Dead Romans #1 from Image, takes place in Germania, in the time of, well, the Romans. September Year 36 of the Reigh of Augustus. When is that exactly? No clue, but let’s march on, shall we?
Okay, so Rome has sent three (3) legions of soldiers in assistance, we know that. Plus their camp followers and so on, totalling 50,000 people. Honoria, a female slave owned by Varus, wants to be free, but suddenly, Germans attack. We got all that.
Writer Fred Kennedy tosses us into the midst of invasion and war, old school. Spears, swords, women lying naked in covered wagons, loads of trees. Fighting, and loads of it.
Nick Marinkovich artistically renders the massive encampment, the massive trees, the splendidly intimate few moments of tenderness. It’s dark, dense and well visualized. It’s kinetic, frantic, and full of violence and hatred. A thick brush with death, the dead, the Romans.
Perhaps we readers need our hands held a little here and there. Perhaps Dead Romans is all a bit obvious yet opaque to us. Who is fighting who, and why? Perhaps this will all settle down in the rhythm of future issues, the survivors being cut away from the rabble, the scramble for personal gain winning out against the relentless quest for land acquisition. As it is now, the narrative is being rationed out, but we are still starved for a bit of clarity and perhaps for someone to root for.
Image, Dead Romans #1, $3.99 for 24 pages of content
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