Cover art of the collected edition published by Dark Horse Comics, featuring Cú Cullan and Morrigan
Hound is an Irish graphic novel written and drawn by Paul J. Bolger and co-written by Barry Devlin (of Horslips fame), with lettering by Dee Cunniffe and logo by Fran Walshnote . It retells the Irish myth of Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle from the perspective of the Morrígan.
The graphic novel was first published in 3 volumes in limited copies by Polish animation studio Breakthru Productions in association with Cúchulainn Entertainment. The volumes of the original run were subtitled Protector (2014), Defender (2016), and Liberator (2018). Paul drew the graphic novel in black and white with an occasional use of red. British film producer Hugh Welchman edited the graphic novel and launched three successful Kickstarter campaigns to fund the original editions.
In March 2022, American publisher Dark Horse Comics reprinted the graphic novel as a single volume—which is how Paul intended it to be read—with promotional text by Aidan Turner (actor: The Hobbit, Poldark), Peter Lord (director: Chicken Run, Pirates: Band of Misfits), and Tomm Moore (director: The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers) and a gallery of art dedicated by various 14 artists.
Hound provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Cú Cullan's decision to visit Skye after the death of his only son by Eva seems to be building up to a payoff for Skye's comment to Eva that "What goes around comes around" upon his departure from the Isle of Skye. This plotline is dropped when he goes to Brunaboyne instead upon hearing that Emer is there praying for him.
- Action Girl: The Isle of Skye is home to warrior women, including Skye who owns a school training warriors from abroad. She defends her school from Eva's Kelpies with her followers and students.
- Adaptation Name Change: The graphic novel changes the names of Cú Chulainn, Conchobar mac Nessa, Deichtire, Medb, Ailill mac Máta, Forgall, Scáthach, and Aífe to Cú Cullan, King Connor, Detira, Queen Maeve, Prince Alil, Farrell, Skye, and Eva.
- Androcles' Lion: Cú Cullan saves a magnificent bull from a ritual sacrifice and a cattle raid over the course of the story. The bull repays the favour by helping him escape from Maeve's soldiers when one of them wounds him in the shoulder and others violate the bargain of single combat.
- Animalistic Abomination: Morrigan in monster form is a gigantic crow-like beast with red eyes.
- Arranged Marriage: King Connor tasks Cú Cullan to escort Emer to marry him. Neither the king nor Emer has seen each other and the bride-to-be is unhappy that she is promised to a man older than her own father, and not by her will. Connor annuls the wedding when he catches Cú Cullan staying late with Emer, who has developed feelings for Cú Cullan.
- Bad Boss: Queen Maeve kills one of her soldiers for advising her against sending more of her people to their deaths at Cú Cullan's hands when he brings news of the deaths of a group of boys forced to gather wood for the Connact army.
- Bookends:
- Morrigan begins and ends the story with the assertion that she is the Last of Her Kind and that she was there during the events of the story, unlike any other storyteller.
- At the story's beginning, Morrigan carries Setanta away as a baby to her lair at Brunaboyne. The final battle takes place around the same mound.
- Call to Agriculture: Upon returning home, Cú Cullan settles down with Emer on her father's farm to distance himself from the life of a warrior and the meddling of Morrigan. He is shown to have spent peacetime farming again ten years after the battle against Ferdia.
- Child Soldiers:
- Eva's band of seaweed-clad warriors called the Kelpies includes at least three children, if Cú Cullan's comment when they attack Skye's school is anything to go by.
- Eva sends her only son with an axe and in armour to "take the head of every dog lover [...] or die trying" when he is only a child. He effortlessly beheads one man before fighting Cú Cullan, who only finds out that he is his son upon fatally wounding him.
- Combat by Champion: To fend off the invasion of Ulla, Cú Cullan makes a bargain with Queen Maeve in which he fights her men one by one at dawn. After several losses, Maeve breaks the bargain once by ordering more of her men to attack him together.
- Control Freak: Morrigan doesn't like it whenever Cú Cullan refuses to submit to her.
- Dark Action Girl:
- Eva leads a band of seaweed-clad warriors called the Kelpies to attack anyone who attempts to reach the Isle of Skye. She later fights her estranged mother, Skye, to take control of the latter's school.
- Maeve, the warrior queen of Connact, leads her army and those from the east and south to invade Ulla. She effortlessly hurls a spear at Morrigan as they march through a river, exposing the goddess' disguise as she turns into a crow. Near the end of the story, she leads a surprise attack on Cú Cullan with a short sword.
- Death of a Child:
- Cú Cullan kills a number of children over the course of the story: three among Eva's Kelpies when they attack Skye's school; a group of boys forced to gather wood for the Connact army; and his only son by Eva on the Fomorian Stones. The last two cases take place under Morrigan's influence.
- Cú Cullan comes across the corpse of a child at the beginning of the invasion of Ulla, in which Morrigan taunts him over not being there to protect the boy in time.
- Death of the Old Gods: The Followers of The Great Mother Danú retreated underground in the past when they suffered a devastating loss to the Sons of Mil. Morrigan is the last of them during the events of the story.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Detira is a loving mother to Setanta, kissing his forehead after she tells her brother, King Connor, that the boy is strong like his father the sun god. She dies trying to get him off Morrigan's claws when he is only a baby.
- Died Standing Up: Cú Cullan dies tying himself to a stone with a blanket given by his uncle.
- Disappeared Dad: Cú Cullan leaves Eva pregnant to return to Erin after they carry on an affair for months. The only time he sees his son, she sends the boy away to Erin to fight him and neither of them realises who the other is until the boy dies by the Gae Bolga.
- Disney Death: Emer seemingly dies from the shock of King Connor's bull running into her when one of Maeve's soldiers attempts to capture it away from her father's farm. A grieving Cú Cullan fights Maeve's soldiers in her name but she eventually awakens in the middle of her funeral.
- Divine Parentage: Cú Cullan is the son of a mortal woman named Detira and the sun god Lú.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: During the final battle, Morrigan appears as a gigantic monster to Cú Cullan and the warriors of Ulla. Emer, the only non-combatant present, courageously proclaims that the goddess of war doesn't scare her. Emer pays the price for this with her life as Morrigan responds, "I don't want you scared Goose... ... I want you gone!"
- Doorstopper: The omnibus edition counts 504 pages and weighs 3.54 pounds.
- Dual Age Modes: Morrigan can change between the form of a dark-haired young woman and the form of a Fomorian hag called Calatin.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: As the goddess of war, Morrigan detests concepts like peace and mercy. It is best seen near the climax of the story when she says it's shameful of Cú Cullan to spare Queen Maeve and stop both sides of the war from fighting any further.
- Evil Matriarch: In kidnapping Setanta as a baby, Morrigan causes the death of his real mother, Detira. She encourages Setanta to pursue what he's best at since then, referring to herself and him as mother and son. He eventually discovers that she's a cruel and manipulative goddess who wants him to be a relentless killer for the sake of war and to restore her to power.
- Fighting Your God: During a party held by King Connor, Father Kava prays for Morrigan to side with Ulla and never against them. In the climax of the story, he and the warriors of Ulla come together with Cú Cullan to fight the goddess of war when Cú Cullan reveals that she, not Queen Maeve and her kingdom of Connact, is the true enemy.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Maeve of Connact despises King Connor for preferring sports and parties over battles. Halfway through the story, she wages war against his kingdom of Ulla out of pride and greed, unaware of her advisor's manipulation. She eventually decides to "take more than King Connor's bloody bull" and encourages her allies to "reap all [they] want" as well.
- God Was My Copilot: Morrigan adopts the form of a Fomorian hag named Calatin to manipulate Queen Maeve while masquerading as her advisor and the chief priestess at the court of Connact.
- I Lied: Morrigan tells of the prophecy of three spears for three kings when the final battle begins. She admits that she's made it up to distract everyone when Cú Cullan confronts her over fatally wounding Emer.
- Immortal Breaker: The Gae Bolga is the only weapon capable of wounding Morrigan, hence the epithet "The God-Killer". A decisive hit is enough to turn her from a gigantic monster bird to an ordinary-sized hooded crow, at which point she states Cú Cullan will no longer hear her should he leave her lair at Brunaboyne.
- In-Series Nickname: Morrigan always addresses Emer as a "goose", even when masquerading as the Fomorian priestess Calatin.
- Insistent Terminology: Cú Cullan insists on calling the Gae Bolga by the epithet "The God-Killer".
- Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: Morrigan steals Setanta away as a baby, killing his mother in the process, to raise him as an unstoppable killer who would restore her to power.
- Kill the Parent, Raise the Child: Morrigan causes the death of Setanta's mother when she kidnaps him to raise him as her "War Hound". King Connor manages to bring him back home but Morrigan looks after him to make sure he grows up into a vicious killer in her name.
- Last of Her Kind:
- According to the opening and ending narration, Morrigan is the last of the Followers of The Great Mother Danú since the Sons of Mil won against her people for rulership of Erin.
- Morrigan claims to be the last Fomorian when she visits Farrell's farm in the guise of Calatin, Queen Maeve's advisor with a hidden agenda.
- If Calatin's comment is anything to go by, King Connor's bull is the last of some unspecified kind of ancient creatures.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: Cú Cullan eventually marries Emer, who has blonde hair like his mother, Detira. Both of the women love him—without guile or manipulation on their part unlike Morrigan—and die courageously standing up to the goddess of war for him.
- Locked into Strangeness: Setanta originally has blond hair like his mother, Detira, but exposure to Morrigan's dark power turns his hair black to reflect the goddess' influence.
- Mal Mariée: Young, beautiful Emer is unhappy about being engaged to King Connor, whom she has never met and who is older than her own father. She quickly falls in love with Cú Cullan on his mission to escort her to marry his uncle.
- Mama Bear: Detira climbs a pillar to jump at Morrigan and get her baby off the goddess' claws. She falls to her death in doing so and asks her brother, King Connor, to save Setanta with her last breath.
- Morphic Resonance: Morrigan is a hooded crow in animal form and a dark-haired beautiful woman in human form. Her unique font and speech balloon style also extend to her Fomorian guise of Calatin at times.
- Named Weapons: Halfway through the story, Skye bestows a magical spear named the Gae Bolga on Cú Cullan. The Gae Bolga is referred to as 'she' and has epithets such as "The Stretching Spear" and "The God-Killer".
- Offerings to the Gods: Father Kava attempts to sacrifice a magnificent bull to appease Morrigan before Cú Cullan stops him and offers gold to the goddess of war instead. Morrigan in the Fomorian guise of Calatin takes offence to both instances, saying that neither could appease her.
- Offing the Offspring: The duel between Cú Cullan and the boy from Alba ends with the boy dying at Cú Cullan's hands as he reveals himself as the only son of Cú Cullan by Eva.
- One-Winged Angel: Morrigan confronts Cú Cullan as a gigantic monster bird during the final battle.
- Parental Abandonment: Setanta's mother dies trying to protect him from Morrigan at the beginning of the story. His father, said to be the sun god Lú, is also absent throughout the story.
- The Power of Hate: Morrigan states that Setanta sees with all her hate whenever his Superpowered Evil Side kicks in and distorts his sight into nightmarish red imagery.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Eva is revealed to be the estranged daughter of Skye when she leads her Kelpies to attack Skye's school. They correspond to Aífe and Scáthach in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, where they are sisters at war with each other.
- Sacred Hospitality: Farrell accepts Calatin and Maeve's soldiers from Connact into his house according to the customs of Ulla. One of Maeve's soldiers strangles him to death to steal a magnificent bull from his farm.
- Save the Villain: Near the end of the story, Cú Cullan saves Queen Maeve from King Connor and stops the warriors on both sides. Maeve agrees to end fighting and Cú Cullan proceeds to expose Morrigan as the true enemy.
- Shapeshifter Longevity: Morrigan has the unique power of shapeshifting, her guises ranging from a hooded crow to a Fomorian hag. She alludes to heroes since the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages in the ending narration.
- Shapeshifter Swan Song: Morrigan diminishes from a gigantic monster bird to a bird with the head of a woman and finally to an ordinary-sized hooded crow when Cú Cullan throws the Gae Bolga at her.
- Shapeshifting Trickster: Morrigan uses her shapeshifting to manipulate Queen Maeve into waging war against Ulla.
- Shipper on Deck: Farrell says that he thinks his daughter, Emer, likes Cú Cullan. He is proven right as she falls in love at first sight with him even though he's been tasked to escort her to marry his uncle.
- Speech Bubbles: Morrigan's lines of dialogue are rendered in mixed case with a unique font.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Cú Cullan displays unnatural strength at the expense of losing his reason whenever Morrigan's influence takes hold of him.
- Touched by Vorlons: Morrigan's breath gives Setanta the ability to hear her, as well as immense strength whenever he goes berserk under her influence.
- Tyke Bomb: Morrigan imbues Setanta as a baby with her dark power as she intends to incite war through him. Even after his uncle manages to retrieve him, she watches over him and does her best to get him to embrace his fate.
- Unwitting Pawn: Queen Maeve doesn't realise that she's being used as a pawn by Morrigan—who masquerades at her court of Connact as her Fomorian advisor, Calatin.
- War Goddess: Morrigan, the goddess of war, sets her sights on Setanta and manipulates people into fighting each other to regain power for herself after peace has weakened her.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Halfway through the story, Cú Cullan attempts to settle down with Emer on her father's farm after exile on the Isle of Skye, where Morrigan cannot reach. In response to his act of defiance, she orchestrates the invasion of his homeland to force him back into fighting.
- You Killed My Father: King Connor bears a grudge against Morrigan for causing the death of his sister, Detira, to steal his nephew away as a baby.
