1977, and they now have very authentic personalities, so when Van Hamme applies the golden rule of drama, putting your heroes through the wringer, his characters have been believably shaped by their trials and tribulations. Writer Jean Van Hamme handles the gritty unsettling reality Aaricia and her children face with incredible sensitivity without watering it down. The Brand of the Exiles is a compelling and well-paced suspense tale that doesn’t flinch from portraying the brutal aspects of Viking culture. Their lives are in danger, but they are a family with unique talents and this crucible of fire will only make them stronger… if they survive. Little do they know that someone has carefully orchestrated their misfortune and isn’t content with just their exile. Alone without land or clan to protect them, they are vulnerable to slavers and bandits. There are revelations that result in Aaricia and her children being exiled, chased out into the wilderness. That all changes when the dreaded pirate Shaigan the Merciless captures a raiding party with only one man left to tell the tale.

Since Thorgal’s departure from his family three years earlier in an effort to keep them safe from the misfortune that continually dogs him, his wife Aaricia, son Jolan and daughter Wolf Cub have found relative safety and acceptance in the Viking village of her birth.

Aaricia by Grzegorz Rosiński