Long Walk to Valhalla

Long Walk to Valhalla is the 2015 debut graphic novel written by Adam Smith with art by Matthew Fox. It was published by Archaia Entertainment, an imprint of Boom! Studios. The story—illustrated through blue, black, and white graphics—takes place in rural Arkansas, where protagonist Rory Ricket is forced to confront his difficult past when he meets Sylvia, a girl who tells him he is about to die. Through flashbacks of Rory’s life and references to Norse mythology, Long Walk to Valhalla explores various themes including the meaning of family, grief, and regret. The title was inspired by the Kurt Vonnegut short story “Long Walk to Forever.”

The novel opens into a brief flashback with a young Rory and his older brother, Joe, who has intellectual disabilities. While leaving a gas station where they had been purchasing ingredients for their abusive father to use to make methamphetamines, Joe stops, mesmerized by visions of “pretty things,” otherworldly creatures that only he can see. The story cuts to the present, where an adult Rory is driving out of town, having taken a job in Memphis, when his car breaks down. He is approached by Sylvia, a child wearing cardboard armor who refers to herself as the “Valkyrie of Arkansas.” (In Norse mythology, Valkyries are female soldiers tasked with guiding fallen warriors to Valhalla, the afterlife where they will await a prophesized battle at the end of the world known as Ragnarök.) Sylvia tells Rory that he will die that day and become the first person she has brought to Valhalla in decades. She then leads him to an abandoned barn, where the pair briefly debate the verity of Norse paganism. Rory questions how Sylvia seems to know so much about him before she asks him if he wants to see the “pretty things.” She instructs him to close his eyes; he opens them to see several creatures sitting around them. Sylvia explains that these creatures are a gift from the goddess Frigg and are the same visions that his older brother had his whole life.

The next scene shows the young brothers coming to their trailer to give their father Dwayne the ingredients bought from the gas station earlier. Rory tells his dad that he heard an oil line was hiring, to which Dwayne reacts angrily. He suggests that the children should get a job and threatens Rory for “backtalking.” Dwayne turns to notice Joe holding up his clay creations, reminiscent of the odd shapes of the “pretty things,” with matches sticking out of them. Dwayne snatches the art and berates Joe as the boys finish their meal and then walk out of the trailer, heading into the woods. They come across a boy named Tom who is there digging for crawfish in the creek and decide to help.

While collecting crawfish, Joe observes small, star-shaped “pretty things” in the water and looks up to see the boys surrounded by soft, friendly creatures of different shapes and sizes. He tries to get his brother’s attention but is brushed off. He then reaches for Tom, who replies rudely. This infuriates Rory, who shoves Tom into the water. The two begin to fight, and Joe looks up to see the “pretty things” beginning to appear darker, sharper, and malevolent, as if poisoned by the emotions around them. Unable to alert the fighting boys, Joe begins to have a panic attack. Rory breaks from his brawl with Tom to hold his brother, who is thrashing in fear, and calms him, telling him that the things “are beautiful” and lies that he can see them playing and dancing around them. Rory and Tom both comfort Joe as he stops struggling. In the present, Rory and Sylvia continue their walk. Reflecting on the flashback, Rory says that he does not feel like the benign creatures in the barn were the same as what Joe had seen that day. Sylvia says that the visions are what Frigg wanted him to see and are meant to help him understand.

In the next flashback, Joe and Rory, now teenagers, are in the bathroom shaving their faces, preparing to attend their long-absent mother’s funeral. On the road, the brothers come across the scene of a car crash, where four men have taken off their shirts to cover two crash victims, out of respect. When they arrive at the funeral, they sit through an entire service before realizing they are at the wrong ceremony. Once they find the correct gravesite, Joe takes off his shirt and places it over their mother’s casket before wrestling Rory to the ground for his. In the present, Sylvia says that Joe was marking the grave for the Valkyries to find their mom, but she was a coward and was not taken to Valhalla. Sylvia then asks about Katie, Rory’s girlfriend during his teenage years, and the next flashback ensues.

Rory and a pregnant Katie are sitting around a bonfire with friends when Joe comes up to Katie, motioning her to walk with him into the woods. While they are gone, Rory shares his excitement for becoming a father before they hear Katie call out. He rushes to her and learns that she was in labor. They go to a hospital in Searcy (White County) and register using fake names. After the birth of their daughter, who they name Pearl, Rory and Katie discuss their plan to skip town with the baby and Joe to start a new life. They leave the hospital early and stop by their trailer so that Rory can gather the last of their things while Katie and Pearl sleep in the pickup truck under Joe’s watch. Dwayne emerges, drunk and furious. Rory forces his dad inside to fight him, leaving the rest of his family behind. As this progresses, Joe watches a benign “pretty thing” sitting on the hood of the truck transform into a monstrous beast that attempts to attack Joe, who runs off into the nearby woods holding Pearl in his arms. Rory emerges from the trailer with a black eye and sprints after his brother as Joe runs from a horde of terrifying creatures that only he can see. When Rory catches up to him, Joe attempts to swing at him in a panic before kneeling on the ground with Pearl. Joe tells Rory that he “couldn’t outrun them” as he holds the unresponsive infant in his arms.

In the present, Rory tearfully shares his regret. Sylvia reveals that the night he lost his daughter was the first battle she had seen him lose, and that processing this traumatic event was the last thing he had to do before she could take him to Valhalla. She tells him that the sign of a warrior is knowing when a battle is over, which is why Rory is being taken rather than Katie, who continues to visit the grave of their child often. Hearing this, Rory abruptly leaves. He heads toward the church, coming across a community potluck in the yard. He sees Dwayne there but does not want to engage with his father. Rory continues walking until he reaches a cemetery behind the church, where his brother is working as the caretaker. Rory and Joe stand together at Pearl’s grave, engaging in awkward small talk until Rory tells Joe that he does not blame him for what happened but is exhausted by bearing the weight of responsibility for their childhoods. Joe assures Rory that he enjoys taking care of the cemetery, and that Rory is a good man. Sylvia appears, pleased with the brothers’ conversation, and Rory introduces her to Joe. She tells Rory that she is no longer taking him to Valhalla. She turns to Joe and asks him to go for a walk with her. Joe takes her hand, and they begin to walk into the woods together as Katie appears, bringing Rory a plate from the potluck. She shares that she heard about his car and asks if he needs a ride. Rory looks up, able to see the “pretty things” all around them, and accepts her offer.

For additional information:
Price, Brazos, “Long Walk to Valhalla (Archaia).” Cleaver. https://www.cleavermagazine.com/long-walk-to-valhalla-by-adam-smith-and-matthew-fox-reviewed-by-brazos-price/ (accessed February 27, 2026).

Smith, Adam, and Matthew Fox. Long Walk to Valhalla. Hollywood, CA: Archaia Entertainment, 2015.

Starr M. Carr
CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas