Author: Nicholas Diak

Band of Warriors is a neo-peplum comic that is currently in the stages of being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Written by Samuel George London (The S Factor, Milford Green, and Project Hoax), with art by Federico Avila Corsini (Treble, Remitente, and Maranatá) and editing by Nicole D’Andria (Miraculous), the story begins with King Minos at the height of his reign and leads to an epic, adventurous tale that incorporates both Grecian and Celtic mythologies.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you into comics.

I only got into comics in 2015 after finding out that the TV show, The Walking Dead, was based on a comic. I bought all the compendiums up to that point and was hooked. After that I discovered Image’s back catalogue and went down a rabbit hole of indie comics. After a year or so, I was inspired enough to give writing a go and luckily an idea came to me in the form of Milford Green, which is best described as a Victorian space adventure. I Kickstarted that in 2018 and have since successfully funded five other comics as well as having a four issue mini-series titled The S Factor published by Action Lab – Danger Zone, which is about the dark underbelly of a superhero dating reality TV show.

What was the genesis of Band of Warriors (BoW)?

My mother has a house on the island of Crete and when I visited there for the first time in 2016 I was enthralled by the history it had, both fairly recently (WW2) and even further in the past, especially the bronze age (3,000-1200 BC). That same year, I visited my wife’s family in Brittany, France. Of course, I had visited them before but this time we visited a megalith which was next to an old tin mine. For those of you not in the know, bronze is made up of copper and tin.

When investigating all of this further it turned out that bronze age tin from France and Britain (my own homeland) had been found among bronze age artefacts on and around Crete. This trading relationship between France, Britain and Crete during the bronze age got my imagination fired up and the idea of Band of Warriors began.

BoW was actually the first idea that came to me but I thought the scope of the story was far too big for me to take on as a first time writer. But now that I’ve got a few books under my belt, I thought it was high time I got it out to the world. Honestly, it hasn’t been easy trawling through all the history and mythology surrounding all of those regions to create a coherent story but I think (if I don’t say so myself) I’ve created a rather epic story.

What were your other sources of inspiration for this comic?

To name but a few; 300 (both comic and movie), Kill the Minotaur and Vikings (both comics and TV show) have all inspired BoW. The mixture of mythology, history and action really helped me see that it’s possible.

What texts did you use for research for BoW?

One that really stands out is 1077 B.C. by Professor Eric Cline. The book is an outstanding insight into the era and as an added bonus you watch a lot of his lectures online, which are also massively useful.

What was some of the most interesting things you learned while researching?

One of the most interesting things to me was just how international that time was. There were full on trading relationships from France and Britain to Crete and even to Egypt, Turkey and Afghanistan. It’s incredible to me that over 3,500 years ago this was going on.

There’s a few other comics out there that merge different mythologies: what would you say sets yours apart?

My USP, so to speak, is that I’ve grounded the mythology in actual historical events. Using actual history to try and connect the dots of mythology is time consuming as a writer but I think that it will help the comic shine for the readers.

Do you have any favourite sword and sandal texts?

This might seem vacuous but I really enjoyed the 2014 movie with Dwayne Johnson, Hercules. I thought they did a superb job of merging mythology, history, reality and action. Sure the character development wasn’t great but man was the action awesome.

What is your general thoughts/impressions of the current state of the sword and sandal genre?

I think the sword and sandal genre can be quite one-dimensional and predictable, so I think it’s important that for those of us who are passionate about it think outside the box. Dwayne Johnson’s Hercules was a great example of subverting my expectations from everything being about magic and what not when in reality it was all tricks of the eye and playing into the reputation Hercules and his team had created.

How did you go about meeting/recruiting your artist Federico Avila Corsini and editor Nicole D’Andria?

I met Nicole a couple of years ago through Kickstarter and it turned out she did freelance editing. I then hired her to work on the Milford Green series and she’s been my trusted editor ever since. Federico on the other hand, was through Reddit. A few months ago I put a call out on Twitter and Reddit for an artist to work on a story that involved both Celtic and Greek mythology and after sifting through about thirty artists, Federico stood out. Both his style and work ethic are fantastic, so he’s the ideal artist for BoW.

What were some of the biggest challenges or obstacles you encountered while creating BoW?

My biggest challenge was connecting all the dots and making the story consistent. I actually have one of those cork boards that allows me to see all the storylines side by side in chronological order. I feel like I’m trying to catch a serial killer but it really does help.

Having successfully Kickstarted other projects, what advice do you have for other folks looking to use the medium?

First and foremost, get involved with the community. Secondly, research successful campaigns. Lastly, make sure you triple check your reward and postage costs.

What is the biggest thing you want to accomplish with BoW?

Great question! We’ve got an initial six issue arc sorted but I’d love for BoW to become an on-going series that would be released every three months, direct to the people via crowdfunding. However, that’s only possible if we get the right level of support, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Thank you your time for this interview, any final words?

I’d just like to say thanks to you for taking the time to do this interview and to your readers who have read this interview. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that you’ll check out Band of Warriors to potentially help support it.

Links

• Band of Warriors Kickstarter (concludes 2021-01-29)

Samuel George London

• Twitter
• Etsy

Federico Avila Corsini

• Instagram
• Website

Nicole D’Andria

• Twitter
• Website

Artwork for this interview provided courtesy by Samuel George London.