Category for all things peplum, neo-peplum, historic epic, toga and sandal, sword and sandal, sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and all genres in between.
On Tuesday February 23rd mega retailer Fry’s Electronics announced it was immediately suspending operations and permanently closing all of its remaining thirty-one stores. While the announcement was sudden, it was not unexpected: Fry’s had been in a death spiral for many years with many speculating its end. Customers, past and present, turned to social media to share their nostalgia of the former titan of electronics and reminiscence over each store’s unique theme.
My first experience with Fry’s was while living in Phoenix in the early 2000s. At the time I was attending a tech school, working on my Bachelors of Science, and the store was a mecca. Myself and many of my friends would go to the Aztec-themed Fry’s on Thunderbird and get lost in the store for hours. This was the era of PC games still being released in big boxes, and niche music labels such as Mute and Metropolis had albums for sale. I greatly rounded out my KMFDM collection at this Fry’s while plucking up computer games and an occasional part or two for my PC. As a tech student, Fry’s was heaven.
I vividly recall my final purchase at this Fry’s: a copy of Persona 2 on the Playstation in the discount bin, which now goes for 100s of dollars on eBay.
When I moved back to Washington, the Fry’s in Renton became the go-to Fry’s for Michele and I. By this time my interests has shifted: I was knee deep in my masters on film studies. While we didn’t visit this Fry’s as much, (and I unfortunately cannot recall its theme), I was always impressed by its massive DVD section: huge aisles broken into genres. I was able to load up on quite a bit of exploitation and foreign films at this Fry’s that I was unable to get elsewhere.
In the 2010s Michele and I moved to Orange CA and the Fry’s in Anaheim became our home base. Unlike the Renton Fry’s, the Anaheim Fry’s was mere minutes away from our apartment. This Fry’s was to say rather lackluster in its theme, which was NASA and Cape Canaveral. What should be a fairly easy to execute theme, this Fry’s was rather bland and generic. It was also quite empty. I recall the Aztec Fry’s in Phoenix in the early 2000s being filled to the brim with customers, with long queues to get in. The Anaheim Fry’s, 10+ years later, a ghost town. Regardless, it was often our place of preference to pick up a last minute movie, or find a cheap video game. By this time, the movie section was obliterated: the genres all gone and everything condensed to simply “blu-ray.” The music section was practically absent. However, I was able to load up on Skylanders figures extremely cheap.
And thus my history with Fry’s Electronics. What does this have to do with the peplum genre? In the very late 2010s the news really started to pick up traction of Fry’s closing down. There were a plethora of articles about shuttered stores and Fry’s that were entirely empty of product. Directly south of me on the border of Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley was a Roman-themed Fry’s. Not wanting to miss out on seeing this Fry’s before it shuttered, in October 2019 Michele and I went and checked it out. What follows below is a gallery of images I took of the Roman-theme Fry’s, highlighting its many embellishments of antiquity while also documenting a store in decline.
There are a few things to note about this Fry’s. First, its address was on Kalama River Ave, which resonated with me for I grew up in Kalama Washington on the Kalama River. Secondly, this Fry’s was 80% empty. Entire aisles were void of product, which you might get a hint of in these photos. However, all of the Roman statues and faux-architecture was still quite a sight to behold, which is what this gallery focuses on. Much like how we behold the glory of a fallen empire by marveling at its crumbled ruins, one can get a glimpse of what Fry’s would have been like back in its heyday.
Secret Rites is a neo-peplum, mythological comic by Sammy Ward. The one-shot comic was successfully Kickstarted and subsequently published in late 2020. The comic provides an alternate viewpoint of the myth of Persephone and Hades by being told from the point of view of her mother, Demeter. Simultaneously, the comic also not only depicts, but acts as an extension and interpretation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. This places the comic in the same canon as other artifacts of antiquity and paintings that depict the mysterious rituals.
Sincere thanks to Sammy Ward for allowing the following interview about her comic.
Secret Rites cover
Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into art and comics.
I’ve always been creative and enjoyed drawing. My first interest in comics came when I discovered Kabuki by David Mack. I was really interested in how he used different media and how it didn’t follow the typical conventions of a comic book. It opened up the medium to me and I realised it wasn’t all just super heroes.
Tell us more about the catalyst that started this comic, that is when you happened across the Eleusinian Mysteries? What was the big “A-ha! I want to make comic from this!”
The first spark for me was when I did an illustration of Persephone for a drawing challenge back in 2018. I wasn’t following the usual prompt list but drawing deities from different cultures. Persephone is so fascinating as a symbol of life and death as well as being presented as powerful and a victim. When I was researching Persephone I read about the Eleusinian Mysteries. It just captured my imagination in that it was a real mystery so it opened up all these possibilities that I played around with for a while before writing what is now Secret Rites.
What texts did you use to draw inspiration from?
I’ve read Circe by Madeline Miller which explores Circe’s defiance as a witch and a mother against the Olympians. That defiance was definitely a theme I wanted to use in Secret Rites. I also enjoy listening to a lot of soundtracks whilst working and I find it can be inspiring. The God of War OST has probably been the main one but I also discovered the Hadestown the musical by Anaïs Mitchell whilst creating Secret Rites. It’s a different Greek Tragedy with a modern take but I still found it inspirational in creating the characters for Secret Rites where each one has a selfish agenda.
What texts and resources did you use for research materials?
I found articles by Mark Cartwright and Joshua J. Mark very helpful which led me to discover The Myth of Er by Plato (said to be an initiate himself) which describes the character Er joining the afterlife and then returning to reality. I also came across a talk from Terence Mckenna who was an ethnobotanist and mystic. He discusses the use of Ergot, a deadly black fungus found on wheat and barley with psychotropic properties which was a component in a drink consumed during the ritual. I found the link of this and Demeter being the goddess of the harvest very alluring.
Interior page depicting a scene of the Eleusinian Mysteries
What is your relationship with Greek mythology?
I think my interest in Greek mythology started when I was at school studying Greek playwrights in drama class. It’s not something I’ve devoted loads of time throughout my life but mythology and folklore have always fascinated me. I love reading different stories from all over the world whether it’s the Poetic Edda or Russian fairy tales. That’s my constant go to for books and comics.
Are you into any sword and sandal media?
I do enjoy the 1963 Jason and The Argonauts and [the] 1981 Clash of the Titans. I have a big appreciation for the Ray Harryhausen era of stop motion animation that really captures those stories. I also really enjoy reading Wonder Woman comics, I especially enjoyed the 2011 relaunch written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiangs and Tony Akins. Again, women defying the power and will of the Gods seems to be a favourite theme of mine.
What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered while realizing Secret Rites?
Whilst the actual concept and story came pretty naturally, the script process was challenging as it would change whilst I was creating the art. There are good and bad aspects of being both writer and illustrator. I started illustrating the book in 2019 but my art has changed/improved a fair bit since then so I went back and changed a few pieces I had previously completed. My first comic, Scavengers, is a silent comic so I managed to create a story without having to do any lettering other than the intros which I hand lettered. Learning to letter Secret Rites has been a really fun journey for me though a slow one. Lettering is it’s own art form.
Secret Rites and pin-up art from a Kickstarter package. Photo by Nicholas Diak.
Do you any any successor plans to Secret Rites?
Secret Rites is a one shot so there are no sequels planned. Not to say I wouldn’t be interested in exploring the mythos a little more. I’m very interested in exploring more deities from the Greek pantheon and from many different cultures and religions. I would also like to collaborate more in the future especially with those writing mythology and folktales.
Do you have any upcoming projects on the horizon that you’d like to share?
I worked on some original pieces illustrating winter and Christmas deities which are available from my Etsy store along with my comics. I’m currently working on a comic/zine hybrid which will involve deities but I can’t say much more at this stage, it will include more mixed media in terms of art and will be a lot more experimental.
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.
From the various television and filmic depictions of Hercules to movie adaptations of the Percy Jackson young adult novels, representations of Greek deities and mythology have been an important staple of pop culture. Sometimes this is in the form direct adaptation, other times it is homage or reinterpreting characters or other elements of the lore. Regardless, the inspiration from these myths and deities is ever present and analysis and study of such usage in different media is quite manifest.
Persephone
There is one line of media though that has not quite had such a reconsideration in regards to its incorporation of Greek mythology, and that is the Silly Symphonies series of cartoons from the early years of Disney. The Silly Symphonies were a line of seventy-five cartoons that were produced from 1929 to 1939 and made outside of Disney’s Mickey Mouse canon. The cartoons provided an avenue for Disney artists and writers to experiment with images and music and to try new animation techniques. Early entries in the Silly Symphonies line were mostly narrative free, with an emphasis on atmosphere and music with singing and dancing animals or anthropomorphic objects. As time went on, the Symphonies got more complex, adding narratives culled from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, story books, and Greek mythology.
There are five entries in the Silly Symphonies run that either retell or incorporate elements of Greek mythological antiquity: “Hells Bells” (1929), “Playful Pan” (1930), “King Neptune” (1932), “The Goddess of Spring” (1934), and “The Golden Touch” (1935). The first, “Hells Bells,” takes place in a Christian-centic version of the Underworld, in which the three-headed dog Cerberus makes an appearance. The villain of this short is a variation of a devil character who revels in feeding his imps to Cerberus. His downfall comes at the short’s end: while in pursuit of one of his imps, he is tricked into falling off a cliff and into a ravine of flames. The second, “Playful Pan,” begins with the nature god Pan manifesting in a forest, playing his pipe to the area’s flora and fauna. Two dancing clouds accidentally discharge a bolt of lightning, which starts a forest fire. Pan uses his pipe playing to coerce the dancing flames into a forest pond, though much of the forest has been destroyed. “King Neptune” centers on pirates who spy mermaids playing on rock outcroppings. In their lust, they kidnap one of the mermaids, which causes retaliation from all sorts of aquatic life. King Neptune, who spends the bulk of the short incapacitated by being tied up by the pirate ship’s anchor and chain, breaks free and commands the sea to batter the ship. He gleefully jumps on the ship, sinking it. The mermaids proceed to adorn themselves with the pirates’ loot. “The Golden Touch” is a retelling of the Greek myth of King Midas, with an altered setting of the Middle Ages, though Midas anachronistically consumes a hamburger at the cartoon’s conclusion. Midas is gifted with the golden touch by a gnome named Goldie, but soon discovers he cannot eat or drink because of this ability. He offers up everything he owns to be rid of the Golden Touch.
King Midas in “The Golden Touch”
In addition, there are also four Silly Symphonies that retell a few of Aesop’s fables: “Grasshopper and the Ants” (1934), “The Tortoise and the Hare” (1934), “Three Little Wolves” (1936), which contains elements of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and “The Country Cousin” (1936) which is adapted from “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.” However, these Silly Symphonies fall outside the scope of this essay.
Of greatest concern, in regard to its depiction of Greek mythology, is the Silly Symphony “The Goddess of Spring.” This short is an extremely condensed version of the myth of Hades (referred to as Pluto in the various paratexts for this cartoon and thus go forward in this essay) and Persephone. It begins with Persephone sitting on her cornucopia throne as various forest creatures, flowers, and elves dance about her. Soon the sky darkens and a small hill erupts into a pillar of fire as Pluto and his entourage of imps burst up through the ground and absconds with Persephone back to Hades. Pluto places Persephone onto a throne and crowns her his Queen as the populace of Hades sing and dance. Above ground, the world of eternal spring has now given way to winter, with the forest animals huddling for warmth and the elves longing for Persephone to return. Back in Hades, Pluto attempts to make the sullen Persephone happy by offering her riches. When this does not work, he asks her what it would take to make her happy. She replies that her desire is to return back to the upper world. He agrees, on the condition that she must spend half of the year in Hades and the remainder of the year in the upper world. Persephone is over joyed at the compromise and returns to the upper world, which blooms back into spring. The outro song elaborates how the nature of spring and winter came to be.
When it comes to Silly Symphonies, “The Goddess of Spring” is not as regarded, revered or analyzed as other entries in the series, especially when compared to “The Skeleton Dance” (1929), “Three Little Pigs” (1933), and “The Old Mill” (1937). What interest is expressed about “The Goddess of Spring” is usually confined to it being a proving ground to capture realism and to create believable animated characters in anticipation for Disney’s first feature length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, David Hand).1 During this time, in order to improve on their cartoons, artists at Disney had taken to studying models2 along with lessons in anatomy.3 In “The Goddess of Spring,” animator Les Clark’s sister Marceil acted as the model for Persephone.4 The end result of “The Goddess of Spring” was perceived as a failure,5 with Persephone being deemed as “too rubbery to be realistic,”6 but the experience still imparting invaluable knowledge to studio hands in trying create realistic cartoons.
“Rubber arms” on Persephone
If only taken from a technical standpoint, then “The Goddess of Spring” may be perceived as a failure. However, taken as a faithful and humble adaptation of Greek mythology, then the cartoon surpasses expectations. Of all the Silly Symphonies, and even in regard to other mainstream forays into animating Greek mythology, “The Goddess of Spring” stands out as one of the few instances of such an earnest and sincere adaptation.
Part of this success can be attributed to the Symphony being a condensed version of the Persephone and Pluto myth rather than plucking core elements and characters and placing them within other narratives (as was done with “King Neptune,” “Hells Bells,” and “Playful Pan”) or attempting to instill outside messages or subversion. John Grant decrees that both Persephone and Pluto in the cartoon are rather “cypherish”,7 but the opposite is true. The animated short is overtly attempting to be a retelling of the Greek myth and nothing more. This is in stark contrast to the majority of other Silly Symphonies of the era, which coincided with The Great Depression. The Silly Symphonies were populist fare,8 with Disney and his company’s “social and ideological values” pervading the “structure, characters, and narratives of these films.”9 Nowhere is this more obvious than with “The Golden Touch.” While the gist of the story captures the core elements of the Greek myth, (anything the king touches turns to gold), it is first and foremost “aimed at a Depression audience,”10 given social significance by Walt Disney to show the “evil[s] of mere moneymaking, the danger of an individual’s overreaching his moral grasp, the false happiness accruing to mere wealth.”11 This is not to say that the end product is not without value or without imparting wisdom from the myth, but it does show that the purpose of “The Golden Touch” was primarily to advance Disney’s populist ideas rather than to have the myth stand on its own. On the other hand, “The Goddess of Spring” is pure storytelling, and while there are many variations of the myth documented and recounted, this Silly Symphony definitely captures the real heart of the story and conveys it to an audience in a palpable format of rich Technicolor and RCA sound.
The other reason for this cartoon’s success is due to the depiction of its setting and the characters. The realism that Disney was striving for caused “The Goddess of Spring” to be tempered in regard to how cartoonish or exaggerated it was. Instead of being over the top, this short is greatly subdued, with the characters and environment being depicted in a more serious fashion. Merritt and Kaufman argue that “The Old Mill” was the first Silly Symphony meant to be taken seriously12 but it could be argued that since “The Goddess of Spring” was striving for an earnest retelling of the Greek myth, complete with realistic depictions, that it should be regarded serious as well. Comparing and contrasting “The Goddess of Spring” with its other Greek mythological inspired Silly Symphonies counterparts yields astounding results.
Persephone and Pluto
For example, the depiction of Hades between “The Goddess of Spring” to that in “Hells Bells” is staggering. While both are portrayed as cavernous, full of lakes of fire and denizens who sing and dance, the realm in “Hells Bells” is much more malevolent. In “Hells Bells” there’s actual violent activity as spiders are immolated, snakes feast on bats, imps are fed to Cerebus and the devil character perishes into a lake of fire. Conversely, in “The Goddess of Spring,” there is actually no violent activity. The imps keep Persephone’s elves at bay, but do not attack them. In this version of Hades, no one perishes and no one is tortured. What can be surmised from this observation is that the underworld as pictured in “Hells Bells” is purely for punishment, as per a more Christian perspective, (in alignment with the expected audience), while the underworld in “The Goddess of Spring” leans more toward a realm as the place where souls go to die, distancing itself from Christian hegemony. While places like Elysium and the Asphodel Meadows are certainly not depicted, it would not be farfetched to surmise that they could exist in this incarnation of Hades in “The Goddess of Spring.”
The devil in “Hells Bells” and Pluto in “The Goddess of Spring” are also quite different. In “Hells Bells,” the devil is rendered entirely in black and nearly featureless save for a menacing, drooling maw eager to drink molten milk. He delights in feeding his imps to Cerebus and gives chase to one that wants to avoid this fate. On the other hand, Pluto in “The Goddess of Spring” shows elements of being a sympathetic character. While his actions of kidnapping Persephone can be analyzed in a myriad of lenses and thus falls outside the scope of this essay, he is none-the-less being shown at the cartoon’s conclusion of having traits of empathy and caring. He genuinely wants Persephone to be happy, and his actions are far more multifaceted, more “real” than his one-dimensional counterpart in “Hells Bells.”
In regard to Persephone, comparing her depiction to the mermaids of “King Neptune” also illustrate a major difference. The mermaids are naked without being naked, meaning their upper torsos are sometimes rendered with breasts and sometimes without. Their faces are blank slates and they look almost indistinguishable from each other. Persephone, on the other hand, is meticulously detailed, from her hair to her eyes. Never before has a mythological figure been represented in such a detailed fashion, which is especially impressive due to the technological limitations of animation during the era. Outside of paintings and other representations that have survived antiquity, here is an image of a bonafide goddess, being shown to an audience in a vernacular they can understand and appreciate. Comparing both Pluto and Persephone to other Silly Symphony characters of antiquity, such as King Midas and King Neptune, with their outlandishly large potbellies and exaggerated cheekbones, only fortifies the notion that Persephone in “The Goddess of Spring” is as real as it gets.
For the industrial minds at Disney, “The Goddess of Spring” was perceived as a failure and the cartoon is typically relegated to a footnote in the journey to realize Snow White. However, as illustrated above, when altering the criteria of success from a technical standpoint to a storytelling and adaptation standpoint, “The Goddess of Spring” is quite successful, especially in regards to its depiction of mythological characters and its ability to convey stories of antiquity in an earnest and realist fashion. Eschewing the aesthetics of typical cartoon escapism, “The Goddess of Spring” was the first retelling of Persephone and Pluto’s story in a filmic format. In subsequent years, Persephone would be appropriated to sci-fi fare, such as being used in The Matrix films, Firefly and the Percy Jackson films and books. While it is amazing to see homage to the myth still circulating and inspiring folks, it is comforting to know that her and Pluto’s representation and myth remains preserved in “The Goddess of Spring.”
End Notes
1. Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman, Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (Glendale, CA: Disney Editions, 2016), 153.
“The Goddess of Spring.” Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 1934. On Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, DVD. 2001.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is the newest neo-peplum game slated to be published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Quebec. Ubisoft have long established themselves as the premier publisher of video games that embrace the different shades of the sword and sandal and historic epics genres, specifically in regard to their Prince of Persia releases and numerous Assassin’s Creed titles that sees players exploring various time periods. Assassin’s Creed fully embraced the sword and sandal genre with their release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in 2018 that had gamers playing as the misthios Kassandra (or Alexios) during the Peloponnesian War in Greece in the latter half of 400 BCE.
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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey more-or-less stuck to the non-magical variety of the sword and sandal genre, only making occasionally forays out of the historic epic subgenre when Kassandra fought legendary creatures such as a cyclops and a Medusa, or, via a simulator, traveled to Elysium. Otherwise the game kept mostly to being a stealth-action game with conspiracy theory intrigue.
Immortals Fenyx Rising looks to fully embrace the mythological aspect of the sword and sandal genre that Odyssey only flirted with, making it more akin to the legendary Harryhausen film Jason and the Argonauts (1963) rather than, say, Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960).
Immortals Fenyx Rising has gamers playing as Fenyx, a winged demigod who is trying to save a Grecian-Mythological world from various other gods and beasts. The gameplay looks to be an action-RPG, with comparisons to Nintendo’s sword and sorcery game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Here is a slideshow of screenshots and artwork from the Ubisoft press materials for the title’s announcement:
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Ubsisoft has also uploaded various trailers and gameplay reveals on YouTube:
Overall, this looks like an exciting game and a fun take on the sword and sandal genre. The colours are vibrant, the graphics look playful and excellent, and if the game does mimic Breath of the Wild even a little bit, then it should have some solid gameplay that can easily be expanded upon. While the neo-peplum genre continues to show declining interest on the big screens for a contemporary audience, Ubisoft is instead demonstrating how successful the subject matter can be in video game medium with not only with Immortals Fenyx Rising, but also with their upcoming Prince of Persia remaster and new Assassin’s Creed title: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Taking its cues from mythological pepla, Elysian Fields follows somewhat in the footsteps of Marvel’s attempts at historic epic adaptations that appeared in the late 2000s on the short lived Marvel Illustrated imprint. These releases include comic book (and collected editions) adaptations of The Iliad (2008), The Odyssey (2009), and The Trojan War (2009). Elysian Fields is a continuation of The Iliad, albeit in a slightly unexpected fashion. The comic begins during the siege of Troy with Achilles locked in battle with King Memnon. While Achilles bests the warrior king (as per the Aethiopis), he himself is slain by an arrow shot by Paris (the prince of Troy) though his heel. From here Elysian Fields splits from the epics and follows Achilles into the afterlife where Charon (ferryman on the river Styx) takes the legendary warrior to Hades’ arena where he is to do battle with other iconic warriors of history and mythology. Elysian Fields #0 concludes on a cliffhanger with Achilles teaming up with King Theseus (founder of Athens) to battle Enkidu (bull-man from the Epic of Gilgamesh) and Gilgamesh proper (hero of ancient Sumer), setting up the events that will transpire in Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit.
The underlying premise of Elysian Fields seems to be setting up a series that will see Achilles and other heroes through the ages, from various other civilizations and time periods, duking it out in Hades’ arena. This Mortal Kombat approach to the sword and sandal genre has promise, and in fact, perhaps echoes an earlier attempt at the same concept: the collectable card game Anachronism. A short lived affair in the mid-2000s, well past the collectable card game boom of the 90s, Anachronism was The History Channel’s attempt at a CCG, which involved players pitting mythological and historical figures (such as Genghis Khan, Vlad Tepes, Achilles, Spartacus, and so on) against each other. The second issue of Elysian Fields, called The Pyramid Gambit, hints that Achilles (and others) will be in combat with figures of Egyptian antiquity.
Elysian Fields’ approach to this old school subject matter is equally old school. While the plot is a love letter to mythology, the cover and artwork looks to homage 90s comic book aesthetics and practices. There is a definite post-McFarlane/Spawn vibe in the artwork, with a color pallet and action sequences that evoke the likes of Witchblade, Blood Hunter, Gen 13, and other titles of the decade. The foil cover of issue #0 also recalls the various experimentations and gimmicks done to comics during that period. The nostalgia factor in strong in Elysian Fields #0, but it is competently executed (the foil cover is pretty slick), and if anything, underscores the efforts of the comic to take readers back into the past; not just in subject matter, but in the reading experience as well.
Writer and creator of Elysian Fields, Michael Oden, provides some additional insight into his comic in the following interview.
Tell us something about yourself, a bit of your personal background.
Well, I have done a lot of things in my life. I served six years as an Infantryman in the Army National Guard, and I have done freelance journalism for the creative industry for years now. I have written my own industry blogs as well as have worked for sites like Moviepilot, Heroic Hollywood, and currently Up Your Geek.
I have always been a big history fan. My dad used to read me the Iliad as a bedtime story which started my love for history and mythology from an early age. This love has persisted my entire life and so getting a chance to use it in this way, to create a story like this [Elysian Fields comic] has been super surreal and cathartic in no small way.
What was the genesis of the Elysian Fields comic, how did this come about?
Honestly, it started as a game growing up. As I said, I grew up loving mythology and history, and so, big shock, I surrounded myself with friends with similar interests and it was always one of those big debates. Normal nerdy kids were arguing between Superman and Batman, Kirk or Picard, and for sure we had those discussions too, but I remember really chatting up my friends about which of our mythic heroes was better and who would win in a fight. This concept never left me and while it has continued to evolve, even as a write it now, it’s something that had always stirred in the back of my mind, knowing the potential it could have.
What is the primary goal you want to accomplish with the Elysian Fields series?
I mean the primary thing I want to accomplish is honestly to make a great book. There is also a measure of financial success I would like to have as well, anyone who dismisses the financial aspect is either lying or stupid. Doing books is expensive, it’s not just some hobby to bankroll, especially for me as a single father. However, the chief thing is of course to make a book that people really enjoy and that establishes myself, and additionally get people interested in these characters and their stories. No matter how well Elysian Fields has been received, the stories where these characters drew their routes have stood the test of time for a reason.
What would you say distinguishes Elysian Fields from other mythological comics out there?
Honestly, I would like to think the big distinguishing factor is trying to be as authentic as possible. That’s not to say that the other mythological books I have read don’t do that in their own way, but I feel like a lot of books I see in relation to mythology take inspiration from the myth, but that’s where the line stops. They want to make the characters theirs. And while I am sure that there are some that will see my versions of characters and it won’t be how they see them, my goal has been to look at the characters I choose and create as authentic a picture as I can from what I have read.
What was the biggest hurdle or challenge you faced while creating issue 0?
Oof… that’s a tough one, I don’t know if I’d be able to narrow it down to just one. Creating a book is a multi-pronged process, so I feel there is a challenge that I had that was equal with each phase. However, with the actual writing aspect of it, it was writing a script. I remember being very frustrated because all the script writing classes I found were effectively an introduction to creative writing class, and that’s not what I needed. I needed to learn about structuring and format, but instead I was being lectured about “what is a protagonist.” This was beyond frustrating. I then ended up picking up the deluxe edition of Marv Wolfman’s Man and Superman and was pleasantly surprised to find that what made it so deluxe was that the comic legend included a copy of the first draft of his script for the first issues of the book. I was ecstatic, if it works for Marv Wolfman then it has to be good. I used that script as a template for how to write my own and taught myself how to write a comic script as I was writing: teaching myself panel set up and perspective, familiarizing myself with the terminology, you name it.
Where did you draw some of your influence from, be it for this comic or other projects? Films like Gladiator, comics like 300, television like Spartacus, actual mythology, something else?
[A]ctual mythology played a massive role in how I wrote this book. However, there was a series that played an instrumental role in how I came about the overarching idea of what is now called The Abyssal Tournament of Champions. The series I am speaking of is none other than the Fate anime series, specifically Fate/Zero and Fate/ Apocrypha.
What has been the feedback so far on your comic?
Very positive. We have had constructive criticisms for sure, but the overall consensus is that our book is a book worth having and to me that means the world. However, all the criticisms we have had have played a massive role as well. No comic is perfect, no story is either. So I have used this feedback to grow the book and really make it the best it can be, and that’s what I aim to do moving forward.
What is 9 Realms Publishing and what do you hope to accomplish with this endeavor?
9 Realms Publishing is my own publishing imprint and it is continuing to grow. We have two other projects outside of Elysian Fields attached to that imprint written by myself, however, I don’t want people to think that this is a vanity project. It is an equal hope that, at some point, we are able to bring on and sign other creators and help build their IPs and promote them. It is my genuine belief that one of the greatest problems with the mainline industry is that they have cut themselves off from outside ideas. 9 Realms’ mission is to bring aspiring creators to the forefront and give them the chance to make books. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a shot and frankly, that’s more than a lot of people get.
Can you give a preview of what folks can expect with the second Elysian Fields comic, The Pyramid Gambit?
The second comic is all about bringing Team Hades together. Honestly it’s a bumpy ride for these guys. Theseus and Herakles have been fighting in this tournament for a long time, and as an added bonus, they knew each other in life. However, enter this arrogant kid Achilles who is running his mouth off at everyone, god included. So there are growing pains for all of these characters, and you add on the stress of going against Imhotep, a champion who has never been directly beaten in the arena, there are a lot of mixed emotions we see from our champions.
Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit
What is your general thoughts or impressions on the depiction of mythology and antiquity in pop culture today? Where do you think it is headed?
The answer to that is simple: it’s headed nowhere. Sadly there hasn’t been a solid sword and sandals movie since Gladiator, and there hasn’t been a solid sword and sandals show since Spartacus, and while I love both of those projects, they are the farthest thing from portraying the period with any sort of authenticity. That’s not to say they are bad, just that Hollywood has no faith in the classical time period. I think it is a damn shame because with the success of superhero films as a genre, you’d think they’d realize “hey, why don’t we push movies that accurately depict the ORIGINAL superheroes.” Heroes of myth are the archetypes that inspired the modern superhero, they are the blueprint. But I haven’t seen Hollywood show reverence to that in a long time. Hopefully the success of things like Elysian Fields can inspire other people to bring myth to the forefront in the entertainment industry.
Addendums / Connections
2020-11-29 – Michele and I conducted an interview with Michael Oden on the Scholars from the Edge of Time podcast where we talked in detail about Elysian Fields. That episode can be streamed/downloaded here.
