Marvel Comics: Iliad

[Decius]

are their any comic-books with ancient roman subjects available?

I know there's one on the Batavian Revolt, but I have never seen it.

this sounds interesting...gotta do some research...

[Niedel]

are their any comic-books with ancient roman subjects available?

Apart from Asterix books, there have always been and there still are several series. The classic is probably Jacques Martin's Alix series, which started in the 50s and is still being published (although Martin doesn't do the drawings anymore).
I think they're still published in German, but just like with all good Franco-Belgian comic books, it's always good if you know French, just in case they don't publish all issues in your language. General info on Alix here:
[url:3n4qdv6u]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Alix[/url]

A good source for the German versions (even out-of print issues) and all other comic books is Hummelcomic in Hamburg (they have a website to order, too).

Another classic is the Herman/Charlier series "Jugurtha", I don't know if that's still available, though. Based on the real Numidian king, very anti-Roman, not historically correct at all, but fun.

Then there's the excellent newer series "Murena" about the rise (and probably fall) of Nero by Delaby and Dufaux. Very realistic and historically well researched, and all available in German.
A review of the latest book in the series here (in German):
[url:3n4qdv6u]http://www.comicradioshow.com/Article2403.html[/url]

Then there is the "Vae Victis" series, about the conquest of Gaul. The Romans are the bad guys, but it's pretty entertaining.
Here a few covers:
[url:3n4qdv6u]http://www.comicshop.de/inhalt.asp?rid=19698[/url]

When I was in France last winter, I also saw a new book, the first in a series called "Les Aigles de Rome" (The Eagles of Rome), which looks prettty cool. I don't know if they'll publish it in German, but it looked like it was a big success in France, so they probably will.
Here is a promotional video about that:
[url:3n4qdv6u]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3fbmo_les-aigles-de-rome_creation[/url]

Last but not least, I bought the first issue of a new series about the adventures of a Roman officer in Gaul during Caesar, called "The Last Battle". Not historically correct (segmentatas abound, etc.), but ok.
I know that that one is available in German.

As I said, if you're interested in the German versions, Hummelcomic has most of them (and they might also import the French versions, if no German is available), and there are plenty of other comicbook vendors.

[Narukami]

are their any comic-books with ancient roman subjects available?

Well, there are the Classic Illustrated editions of the following (but they are tough to find and usually expensive if you do)

#130 Caesar's Conquests by Julius Caesar
#147 Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
#161 Cleopatra by H Rider Haggard

One would think ancient Rome would be an obvious topic for the "graphic novel" treatment.

How about "Gates of Fire" or "Rubicon" as graphic novels?

:wink:

Narukami

[Decius]

thank you very much, helps me a lot !!

[Idomeneas]

Eric Shanover's Age of Bronze is quite interesting. He is very comprehensive and he tries to bring in as many myths as possible.

He is moving slowly through the saga of the Iliad. He's done his third compilation and the fighting at the Trojan war has barely started. There have been many other battles and torrid love affairs though.

The most unfortunate part is that it's black and white..... All these Greeks and Trojans look alike, although Agamemmnon has a very distinctive beard.[/i]

Age of Bronze is a great graphic novel that combines all the epic cyrcles around the Iliad. The fact that is black and white imo adds to its beauty.
The only problem that i see is the small pace since its published by Shanover himself and the whole gay thing floating around due to E.R personal tastes.
But even those doesnt change the fact that it is a very good work in the whole.

[Wander]

Based on the comments here, this weekend I tracked down five of the eight installments of Marvel's Iliad (issues 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7) in local (Sacramento) comic shops, and so far I've read 1, 3, 4, and 5. I will go back and read #2 when I find it, but I've decided to let #7 wait until I get #6 and #8.

Either way, it's pretty good. It's not rigorously historically accurate, but it stays generally true to the spirit of the original, including the meddling and quibbling of the gods. I'm enjoying it enough to overlook the little inaccuracies (wrong types of bow, for instance) and strange features (all the archers seem to be left-handed! maybe the artist thinks right-handed archers draw with their left arm) and just enjoy a good retelling of the story.

It certainly beats the movie "TROY" of a few years back.