I’ve aggregated all my 2021 accomplishments on this post while also listing projects I expect to realize in this new year. I thank the folks who have supported me or provided me platforms immensely.
H. P. Lovecast Transmissions Episode
Our last episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast for 2021 is online!
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
This is our monthly transmissions episode where we interview a few folks. In this episode we interview Jennifer Barnes, Lee Murray, and Rena Mason about their work with Attack from the ’80s. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or your podcast app of preference.
AnnRadCon CFP is Closed
The CFP for the 5th Annual Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon 2022 has now closed. Thank you to all who submitted abstracts. Michele and I will be going over them during the first two weeks of January and sending out acceptances.
Highlander CFP
When one CFP closes another one opens!
Adrian Paul has way more charisma than Christopher Lambert.
Michele has a CFP that just opened on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays about the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything. If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others! With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Recently I scored two Black Emanuelle vinyls from Light in the Attic records and it got me really nostalgic.
Two Black Emanuelle vinyls I procured. I just need a record player!
I grew up with the Sylvia Kristel Emmanuelle films and got into the Laura Gemser Black Emanuelle films when I started studying Italian genre films when I was working on my masters. One of my bucket list items has been to do a book on the Emmanuelle films and their various knock offs, sequels, and so on because no such book exists. I think it’s time to bite the bullet and get the process going for this project.
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I’ll be publishing an official CFP for essays on Emmanuelle, Emanuelle, and the other Emmanuelles out there. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better!
Things in the Well Closing Shop
Small press publisher Things in the Well looks to be closing shop in a few weeks. This means two of their anthologies that I have short stories published in will be going OOP.
Amazon links to buy both books are in the links above. Thank you all who have been curious about my fiction work and who have bought these books. I’ll find a home for these short stories in the future.
General Neo-Peplum News
Bible Films Blog: Once Upon a Time in Bethlehem
Matt Page has a new review up at his Bible Films Blog.
It’s on the 2019 Italian Biblical neo-peplum film titled Once Upon a Time in Bethlehem. Page’s write up can be read at his blog.
Severin Caligula Releases
Severin Films is releasing two Italian porno-pepla in February.
The first is Joe D’Amato’s 1982 film Caligula: The Untold Story and the second is Bruno Mattei’s 1981 Caligula and Messalina. Severin is offering quote a few options on pre-ordering these films:
Yours truly, of course, has already pre-ordered these. Expect essays later on!
Born of Blood Comic
I only learned about this comic because it appeared in an update email from another peplum comic I contributed to on Kickstarter. Of course, upon discovery, it has 40 hours left of its campaign, so by the time this news post goes up it will have ended. Regardless, a newish publisher called Merc Magazine is putting out a neo-peplum comic called Born of Blood.
Sorah Suhng cover
Mike Krome virgin cover
It looks like Born of Blood was previewed in prior published comics of Merc Magazine, Miss Meow and Deathrage, so I am a bit out of the loop of plot. Looking at the cover art, I see lots of Spartan imagery, so I am definitely intrigued.
As an aside, there has been a great uptick in what I call “pandemic peplum” comics appearing on Kickstarter. I have interviewed many of those creators already at my website:
Not to mention many others I’ve Kickstarted as well that I either have not written about or haven’t received yet: Gilgamesh Eternal #1, Teoatl, and Aztlan.
Anywho, I hope once I get Born of Blood 01, maybe I can do a review or interview the team behind it. But it’s so curious that so many sword and sandal crowdfunded comics have come out since the pandemic began.
I put in monies to get two versions of the first issue: a cover by Sorah Suhng and a virgin cover by Mike Krome. As you can see above, they look really sweet!
It’s no secret that I am a fan of G. A. Lungaro’s Isidora comic series (as my prior interviews with him on my website as well as on the H. P. Lovecast Podcast can attest). The series combines the neo-peplum genre with the Lovecraft Mythos with a badass female protagonist – so it checks off many of the boxes of media I am interested in.
Earlier this year Lungaro ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of issue two of Isidora and it was a great success. In October, backer rewards began to ship to pledgers and over the weekend I received my copy. What follows is a picture story of unboxing my pledge because it turned out to be some amazing stuff contained in the box. A confession: when I donate to a Kickstarter, I do not pay attention to the stretch goals as I like to be surprised with what I received. And I was certainly surprised with my loot!
To begin with, my backer award came in a handsome cardboard box, sporting some nice artwork (taken from the Jay Espin variant cover) that depictions a R’lyehthian-style city with a hint of Giger.
Upon opening the box I was greeted with a divider/cover with an envelope embedded in.
The envelope contains a thank you card, packaged and presented in the same fashion as the Kickstarter for issue one (see below).
Under the cover that contained the thank you note was three art prints. From left to right they are by:
Samantha Branch – This is a print of one of the variant covers of issue one and I love the antiquity elements to it.
George P. Gatsis – This is my favourite of the three. I love the colours used in this one and the depiction of Isidora. She looks both pinupy and badass.
Deti – This is the artwork used on the edition that combines issue 1 and 2. This one has a very alluring Isidora with overt Lovecraftian imagery.
Under the art print was some stickers and trading cards. Because I love to keep things in mint condition, I did not open the booster pack of cards. Those will forever remain a mystery.
The envelope contained a cute little charm.
The last item in the box was the comic! In this case, I went for the special edition that combines Isidora one and two into one collected edition with a metallic cover! The presentation on this edition is extravagant.
And in one picture, here is the contents of everything in the Isidora #2 box.
And here is everything from both Kickstarters together. What can I say, everything here is above and beyond and of high quality. As an extra bonus, everything fits perfectly into the Isidora #2 box!
Lungaro hope to get started on issue three very soon, so I am excited for that. If you are interested in Isidora, I suggest you follow Lungaro on his social medial channels to see what happens next with his projects.
S.P.Q.R. is a neo-peplum comic created by Riley Hamilton whose first issue released in early 2021 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. S.P.Q.R. takes a different approach to the subject matter when compared to other indie/crowdfunded peplum comics as of late; it eschews mythology and the more fantastical elements to instead ground itself in historic events. The comic takes places in 69 C.E. during the Year of Four Emperors with the first issue focusing on a band of nomads in the Roman province of Moesia who are trying to survive in the wilderness while also avoiding the attention of the Roman military machine.
Hamilton has graciously allowed an interview about S.P.Q.R.
S.P.Q.R. Logo used with permission from Riley Hamilton
Tell us a bit about yourself and what got you into writing and comics.
I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory I have of writing was when I was about 6 or 7, when I was writing my own Captain Underpants stories. The first comic book I remember getting and reading was Ultimate Spiderman #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, that I got on Free Comic Book Day, when I was in my [local comic book store] looking for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
After getting that book, I was completely hooked and started writing and drawing my own comics about a superhero called Energy-Man. The comics were four panels and drawn on printer paper that I took directly out of the printer. I stopped reading comics regularly in junior high and only started getting back into them when I was studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I saw that there was a comic book club on campus and decided to join.
When I joined, I assumed that the club would be talking comics and comics-related media, but they were in the process of making their own series. The series was called Gael Force and was about a superhero team made up of university students from different faculties. They had already written the first issue when I arrived and I helped the club president, now one of my closest friends, Brendan Montgomery, with lettering the first issue. I co-wrote issues 2 and 3 with another club member and helped with some editing, here and there. We completed the series just as I was finishing up my undergraduate degree and leaving Queen’s, so the timing worked out nicely for me.
What was the genesis of S.P.Q.R.?
With Gael Force I got an in-depth look into the process of comic creation and how much planning and effort goes into a single, 24-page floppy. I really enjoyed working on Gael Force and was getting back into reading comics and the thought crossed my mind about writing my own book. I did not start to seriously think about creating the book until I got some feedback from a couple of friends, Brendan being one of them, who thought I had something good and should give it a go.
The main catalyst for the format of the book really took shape after I read Brian Wood’s Northlanders, a historical comic set during the Viking Age. The structure of that series is the blueprint that I want to follow with S.P.Q.R. Rather than follow one set of characters throughout the entire series, which I find incredibly daunting to even think about, each arc followed a different set of characters, in a different location, and time within the 250-year period of what’s considered the Viking Age. One of the small arcs in that series centered around the Viking raid on Lindisfarne and crafted an entire story about a real historical event that is not well understood.
What sort of research did you do prior to creating S.P.Q.R.?
I was reading Tacitus for a paper and came across a passage about Legio III Gallica massacring 6,000 Roxolani horsemen in Moesia in 69 CE. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but once I read Northlanders that short passage immediately jumped back into my mind.
Apart from that I read a few books on the Roman legions and on their prisoner-taking practices. Legion by Stephen Dando Collins was a massive help, especially simplifying the convoluted history and organization of the legions. I also read a few research papers such as Dr. Jason Wickham’s PhD thesis “The Enslavement of War Captives by the Romans to 146 BC.”
Standard cover of issue #1. Photo used with permission from Riley Hamilton.
What were some of the main obstacles you encountered while producing S.P.Q.R.?
I had been playing around with the idea of writing a historical comic since I had read Northlanders in 2016. I also knew, speaking to some artist friends, that I wanted to be able to pay anyone who I worked with, so I did not have the means to make the book when I first came up with the idea, so I sat on it for a couple of years. By November 2019, I felt that I had saved enough and had a feasible plan in place to pay for the production myself and then went looking for artists.
One interesting note was the title, which was originally going to be Pax Romana, which I really liked as a title. However, it turns out that Jonathan Hickman had released his own miniseries, through Image, with that exact title. His story was completely different, about a group of commandos who time travel to 312 CE on a mission from the Vatican, but I did not want to tempt fate, or Image’s legal team, so I changed it to S.P.Q.R.
One option would have been to launch a Kickstarter to cover the production costs of the book and deliver it to backers a year later when it would have been finished. I spoke to a friend who had done this for his book but had his artist ghost him and disappear, leaving him with no artist and backers waiting for their books. I did not want to have something like that happen to me and have to deal with that kind of stress, so I decided the fund the production out of my own pocket and use Kickstarter to cover the printing and shipping.
The production of the book ended up being incredibly smooth sailing and I’m grateful to my penciller, Samrat Das, inker, Rowel Roque, and colourist, Lucas Aparicio, for making the experience a pleasant one. There was a hiccup in printing that was my own fault for not checking a layer on the variant cover properly, but it was a learning experience, and hopefully the next one goes smoother.
What are your favourite sword and sandal texts?
It seems the catalyst for a lot of people that I’ve talked to about their interest in Classics, whether other creators or people I went to university with, is Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. I didn’t see Gladiator until I was in my 20s and was already a sword and sandal fan.
My introduction to the genre was through video games, and Creative Assembly’s Rome: Total War. I loved that game as a kid and even though I can look back on it and see its many flaws, I still love to boot it up and play for hours when I get the urge. I loved playing as one of the patrician families and growing the empire before turning on the Senate and fighting a brutal civil war. It blended the turn-based games that I loved like Axis and Allies and mixed it with real-time battles like Age of Empires and StarCraft, without all the tedious base-building and resource gathering.
I’ve also sunk many hours into its sequel and have looking forward to the remastered edition which is coming out at the end of the month (April 29). In high school I got the boxed sets of HBO’s Rome and watched them religiously, I liked the performances from Ciaran Hinds, Kevin McKidd, and I really loved James Purefoy as Mark Antony. I also checked out the new German series Barbarians, which was a fun retelling of Arminius’s story and the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. My enjoyment of the series may have been influenced by the fact that I’m a sucker for the Roman characters speaking Latin.
What are your general thoughts about the present-day state of sword and sandal media?
I can honestly say that I am not up to date on the happenings in the genre. If I stumble across something, new or old, I will check it out but most of the stuff I’ve seen and read has been enjoyable. I still feel that the genre does not have the same grasp on the public’s imagination that the World Wars or the Cold War have in popular media. I think the reason for that is largely because people has a direct connection to those events, whether they lived through them themselves or have close relatives who did.
The sword and sandal genre seems more abstract to people than more modern stories, but I think shows like Game of Thrones, despite being set in a fantasy world, have shown that people love a gripping story with interesting characters. I think that a show set during the Crisis of the Third Century or the Augustan Civil War, or many of the tumultuous events of Antiquity could become a huge hit, if you have the right people working on it.
What do you feel differentiate S.P.Q.R. from other peplum/historic epic comics out there?
I always knew that I wanted to tell a story that was one that was grounded in history and real-world events. Most of the comics I have read that are sent in Antiquity, like Britannia by Peter Milligan and Frank Miller’s 300, have a heavy focus on mythology and fantasy as opposed to being strictly grounded. I knew that I wanted to tell a story that someone could read and learn that these people really did exist and could learn about things in my book without dismissing it as entirely made up.
What is the primary goal you want to accomplish with S.P.Q.R.?
The biggest thing for me was proving to myself that I could write, letter, and successfully self-publish my own book. Launching the Kickstarter was very intimidating and there are moments in the mid-campaign lull where I felt like the Kickstarter was not going to make it. Once we funded and reached our stretch goal, I felt very satisfied, at this point I am just looking to tell an interesting story and hoping people will read it and like it. The Kickstarter also showed me that there is an audience for this genre and that it does not need to be a fantasy series or have a heavy emphasis on mythology to succeed as a comic.
S.P.Q.R. issue #1 variant cover. Used with permission from Riley Hamilton.
What has been the feedback you’ve received on S.P.Q.R. since its release?
I haven’t received much feedback to be perfectly honest but the feedback I have gotten has been positive. As a first-time creator, who has never published my own book before, I had no idea what sort of reception the first issue would get but it’s been good so far. I hope it continues as more people read the book and when issue two comes out.
What are your next big plans?
Right now, issue two is in production and I’ve got some great ideas of where I want to take both Ara’s story and others going forward. I am still working to streamline the work process with my collaborators so we can hopefully start pushing issues out more regularly. I have a few other irons in the fire that I can’t go into too much detail about right now.
Lastly, I am a contributor to Sequential Magazine, a print magazine focusing on the Canadian indie comics scene and Canadian indie creators. We just released our mega-sized March issue in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the first comic book that was made and published in Canada, Better Comics #1. This issue of the magazine covers the history of Canadian comics and contains interviews and chats with creators in every part of Canada, from Newfoundland to British Columbia. You can order a copy on Sequential’s Gumroad store.
This past Thursday, Jessica Scott and myself were guests on the Scaredy Cats Podcast talking about the film The Slumber Party Massacre. The episode will go online on Thursday the 8th across all major podcast platforms (I recommend their Buzzsprout page).
Michele and I appeared on the Voice of Olympus program on Tuesday to talk EC Comics. Michele covered War Against Crime while I talked about Valor.
Due to timing, billing cycles, and so on, the newest episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast will go online on April 5th.
Horror CFPs
I run the horror academics board for the Horror Writers Association. I try to add new CFPs for papers, presentations, and keep tabs on publishers who accept academic and non-fiction submission. When I update it, go forward, I’ll mention the updates here as well in order to help proliferate the CFPs. The board can be found here and can be viewed by anyone.
General Neo-Peplum News
Das Neue Evangelium
The Bible Films Blog has a write up of Das Neue Evangelium (The New Gospel, 2020), which contains shot-for-shot remakes of Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964).
John Carter Video Game
Sword and planet hero John Carter is getting a video game treatment called John Carter: Warlord of Mars. A website has been setup about the game as it develops at http://jcwom.com.
Elysian Fields: “The Pyramid Gambit”
The newest issue of the Elysian Fields comic series, “The Pyramid Gambit,” has started shipping. I’ve received my copy:
Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit: Loot from the Indiegogo campaign
A call back: I interviewed Michael Oden about Elysian Fields #0 on my website. It can be read here.
Isidora issue #2 News
G. A. Lungaro has completed the script for Isidora #2. The new issue will have four different covers (Jay Espin, Vic King, Mark McKenna, and a mystery person). Issue 2 will also be crowdfunded via Indiegogo this time instead of Kickstarter and is expected to go live May/June. Other related news is that issue #1 is going to be re-lettered and there appears to be a special edition that will contain issues 1 and 2.
Dr. Deb Trusty will be giving a talk titled “Playing in the Past: Reflections from a Classicist on Playing, Streaming, and Teaching with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” via Zoom on April 7th, 2021 at 7:00 pm PST. Registration is here.
Michele and I has our monthly appearance on the Scholars from the Edge of Time segment of the Voice of Olympus podcast. This month we discuss the toga and sandal film Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). Great discussion and keep an eye out on a write up about the film here at my website. In the meantime, the episode can be downloaded/streamed at BlogTalkRadio.
Screen capture from the Eclipse release of Caesar and Cleopatra. Pictured is Claude Rains as Caesar and Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra.
This upcoming Tuesday we will have a mini episode on Voice of Olympus as well.
General Neo-Peplum News
Polis Part 2 Comic
Jave Galt-Miller informs via Kickstarter that the second part of his Polis: The Trail of Socrates has been printed and in his possession. He expects to ship out to backers in the next couple of weeks. Historic info about the project can be found on Kickstarter.
Cover art of issue 2. Copyright by Jave Galt-Miller
Of note, back when I wrote for Fanbase Press, I did a review of issue one of Polis. It can be read here.
G. A Lungaro is YouTuber and a fantasy author, best known for his Covenant of Souls series. He is also the writer and creator of Isidora and the Immortal Chains, a comic series that combines elements of neo-peplum and the Lovecraft mythos. The first issue of the series was successfully Kickstarted in 2020 and tells the story of Isidora, a super-powered lady from ancient Pompeii, existing in a modern day metropolis, acting as the herald of the King in Yellow. Lungaro has graciously allowed me to interview him about his newest endeavor.
Isidora Logo, used with permission from G. A. Lungaro
How did you get into writing?
I have always had a fascination with writing and creating worlds. My first attempt was a terrible fanfiction of the Nintendo game Metroid back in 1988 when I was 14. I even made a cover, cut it to paperback size, and bound it with glue.
During those teenage years, I also picked up and read my first full length (I should say complete trilogy) fantasy novel, Dragonlance’s Legends trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Those books opened my eyes to a fantastical world and compelled me to want to create my own world. Concurrently I was also a big comic book collector, my mainstay being DC comics.
The love of the fantasy genre prompted me to read Tolkein and GRR Martin’s works that ignited the passion for writing that began with that Metroid fanfiction. My first serious attempt began around 2004 when my wife (at the time) and I were playing an online browser-based RP game, which planted the first seeds for my fantasy novel Souls of Magic’s Dawn. After many re-writes, start overs and hair pulling, I finished it in 2010. It wasn’t until 2018 that I began the publishing process in earnest and hired an editor. Shortly after, I ran a successful Kickstarter campaign.
What was the genesis of Isidora?
With comics and fantasy being two of my biggest passions, I successfully entered the world of fantasy writing. I had still not tried my hand at comic writing, mostly because I had no idea how to get an artist and write in that format in which most, if not all, the exposition is visual.
The indie comics movement and my position as a YouTuber put me in place to start networking and talking to people who are involved with comics. I went on a writer’s stream with Preston Poulter, learned some of the comic writing format basics, and learned online tools to write in that format correctly.
With that, the fun part began. I am a child of Italian immigrants, a first-generation American; this prompted a love and appreciation for Greco-Roman history, art, and mythology. I wanted this character to originate from that time. Fun fact, the name Isidora is a Roman name that is also the lead character’s name in my fantasy novel.
Samantha Branch cover for Isidora #1. Imaged used with permission from G. A. Lungaro.
How did you go about designing the character of Isidora? She is quite progressive for both genres: the peplum genre confines women to bellydancers and damsels unless you’re Xena, Red Sonja, or Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and in Lovecraft’s work, women are practically absent.
Yes! This was of extreme importance to me when creating and writing this character. Being a man, there are experiences, motives, and perspectives of a woman’s life that I will never understand. I have seen those tropes many times. While they can be entertaining on some level, eventually, they become cliché and not very appealing to many readers, especially women. My partner Marie and my daughter Alexandra played a significant role in helping me create this character. My editor is also a woman, and she helped tremendously with the final touches.
Being from ancient Rome, I will show some of the reality women faced in those times. Realities that did indeed make them very strong in their own right. There will also be some devastating truths and events that happen to her because she lives in a very male-dominated world. All of this plays a critical role in her development and the powerful woman she has become as an agent of the Old Ones
Any plans for flashback sequences for Isidora to explore her sword and sandal roots in subsequent issues?
Yes, most definitely. It will be mostly relegated to Isidora’s character development and provided a glimpse of her past that has molded her to what she is today 2000 years later. There are some essential elements in that very short mortal life that she lived that play a significant role in her outlook on the world and her place in it.
How did you get into the writings of H. P. Lovecraft?
I did not discover Lovecraft until my mid-30s. I knew of things like Cthulhu but never really read any of the stories and lore that grew from that world and mythos. I began reading works like The Dunwich Horror, which fostered a curious appreciation for those worlds. It wasn’t until the TV show True Detective mentioned the King in Yellow that my curiosity reached new heights.
I was fascinated with this mystery that popped up on a contemporary TV show. I researched it and discovered more of the Lovecraft mythos and its history going back to Robert W. Chambers’ plays. It was a sandbox I knew I wanted to play in one day but didn’t quite know how until I began dabbling in comic writing.
Since you have your feet in two different genres and fandoms (Lovecraft and pepla), what are your thoughts on the current state of media coming from both camps?
I have to say I have not seen much recently concerning peplum. I loved shows like Spartacus, Rome, and of course movies like Gladiator. I heard about Ridley Scott making a sequel to Gladiator, but I feel that may not live up to the original. Cleopatra coming up with Gal Gadot looks intriguing; however, I wish there was more as it seems to have fallen from popularity recently. As for Lovecraft, it seems to be on a pretty significant upswing. Unlike peplum, Lovecraftian Mythos can be adapted for any time period, locale, and setting and make a story from it, much like the recent Lovecraft Country, which I thought was spectacular.
There are lots of (indie) Lovecraft comics out there. What aspect of Isidora do you think sets this comic out from the rest?
Starting with Isidora and the Immortal Chains #1, I planned to make something as unique as possible and add a new paradigm to the Lovecraft Mythos. I feel this stands out in the Mythos because it is a mashup of multiple elements all put together in a genre I call “The Lovecraftian Dark Heroverse.” I am taking features of the broader horrific Lovecraft Mythos and bringing in elements of classic cosmic and mystical hero comics. Think Lovecraft meets Constantine meets Silver Surfer. She [Isidora] is a herald to the King in Yellow, much like Silver Surfer to Galactus, and weaving in characteristics exhibited by characters like John Constantine, all set in a Lovecraftian world.
The neo-peplum element comes from a few places—my Italian heritage for one and a literary perspective. One of my favorite authors outside the fantasy genre is Anne Rice and her Vampire Chronicles. The ancient vampire Marius, who was born during the Roman Empire, always intrigued me. The idea of an immortal beginning their life in Greco-Roman times like Marius and living through history to end up in the modern day was an interesting perspective I wanted to explore in the pages of this comic.
What was your soundtrack while creating Isidora? Conversely, what is the suggested soundtrack to readers while reading the comic?
I never get asked this question; thank you so much for asking it. I know for many writers, a musical accompaniment helps drive the writing process. Certain verses, tones, and beats can set me on overdrive in the writing process. I am also going to say my soundtrack and the suggested soundtrack are going to be the same.
Anything Evanescence and Within Temptation, specifically “And We Run” by Within Temptation, “Away from Me” by Evanescence, and also “Undeniable” by Seckond Chaynce.
What is the main thing you want to accomplish with Isidora?
In the Lovecraft Mythos, the spotlight and focus are typically on a very human element, madness, and at the end, a hopeless and powerless feeling of powers we cannot understand or comprehend. My goal is to tell a story from the viewpoint of an agent of the Old Ones, who once was human at one time, finding that there can be hope and a way to overcome these powers. I want to display this in a very gritty and real light that does not hold back in a visceral nature and inspires the sense that there can be hope in a world where, even if it is only one person, can stand up to be a hero.
What were the some of the major obstacles you encountered while creating the comic?
Right at the start, the biggest challenge was finding artists that can both share the vision I have and also present it beautifully and accurately. It took a lot of searching and researching, but eventually, I ran across Alper Gecgel, a young artist from Turkey. When I viewed his portfolio I was floored by the haunting beauty of his work. It has a gritty simpleness to it but conveys the feel I want the reader to get while reading it.
The challenge didn’t end there. English is not Alper’s first language, and all of our communication was over Facebook messenger. There were many times I had to make awful sketches to convey what I wanted to see on the pages. The fact he understood and brought those ideas to life is a testament to his dedication and skill.
Aside from those challenges, just attempting to create a crowdfunded, indie project is a daunting task from the start. It was an uphill battle to find that core audience to build a fandom around to get the grassroots effort started. I can’t thank some of my Youtube friends enough for promoting it and extraordinarily loyal and generous subscribers to my channel that supported this project.
Nicholas Diak’s Isidora #1 Kickstarter Loot. Photo by Michele Brittany.
Since its release, what has been the reception of Isidora?
The dreaded feedback all writers fear but also crave as much as life itself. I am always terrified something I create will not be received well by people outside of close friends and family. I suffer from Imposter Syndrome as much as any up-and-coming creative person.
I will say that the reception has been overwhelmingly positive so far from my backers’ word of mouth. I also just ran a survey questionnaire, and currently, it is at about a 4 out 5 average as an overall rating. This is better than I could have ever.
What are your next big plans you’d like to share/promote?
I don’t have anything currently to promote other than my nerdy YouYube channel, The Grey Council. The channel plays an integral part in my social interaction, promoting any new projects I am working on and building a geeky sweaty nerds community who loves things from Star Wars to comics to fantasy. My fantasy novel that I published in February 2020, Souls of Magic’s Dawn, is also available on Amazon.
However, I am currently working on [Isidora] issue #2, which I am about halfway through writing, and hope to launch a crowdfund campaign by this summer.
Last week the CFP for the neo-medieval project came to an end. I’ve spent the last week juggling the project and came to the decision to shutter it for the simple reason that I did not receive enough abstracts to justice the project to any publisher. The medieval project is officially dead. However, keep an eye out here later in the year for a CFP for a different project. Thank you to all who submitted.
Podcast News
New episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is live! In this episode Michele and I discuss “The House on Curwen Street” and “The Watcher from the Sky” both from August Derleth’s The Trail of Cthulhu. The episode is available on our Buzzsprout website or via the Podcast application of your preference.
General Neo-Peplum News
Swords, Sandals, and Synthwave
It’s not often the synthwave genre dives into subject matter older than the 80s, let alone into antiquity, yet The Midnight (retro wave band) is releasing a new LP called Horror Show that contains a track called “Neon Medusa.” The LP is available for pre-order on vinyl, cassette, and digitally at the band’s Bandcamp page and will be released March 19th.
Clash of the Titans 2010 on HBO Max
Article at Looper praising Clash of the Titans 2010 remake and encouraging folks to check it out on HBO Max.
Peplum Erotica Gaming
Ubisoft isn’t the only publisher/developer that has the market cornered in sword and sandal gaming, with their Assassin’s Creed series and Immortals Fenyx Rising. There is a WIP game on steam called Slaves of Rome that takes an erotic approach to the genre.
Slave of Rome banner provided by the developers
The game appears to be a BDSM simulator that allows players to create, train, trade, and have sex with enslaved persons in an ancient Roman setting. More info about the game can be found on the developer’s Patreon, Twitter, and Reddit.
SPQR Comic Ships
After a few minor setbacks and misprints, Riley Hamilton’s Kickstarted comic SPQR issue #1 has begun being shipped. If you didn’t contribute to the Kickstarter, no worries, the comic is available for purchase at Hamilton’s website.
I contributed to the Kickstarter so I reckon my copy will arrive in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for some sort of write up about it.
Rest in Peplum
British actress Nicola Pagett passed away at the age of 75 from a brain tumor. She played Messalina in an episode called “Claudius” in the 1968 miniseries The Caesars and Talia in The Viking Queen (1967).
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.
Apologies, I missed putting out a news roundup for 11/22, so this post will cover both weeks.
Podcast News
Michele and I interviewed Michael Oden (creator of the Elysian Fields comic) on the Scholars from the Edge of Time segment of the Voice of Olympus show. Episode has been added to the podcast index and can also be streamed here.
For H. P. Lovecast Podcast, the upcoming schedule is going to look like this:
2020-12-06 – Wonder and Glory Forever
2020-12-20 – Interview with Nick Mamatas (already recorded)
2021-01-03 – Eight Cylinders
2021-01-17 – Interview with Jason Parent
Call for Papers
The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Rest in Peplum
David Prowse, better reknown as the actor who portrayed Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, passed away at the age of 85. His contributions to the sword and sandal genre include:
Dr. Who “The Time Monster” (1972). He was a minotaur
Up Pompeii (as an muscular extra)
Jabberwocky (1977, Terry Gilliam)
Daria Nicolodi passed away at the age of 70. She was known for her many contributions to Italian cinema in the 70s and 80s and her collaborations with Dario Argento. She appeared in Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989, Enzo G. Castellari)
Miscellanea
The folks at Comicon have quite a few articles that have gone up in the past two weeks:
Michele and I interviewed cosplay couple Steven and Tiffany Carmel Lake on the Scholars from the Edge of Time program where we talked about the art of cosplay.
Earlier in the week I had a quick appearance on the Voice of Olympus program to talk about Antonio Margheriti’s film Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules. Both podcast appearances have been added to the podcast appearance index.
I did a write up of the neo-peplum comic Elysian Fields #0 and an interview with the comic’s creator Michael Oden.
This upcoming weekend we will be recording our newt episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast where we discuss stories form the book Swords Against Cthulhu.
Michele and I will also be appearing on the program Chatting with Sherri.
General Neo-Peplum News
Michael Oden’s neo-peplum comic, Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit, launches on Indiegogo.
General Maximus was an amalgam of many historic peoples, with Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, and Hugh Jackman all considered for the role.
There was lots of re-writes and ad-libbing
The coliseum was 1/3 built and 2/3 CGI
Opening battle scene in Germania took 3 weeks to film
Oliver Reed died and his remaining scenes were accomplished with rewrites, body doubles, and CGI.
Maximus was going to fight a rhino instead of a tiger.
Film shot with different cameras and different frame rates.
The blurry sequences during a big fight scene were accidentally caused during post-production, but they went with it.
Joaquin Phoenix was super nervous to play his part, so to help out, Russell Crowe got him drunk.
Crowe got lots of injuries making the film.
The upcoming Hindi fantasy film Brahmāstra (trailer) looks to contain many India-style sword and sandal elements.
Just learned of the Byzantine Empire neo-peplum comic Theophano: A Byzantine Tale. The folks at Fanbase Press have an interview with the comic’s illustrator, Chrysa Sakel. The graphic novel is readily available on Amazon, I’ll be checking this out!
