I’ve gotten past my sins of writing super monstrous chapters*, but as a writer, there are times when I simply do need everything in one doc. Frankly, for modern internet and Google, of all hosts, that’s pretty damn ridiculous. My then-betas and I timed it to be about 15-20 minutes to load that monster doc. Gdocs tends to chug at around the 20k mark, I’ve noticed. It already does handle most of the internet at this point, happily and greedily at that. I will not discuss them.) That’s probably not what it was prepared to handle. I don’t know why all ancient Rome comics are so reliably sensual.Alright, maybe it’s a little my fault for throwing an 84k chapter into one document. Those interlocked golden circles are telling us about happiness, safety, ecstasy. The dark tent is filled with little circles which I guess kind of evokes lens flair, but is definitely setting the mood for the scene. You can see all this technique come together in an early sex scene, which has all that digital lighting and emotional abstraction. Less than the characters, just their mouth, their hand, their eye. And conversations often happen at odd close ups, isolating characters in their frame. The sky and the treeline is almost always present and seems to roil. This isn’t a totally literal and grounded depiction of ancient times. Nothing explicitly supernatural happens, but the whole issue has a mythic quality to it. But “Dead Romans” is very much a genre piece, and that’s probably for the better. But in the very least, “Dead Romans” has verisimilitude and has the attention to detail you see when a writer really enjoys doing research. I’m sure someone looking to nitpick could find something. Some people are going to go into a comic like this looking for historical accuracy. I can’t wait to see a million more things from this guy. But I also see a lot of Jock in his work. He says on his Deviant Art page that his favorite artist is Bill Sienkiewicz, and that really comes across. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Nick Marinkovich comic before it looks like he’s done a lot of work with the Underworld franchise. The entire book was probably drawn in digital, but the artwork drew me in to consider every panel. The lines and chaff texturing every page looks like a digital post effect. You can see layers of technique on every page of “Dead Romans.” There are the neat, clear lines of tradition pencil work, but then there are also uneven, chaotic colors that look closer to water colors than ink. And that ends up being a real treat because the real power player is “Dead Romans” is illustrator Nick Marinkovich, who is the sole credited artist on the issue, working with just the writer and editor. But then you also get proto-viking Germanic stuff like runes and blonde guys with crazy asymmetrical hairstyle. So you get all the totemic Roman props- you know, your eagles, and helmets, and neat symmetrical lines of tents. The German setting lets the issue mix up its ancient imagery. But as far as genre comics go, it’s pretty rad. As far as straight history goes, it’s maybe a little fairy tale. Our central protagonist is Honoria, a slave with a secret special destiny that sure makes it look like she’s some sort of mythical lost princess. ![]() By the end of the issue, we’ve also been introduced to an ensemble of German characters, and its clear that they will be driving a lot of the story going forward. Most of the issue takes place in a Roman Legion camp, but none of the story actually goes to Rome. “Dead Romans” opens in the deep dark forests of Germania. Now, fifty thousand Romans will die to give her a throne she never asked for…or wanted.Lush, beautiful illustrations bring to life a brutal tale of love and war from the birth of the Roman Empire. He wants to make a queen of the woman he loves, Honoria, a fellow slave. MINISERIES PREMIERE Arminius, a Germanic prince raised in Rome, has sworn vengeance against the Empire that butchers his people.
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