The Mithra Mysteries are a specialized terrorist team, led by the Lion of Jupiter, who wreak havoc in an alternate history Rome, one that is technologically advanced with cyberpunk tech. The last mission of the Mysteries had Jupiter allowing himself to get captured and connected to the Emperor’s Navigator to have his memories prodded by the Veritas Decider. However, Jupiter is acting as a trojan horse, implanted with special memories that trap the Decider, allowing his team to initiate their assault and steal information from the Navigator.
Issue #2 Plot
Information in hand, the Mysteries’ next mission given to them by their Pater is to infiltrate the imperial palace and assassinate Emperor Tiberius. The mission goes horribly wrong as the Mysteries walk right into an ambush due to their ranks having been compromised by an informant. Concurrently, detective Rufus begins to investigate the Mysteries’ attack on the Navigator and Veritas Decider but is stymied by Germanicus and his Praetorian Guard. Rufus’ partner, Eugenio, seeks out a contact in Praetorian Intelligence who perhaps can provide some data on the Mysteries and the Guard.
Commentary
Rome Eternal issue two commits to the same bit that 2021’s The Suicide Squad did by killing the heroes right as their mission starts. In a true Game of Thrones fashion, no one is safe in Rome Eternal in that nearly all the named characters from the first issue, along with newly introduced characters in issue two, are horrifically dispatched. On one hand this raises the stakes of Rome Eternal considerably while at the same time underscoring the cunning and brutality of [techno] Rome. On the other hand, readers do not get a chance to see the members of the Mysteries in much action. In issue one they are all introduced along with their corresponding power/specialty, so there is the expectation to see them in their element, doing their thing, building up more characterization to give their eventual demise more weight. So, it is bittersweet to see the Mysteries members annihilated, quite easily at that.
As with issue one, Rome Eternal embraces non-linear storytelling. While issue one used memories in tandem with unfolding events, issue two is told in flashback while also switching perspectives between the Lion and the Mysteries and Rufus and his investigation. Ultra violence and non-linear storytelling, it is as if 90s Tarantino decided to make an alt-history neo-peplum.
The art and writing quality from issue one carries over to issue two and everything is top notch. The art is especially stand out, both detailed and colourful. Dark blues dominate this issue, with the nighttime assault and covert meetings in alleyways. The newly introduced Detective Rufus and Germanicus have detailed attire that are anachronistic, they feel both ancient, yet new. It is these details that keep grounding the sword and sandal setting in a different, hi-tech context. Rome Eternal is fully committed to the bit.
With nearly all the heroes killed and the issue ending on a major cliffhanger, it is nail biting to see what will happen next. The introduction of Rufus indicates Rome Eternal may start diving into the toga and sandal genre with more intrigue and the addition of political maneuvering from Germanicus. It is nice to see all these 60s peplum tropes being explored in a way different fashion in Rome Eternal.
For more information on Rome Eternal and its team, check out the following links:
It has been a while so it is time to dive back into my bread and butter, the world of the neo-peplum, so here is a brand new review online.
I’m fairly timely with this review as Rome Eternal came out in November, and I have issue #2 (which came out in January) in my paws as well. Should I aim to do back to back reviews?
Anywho, Rome Eternal is a neo-peplum comic about an Ancient Rome that did not fall but instead became a huge superpower that is just as corrupt and nasty as it has ever been. Just this time they have laser spears.
Sincerely chuffed that editor Naomi Simone Borwein mentions Michele and I in her acknowledgments in her upcoming edited academic collection, Global Indigenous Horror, from University Press of Mississippi.
We had the honour of having Dr. Borwein present at a past Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference and to have her presentation published in Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern.
I’ve shared prior, but want to re-iterate how awesome the cover art for Global Indigenous Horror is:
Global Indigenous Horror is slated to be published April 15th and can be pre-ordered at the UPoM website.
Scholars from the Edge of Time: Gentlemen Broncos
First episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time of 2025 is now online!
Back in 2024 Michele and I watched Krull and loved it (that episode can be viewed here). The cyclops in Krull made me recall that Gentlemen Broncos has homages to the iconic one-eyed character, so we decided to give that film a shot! The vidcast episode can be watched on YouTube, check it out!
ECOF 2025
In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing with there the 7th U.S. Calvary in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).
Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:
I’ll share more information about the event as I find out more on my website updates. Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well.
Publishing Recap
Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.
Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.
Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.
“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.
“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.
Calls for Papers/Proposals
Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my path. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.
Selling Scary Movies: Horror Film Promotion & the American Market
While American horror cinema is among the most widely examined of all entertainment formats, scholarship on this topic has mainly focused on film content or its reception. Consequently, despite representing a profuse component of horror’s inter-textual replay, the marketing of such films remains under-theorized and supported by a relative paucity of case-studies. Indeed, the promotion of scary movies still tends to be imagined rather reductively as a nightmarish mix of terror, loathing, threat, violence, and monstrosity, exemplified by such oft-quoted taglines as “be afraid, be very afraid” and “keep repeating it’s only a movie!”. This collection of essays therefore proposes to broaden conceptions of how chillers, thrillers, and the like have been promoted on the US market. It shall do so by uniting diverse approaches focusing on the industrial, social, discursive, and aesthetic dimensions of horror film marketing across a range of industry sectors, windows of release, and time periods. In so doing, the collection aims to expand and clarify the terms under which we understand one of the most pervasive yet poorly appreciated aspects of American audiovisual culture.
Accordingly, the editor of this collection therefore solicits original essays of 6000-8000-words offering a variety of perspectives on topics including but not restricted to:
Marketing campaigns of individual horror films
Repacking horror films across windows of release
Marketing campaigns across horror film trends and sub-types
Horror film and print advertising
Horror film and audiovisual advertising
Horror film and radio advertising
Horror film and viral advertising
Horror films and synergy
Horror films and publicity tours
Exploitation sector marketing
Indie/Art horror marketing
Marketing extreme or niche horror
Hollywood horror marketing
Targeting horror at specific audiences
Promoting imported horror on the American market
Horror in the marketing of non-horror films
Non-horror in the marketing of horror films
Please send 200-word abstracts plus a short academic bio – or any questions and queries – to richardandrew.nowell@amu.cz
Abstract due date (31 May 2025), chapter submissions (circa. January-May 2027).
Miscellaneous Tidbits
Some fun things and shout outs from these past few weeks.
New Acquisitions
Gladiator 2
Gladiator 2 was release in theaters back in November 2024 and Michele and I got to see it on the big screen in December. I started a draft of a write up of the film, got 80% done, but decided to shelve it for when the Blu-ray comes out so I could re-watch it.
And now, the movie is out on physical media! I got my pre-order the other week, so expect an upcoming Peplum Ponderings about the film, but also a Scholars from the Edge of Time episode devoted to it.
Helen of Troy
A recent pick up for an old film, here is Helen of Troy (Robert Wise, 1956).
I have not seen this one yet, but this will be a great watch in tandem with Ruby Blondell’s Helen of Troy in Hollywood.
Autographed Treasures
Lots of cool autographed treasures I’ve shared on Bluesky these past few weeks.
Rodan/War of the Gargantuas
I love kaiju films, but I am far from an expert on all the Toho and Toei monster films out there. Don’t laugh, but one of my favorite Godzilla films is All Monsters Attack (1969, Ishiro Honda).
I have quite a Godzilla film collection, but I have only one autographed kaiju film, and that is War of the Gargantuas (1966, Ishiro Honda) by Russ Tamblyn. There was a West Side Story anniversary Hollywood Collector’s show way back in the day, and he was in attendance, so I had to get my monster movie signed!
When Women Ruled the Earth / War Goddess
Luciana Paluzzi is an iconic starlet of Italian genre cinema, and she has made frequent appearances at conventions, mostly James Bond-themed ones due to her being in Thunderball.
I actually really liked her in the Eurospy film The Venetian Affair (1967, Jerry Thorpe). Paluzzi starred in her fair share of pepla, including the very late era peplum War Goddess (1973, Terence Young), which she signed my copy of.
Strike Commando
Reb Brown rules and Yor, the Hunter from the Future rules.
Reb has done many other cult films and is probably (aside from Yor) best known for Space Mutiny which was on MST3K.
However, he was in a handful of other Italian genre films of the 80s, including the men-on-a-mission film, Strike Commando, which is awesome. Severin Films did a nice Blu-ray release a few years back, but 20 years ago the only way I could watch the film was in a multi-film budget DVD set called Mercs: Soldiers of Fortune 10 Feature Film Collection which contained a low quality copy of Strike Commando, which Brown graciously signed to me.
News from Friends
Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.
Bible Films Blog – House of David
Matt Page over at his Bible Films blog is on a roll doing write ups about season one of House of David. Check them out:
AncientTechno Rome. Veritas Decisor Titus Amaro and the Emperor’s Navigator are memory diving into the mind of The Lion of Jupiter, the terrorist son of the Greek Sergius Lauro who led a failed rebellion against the empire. Titus witnesses the memories of when the rebellion was squelched by Javelin Germanicus followed by the indoctrination ritual from the Cult of Mithra of bringing the Lion into their ranks.
Meanwhile the companions of the Lion of Jupiter, collectively called the Mithra Mysteries (Corax the Raven, Persus the Persian, Amalia the Virgin, Heliodromus the Sun Runner, and Miles the Soldier), initiate their plan rescue their leader and retrieve something else of value.
Commentary
Rome Eternal is a neo-peplum comic written by Homero Rios (Heavy Metal), with Diego Yapur (Bloodshot: Rising Spirit,Death Dealer) on art, Oscar Carreño (Wolverine: Xisle) on colours, and Shawn Lee (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Judge Dredd) doing editing. The first issue was published in November 2024 by Magma Comix. The comic takes place in an alternate history where ancient Rome did not fall but instead became an empire that is a mixture of antiquity and hi-tech, with floating chariots, laser spears, and the cyberpunk-esque ability to view someone’s memories. The juxtaposition of old and future in Rome Eternal is conceptually comparable to the Fallout universe but replace 50s atomic-era Americana with the SPQR.
Ostensibly, Rome Eternal is a superhero/specialist team story, with each member of the Mithra Mysteries bringing a unique talent or ability to the fold: Miles is a giant, brute of a man who wields a titanic hammer; Persus is akin to an agile, stealthy thief, Heliodromus shoots flames from his bracers, Amalia is a sniper, Corax is able to fly and hack into machines, and the Lion is the leader and mastermind. Since issue one of Rome Eternal has two narratives going at the same time, (the real-world narrative and the narrative of the memories of the Lion), each character is given two introductions: one via the memories and then via them showcasing their abilities and the other when they commence their assault. It is a unique take on character introduction.
As a sword and sandal story, Rome Eternal brings its own unique spin to the genre, akin to other neo-peplum comics such as Jonathan Hickman’s Pax Romana and Jean-David Morvan’s Hercules: Wrath of the Heavens. The Rome depicted in Rome Eternal is just as corrupt and decadent as any portrayal in a historic epic, but the addition of hi-tech really ups the brutalism in a way similar to the space marines in the Warhammer 40K universe, where armour and (chainsaw) swords clash with bolt guns and spaceships. It is jarring (in a good way) how one panel will look exactly like it is from an antiquity comic (such as Frank Miller’s 300) and the next the image will be replete with laser rifles and electro-spears.
Rome Eternal is a high concept idea, and writer Rios brings the singular components (techno ancient Roman X-men) while Yapur and Carreño bring the great visuals. The art of Rome Eternal is colorful, creative and detailed, and it has to be in order to portray the mixture of ancient architecture in tandem with cyberpunk technology. The armour and uniforms of all the character look both old and futuristic at the same time. There is a great amount of detail in the characters, but this is also one of those comics that is not afraid to explore the background art as that is the realm that will solidify the anachronistic setting the comic is establishing.
The arrival of Rome Eternal could not happen at a more appropriate and cyclical, time in pop culture and real-world history. In late 2000 Ridley Scott’s Gladiator was released, starting a revival of the sword and sandal genre with films like 300 (Zach Snyder, 2006), Troy (Wolfgang Petersen, 2004), Immortals (Tarsem Singh, 2011), The Eagle (Kevin Macdonald, 2011), and many more. A bulk of the peplum revival coincided with the presidency of George W. Bush and eight years of right-wing hegemony. Depending on how they are perceived, peplum texts can be a critique of fascism (Neil Marshall’s Centurion) or a glorification of it (such as the jingoism in 300). Fast-forward twenty-four years and Rome Eternal #1 is released, the same month as Gladiator II, and just at the eve of another wave of the rise of the right under Trump. Gladiator II attempted a course correction in its story and went more overt in calling out the evils of the empire. Rome Eternal looks to be echoing the same message, to rebel against fascism.
Will a renewed cycle of sword and sandal films, games, comics, and other texts arise again? Rome Eternal is looking to lead the pack and it will be great to see what the rest of the story will convey and commentate on.
For more information on Rome Eternal and its team, check out the following links:
Non-PC videogaming during the 90s was predominately dominated by three companies: Nintendo (Super Nintendo, N64, and the Gameboy), Sega (Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast), and, in the latter half of the decade, Sony (Playstation). It was an era of innovation (graphics and online capabilities), experimentation (FMV and system add-ons), and transition (12 bit to 32 to 64, cartridges to CDs), and these three companies trailblazed the gaming Wild West. Of course, other companies would throw their hats into the ring to partake in the Console Wars, though most would fail miserably: Atari with the Jaguar, 3DO Company with the 3DO, and Philips with the CD-i (SNK’s Neo-Geo is an outlier console). These consoles failed for just reasons (lack of gaming libraries, hard to develop for, poor performance), but remain a curious aspect of gaming history, though practically inaccessible to revisit with retrogaming in mind. Emulation of these systems is difficult and out of reach of a typical gamer, hardware is expensive and prone to break, and console exclusive titles do not see releases.
That is until the past few years in which failed console games have started to be resurrected with re-releases. Atari 50, released in 2022, is a museum/compilation hybrid release that contained nine Atari Jaguar titles, providing the first opportunity in thirty years to play these games. In 2024 Limited Run Games re-released the maligned 1993 3DO game Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties, allowing gamers to experience one of the worst video game titles in existence.
Cover art for Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, also released by Limited Run Games in 2024, is title born out of these resurrected titles. Back in 1993, Philips released two Legend of Zelda games on its CD-i console: Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (the same year the Super Mario Bros. movie was released [Nintendo seemed to be a bit more laissez-faire with their properties back them]). The two Zelda games became notorious for their poor quality, horrible controls, and most famously, their cartoon cutscenes. Someone looked at these two Zelda games and said, “But what if they were remade – but made good?” The end result is Arzette, and it is an AMAZING game.
Released across all major gaming platforms, Arzette is a fantasy adventure game with some light Metroidvania elements, an homage to the two aforementioned Zelda games, and a love letter to a different style of retrogaming that has not been accessible for some time.
The river level in Arzette. The colorful backgrounds done in an drawn/painted style are like this for every level.
The first thing players will notice about Arzette is its art style and animation. The narrated intro to Arzette is done in a colour-pencil, storybook style. The game proper shies away from the pixel art that has dominated retrogaming and instead embraces a painted aesthetic, which gives each level a unique look. The enemies are also done in a similar style, at times giving them the appearance of vaporwave artwork. The cutscenes of the game are straight poorly animated cartoon style as used the in CD-i Zelda games, and almost reminiscent of rudimentary Flash animation during the format’s heyday. All of this gives Arzette a distinct and unique charm. It does not look like any other game out there right now, while at the same time evoking the imagery of early 90s non-pixel gaming.
Cutscene of Arzette and the Ice Lady. The animation is crude and the style purposely campy and low budget.
The music of Arzette, composed by Jake Silverman, is an absolute banger and compliments the game’s visual aesthetics. The score is firmly in the realm of fantasy, but it almost has a pirate, tropical vibe to it at times (it would not be out of place in a Shantae game at all). It is upbeat and carries the feeling of exploration. Even the tracks for more sinister looking levels (such as the volcano level) and boss fights sound positive instead of aggressive and menacing. This is a whimsical game and the soundtrack underscores this.
One of the many criticisms of the original CD-i Zelda games were its controls and gameplay, such as requiring the character to duck in order to access the inventory or having to stab gems with the character’s weapon in order to collect them. Arzette pokes fun at these restrictions without breaking the gameplay. For example, gems and other items can be walked over to be collected (as is standard in 99.99% of these types of games), but in order to talk to another character, they need to be “attacked” with the sword. The sword is (per the story) enchanted in such a way that bad people get damaged while good people do not. As for the ducking to access the menu, Arzette offers a difficulty option that brings in some of these Zelda aspects, such as the duck-menu, into the game.
On the subject of difficulty, Arzette is an extremely forgiving. The easier settings provide unlimited level continues with enemies spawning health regenerating items. Harder difficulties take away the level continues and health item generation and even bring in the aforementioned Zelda broken gameplay aspects. However, the levels in Arzette are fairly small, broken into even smaller sections. Dying on a screen only sets the player back to the beginning of that screen, so major progress is never lost. This makes Arzette quite accessible to younger or newer gamers, but it does perhaps come at the cost of being almost too easy, even on higher difficulties, for seasoned gamers. Once all of the game’s powerups are collected, Arzette becomes extremely overpowered, regardless of difficulty.
World map screen for Arzette. Level selection at the bottom, level progress at the top.
As each level is in bite-sized chunks, they invite multiple replays for exploration to find hidden collectables. As with other Metroidvania style games, many areas of Arzette are initially inaccessible until later in the game when a specific item (double jump shoes or a different colour magic shot for example) is procured. A handy menu on the world map indicates progress of each level’s collectables and the system menu indicates game completion percentage. In this regard, Arzette provides quality of life mechanics that were absent in older games, and still sometimes missing in present day titles.
If there is a fault with Arzette it is with its story and characters. The story of Arzette is fairly standard sword and sorcery fare: the evil Daimur (a stand-in for Zelda’s main antagonist Ganon) who was defeated and imprisoned many years ago is set free. He and his band of cronies (which include a horseman and a business suit wearing dragon) set out to conquer the land of Faramore while shrouding it in darkness. Princess Arzette sets out to relight the beacons to bring light back to the kingdom and then defeat Daimur again. This is not George R. R. Martin levels of storytelling, but it is serviceable, and certainly expandable if Arzette sequels are realized.
Arzette and Maki in the bakery.
The characters of Arzette, save the titular character herself, are one dimensional. The majority of characters simply appear during a cutscene, a fetch quest is given/completed, and they scamper off to become dialogue repeating NPCs. This is unfortunate because the world of Arzette looks like it contains some interesting characters (an ogre who likes to garden, a bourgeois frog, a clumsy but well-meaning guard, etc.) that could really take advantage of the game’s camp-style cutscenes. These are missed opportunities to really flesh out the side characters, expand on the world building, and have more of the game’s fun cutscenes. Thankfully, Arzette the character has some great character building: coping with the death of her King father and being the only competent one in the kingdom to stand against Daimur in battle. She also is a problem solver as she develops an alternative way to deal with Daimur than how he has been dealt with in the past. The game also drops hints that Arzette may be a non-heterosexual character, such as her agreeing to a date with the Maki the Baker and her blushing at the physical advances of the Ice Lady. Though the game does not fully commit to this representation, the overall character of Arzette is multifaceted and as far from a stock heroine as seen in games past.
Arzette has been released digitally across all the major gaming consoles, making it readily procurable by almost anyone (in stark contrast to the Zelda CD-i games that command large prices on eBay). In addition to this, Limited Run Games did physical releases of the game for the different platforms, and its collector’s edition incarnation is fully stacked with swag.
Outside slip case of the Collector’s Edition.
The game comes packaged in the iconic big-box format, evocative of PC game packaging of the 90s.
Inside box.
The game proper comes with both a standard case as well as a jewel case akin to how CD-i games were packaged back in the day.
Xbox version with clip case, and a CD case with a sleeve.
There is also a soundtrack, a poster map, and a titanic tome of art, lore, background images and information and more.
Art book, poster, and soundtrack.
There is also a pin of Arzette and a display of Mortar, the pompadour-sporting merchant, though a display of Arzette proper would have been preferred.
Pin and stand.
Overall, Arzette is a fantastic game. The gameplay is a solid adventure/platformer/Metroidvania with a variety of collectibles. The art style is genius, both as an homage to a gaming style that has not been explored in decades but also stands on its own right. The music and the overall presentation of the game is singular and whimsical. The main protagonist has the makings of becoming an iconic videogame character. If Arzette is the result of taking two broken games and turning them into something successful and fun, it would be incredible to see if Arzette can be built upon even more via a sequel title (which, post credits, do hint at).
Hercules, Ursus, Maciste, Goliath, Samson, et al. – all strongman characters and archetypes founds in peplum cinema, both classic and new. They are singular in their exploits, be it mythical, folklore, or cinematic only, but also interchangeable for the same reasons. The strongman is a malleable character, who can be juxtaposed against a variety of ages and settings, leading to fun and interesting scenarios. These could be tales of a Hercules-style character in space, superhero adventures, time traveling adventures that can feature a fish-out-of-water element, and others.
Ben Lacy’s comic book series Samson is one such text that takes an iconic peplum protagonist and Hebrew Biblical hero, and applies a different spin to the character. Lacy’s incarnation of Samson leans heavily into the superhero genre (which has always has a strong link to mythology, see Marvel’s Hercules and Thor characters for examples) by having his character, a concentration camp prisoner, become the subject of Nazi experiments that leads to superhuman strength – a Jewish equivalent to Captain America.
Variant cover by David Gallart.
Samson, written by Lacy, with Jhonesbas Craneo (Tomb of Horror) on pencils, Anton Polkhovskyi (The Cthulhu Man) as the colorist, and Nikki Powers (Burn, Wayward Kindred) providing lettering, is currently going through a crowdfunding campaign to realize the debut issue. Lacy has generously provided his time to be interviewed about his strongman comic.
From classic 1960s sword and sandal films, Hollywood Golden Age Biblical pepla, and even Gladiator and neo-peplum, is this a genre you’re into? If so, how did you get into these types of films?
One of the first movies I saw in a theater was The Ten Commandments back in the early 1970s. I’ll always watch it if it’s on. The same with the last half of Ben-Hur and the few good parts of Cleopatra. I’ve also always liked the Steve Reeves Hercules movies. Not only did they have a lot of cool action, I’d never seen anyone like Reeves (this was pre-Arnold times) and I always wanted a build like that (which I never achieved). For the same reason, I liked the ridiculous Three Stooges Meet Hercules movie where a nerdy professor turns into a strong man.
What are your favourite sword and sandal films, comics, books, and so on?
In addition to the movies mentioned, I’ve liked a lot of the Busiek run on Conan. I used to read a series of books by John Jakes about Brak the Barbarian that were a lot of fun.
Various Samson pepla.
Have you watched any of the classic Italian Samson peplum films (such as Samson and His Mighty Challenge,Samson and the Sea Beast, Samson Against the Back Pirate, etc.), and if so, your thoughts on them? Did you draw any inspiration or ideas from these films?
No, I’m afraid I haven’t seen any of these. I did see Samson and Delilah as a kid.
What is the general synopsis of Samson?
Samson is an epic tale that takes place over the course of fifty years from WW2 to just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. During WW2 we see how the Nazis took two young boys and experimented on them, giving one of them great strength, speed, and invulnerability. He takes on the name Samson as a way of inspiring people.
Years later, after the reunification of Germany, Interpol has discovered that the Uberfuhrer, a Nazi supervillain, may still be alive and living in America. They urge Samson to come out of retirement to take him down. The first story arc follows both the younger and older SAMSON as we learn what’s happened to him and his world over those many years.
What was the genesis of this comic?
I’d always wanted to do a superhero comic (my other books are more sci-fi and adventure oriented). As a Jew, the idea of creating a Jewish superhero whose origin is very much related to his being Jewish was something I thought would be both exciting and unique.
How does your iteration of Samson compare to the Biblical incarnation?
Samson takes his name from the Biblical version both to be a sort of Captain America figure for Jews and because his real name is conveniently Samuel.
There are a lot of stories out there about Nazis doing weird science experiments and creating super soldiers, monsters, etc. How does Samson stand out from these types of stories?
This is inspired by actual events. The Nazis did experiment on Jewish twins. The two scientists in this book are based on two of the real men who conducted these experiments. Of course the experiments they actually conducted were quack science, but in a superhero universe, they succeed, but may wind up regretting it.
What was something important you learned or a surprise you encountered while writing and Kickstarting this comic?
I’ve done ten successful Kickstarters. The first time I tried to Kickstart Samson, it failed to fund. I learned that I had to expand my audience to people who were interested in superheroes. I printed off a large number of B&W Samson mini comics and gave those away to the backers of my other books and to people at comic cons.
What is the biggest goal you want to accomplish with Samson?
At this point, I want to get it funded and get issue one out there. Hopefully, when people see it, there will be more demand for issue two because I think this story will excite a lot of people.
What can fans of the sword and sandal genre look forward to in Samson? Any homages to the classic character or to the genre?
Probably more in variant covers than in the story itself though when Samson ends up in Israel and gets his first costume, he will have the more traditional longer hair and beard.
And finally any other news and projects you’d like to share?
I have two other ongoing series, Shark of War and The Vicious Vixens of Dakuwanga. People can read the first issues of both at BitingComics.com. And of course Samson still has a six days left at Samson.BitingComics.com.
Sincere appreciation to Ben Lacy for his time to talk about his Samson comic. More information on the comic, including a link to the Kickstarter campaign, can be found in the below list:
Twenty years ago can seem like ancient history when looking at both pop and underground culture, a feeling that becomes compounded when a textual artifact from the past is an examination of ancient history proper. Industrial music typically does not dive into the world of antiquity, (usually staying in the realm of post-modern concepts), but the inherent experimental nature of the genre occasionally pushes a music project or release to explore topics related to ancient history. The 2004 compilation, XII Caesars, released by the long since defunct Somnambulant Corpse, is one of those outlier releases where industrialism and antiquity collide. Twenty years later, the release deserves to be unearthed and re-appreciated, not only for its contribution to the industrial genre, but as a time capsule of the underground scene in the aughts – a literal aural artifact.
XII Caesars Cover Insert.
XII Caesars is a concept compilation with a specific focus on Julius Caesar and the first eleven emperors of Ancient Rome as detailed in Suetonius’ influential text, The Twelve Caesars. Each track focuses on a specific Caesar and are presented in chronological order of each emperor’s reign with two exceptions: four emperors share track seven “Year Of Four Emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian)” and the last track is the epilogue “Ultor,” a reference to Mars Ultor, an iteration of the god of Mars during the period of Augustus.
The first track, “Julius Caesar, Dictator,” is by the ambient-industrial project Exsanguinate. The background drone of the song feels like one is being shaken or rattled, with distorted wailing appearing halfway through the track. There is a chilling, 4-beat rhythm that adds a catchyness to the track, giving listeners something to latch onto during the song’s duration.
“Augustus” by Tugend is the album’s second track. An ambient song with some neo-classical and borderline dungeon synth elements, it sounds like the music one would hear from a church belonging to an apocalyptic cult, with the latter half of the track bringing a fire-and-brimstone drumming to it.
Card of Tiberius / Murderous Vision.
The third track is the ambient “Tiberius” by Murderous Vision. The song begins with a repeating sample “Hey, Caesar” with the background giving way to other, garbled, sampled voices. The gives the track an effect of hearing whispered plots and schemes, and a general uncomfortable vibe, no doubt recreating the feelings of Tiberius’ paranoia.
“Tiberius” is followed by “Gaius (Caligula)” by Bestia Centauri. A droning track with some atonal electronics, it would easily be at home on the Cryo Chamber label.
Card for Claudius / Post Scriptvm.
Post Scriptvm’s “Claudius” is the compilation’s fifth track. An experimental soundscape, the song is sample heavy of crying, weeping, animal baying, and water rustling. The samples sit atop a 1-2 beat that flows through the song, making the song unnerving and ominous while at the same time accessible and easy to latch onto.
The minimal-ambient “Nero” appears to be the only song ever released by The Great Despisers.
Survival Unit brings the power electronics genre to XII Caesars with their “Year Of Four Emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian).” The track is both burbling and bombastic, peppered with muddled samples of speeches and screeches. It is volatile track, definitely mimicking the period of civil war in the Roman Empire.
“Titus” by Önd is an extremely minimal, experimental song, bordering on a single note being held through the entire duration.
The last of the twelves Caesars, Domitian, is the compilation’s penultimate track and composed by Axone, the project of Somnambulant Corpse’s owner Chris Donovan. An industrial soundscape song, “Domitian” feels both windswept and grating, like traversing stone tunnels constructed by giant bees.
The final track on XII Caesars is “Epilogue (Ultor)” by Marspiter. An industrial-ambient composition, the song feels like gazing upon a ruined city in the middle of a desert under a dark sky, a last glimpse of what once was.
Insert Back.
CD in tray.
The cover of XII Caesars shows the busts of the twelve emperors in a small, 3×4 grid, with a faint, dark, modern cityscape as the background. Inside the booklet shows a gladius while the CD proper shows the pillars and buildings of Ancient Rome aflame. The presentation proper is akin to the imagery used by VNV Nation during their Empires-era (late 90s/early 2000s). Included with the album is a series of large, double sided postcards, housed in a ziplock bag, each depicting a rendition of different Caesar in a hand drawn style. The entire package evokes both the ornateness and DIY philosophy expressed by small, extreme music labels of the aughts.
Complete packaging of XII Caesars.
Though ten industrial/ambient/noise artists are showcased on XII Caesars, only a three survive to the present day: Murderous Vision, Post Scriptvm, and Survival Unit (though Exsanguinate appears defunct, the project’s mastermind, Thomas Garrison, continues on prolifically as Control). Post Scriptvm and Stephen Petrus from Murderous Vision have graciously shared their experiences and thoughts about their tracks, providing incredible insight not only into their craft, but of industrialism of the period.
What is your relationship with antiquity, classics, or (in the case of pop culture) the sword and sandal genre? Are these topics that interest you or influence you in any way?
Murderous Vision: Outside of an affinity for the Jason And The Argonauts film as a child, I don’t have a notable interest in the genre. I do, however, have an interest in all things historical. So, when creating my Tiberius themed contribution, I tried to keep his rule in mind. Something sounding epical, orderly and underlying dread were the things I attempted to execute.
Post Scriptvm: The name of my project, Post Scriptvm, as well as its specific spelling, is inspired by the mid-1970s BBC series I, Claudius, which portrays the early Roman Empire and is narrated by Emperor Claudius. Although my project has consistently been influenced by the ideas and aesthetics of Russian art and literary movements at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly Russian Futurism, I opted for this Latin name because, to me, it implies fin de siècle or the end of an era.
Murderous Vision, photo courtesy of the artist.
Outside niche subgenres such as neofolk and martial industrial, industrial music generally doesn’t dabble in pre-1900s history, let alone antiquity. From your perspective why do you think that is?
Murderous Vision: I think it may be related to the actual sounds of these genres. The instruments used and song structures involved evoke the way one thinks music sounded in these periods. With standard industrial music, the instrumentation is very clearly of the 20th and 21st centuries, and might be sonically incompatible with these historical periods. Authenticity and effectiveness reign.
Post Scriptvm: Many industrial music artists that I particularly appreciate, such as Bad Sector, Werkbund, Internal Fusion, SPK, Inade, among others, find inspiration in ancient mythologies. To me, this makes perfect sense. A 20th-century art critic once observed that the avant-garde serves as a continuation of classical art within modern contexts—an intentional continuation of an ideal that has been lost and ruined. For me, industrial music, particularly its more extreme, dark variety, has always served as a soundtrack to a civilization in steady and catastrophic decline. We primarily grasp, value and interpret antiquity through its ruins entombed within the sterile museum morgues, while a minuscule portion of surviving texts suggests an expansive realm of ideas forever beyond our reach. Industrial music, in parallel, reflects the decay of modern civilization, frequently finding inspiration in the ruins of ancient cultures. By referencing ancient ruins to depict the downfall of our own society, we are essentially shaping our own antiquity.
Post Scriptvm, photo courtesy of the artist.
What was the genesis of your involvement of the XII Caesars compilation?
Murderous Vision: At the time I had a close relationship with Chris Donovan and his label Somnambulant Corpse. I had previously been involved with the label on his Lovecraft themed compilation [note: The Outsider], and released a split CD with his personal project Kuru, called Blood-Brain Barrier. Both of these were released by Somnambulant.
Post Scriptvm: I received an invitation to contribute to the compilation from the owner of the Somnambulant Corpse record label. A couple of years prior to XII Caesars, Somnambulant had issued my debut album [note: Guaze], and I had previously contributed a track to the label’s earlier compilation dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft.
Did you get to select your emperor or was one assigned to you?
Post Scriptvm: The label actually had assigned each artist a Caesar to dedicate a track to, stating that the compilation’s subject matter necessitated a somewhat dictatorial approach.
Murderous Vision: It was assigned to me, based on his personal feeling of which emperor he felt suited the sound of each project he chose to include.
Your track on the compilation, was it an untitled song you had in your repertoire that you submitted or was it a song composed exclusively for the release?
Murderous Vision: It was composed exclusively for his compilation.
Post Scriptvm: For this compilation, I created an entirely new track, incorporating samples from both I, Claudius and the 1979 film Caligula, another one of my favorites.
How did you go about capturing the theme of your respective Caesar and conveying it in your composition?
Murderous Vision: I started by reading what I could online about the history and life of my Caesar. In drafting the sounds I kept in mind that I wanted to use reverbs that would evoke vast marble halls and open ancient stadiums. I recorded everything with a degraded VHS copy of Caligula playing on the TV in the background.
Post Scriptvm: Apart from incorporating samples from the mentioned films and submerging myself into both The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius and The Roman Empresses by Jacques Roergas De Serviez prior to recording the track, I did not deviate from my typical approach for composing Post Scriptvm tracks at the time. As an undergraduate student back then, I had only rather primitive, rudimentary equipment at my disposal, which, in my view, was well suited for interpreting the ambiance of the ancient Roman Empire.
Going back in time to 2004, what do you recall the reception of the XII Caesars was like?
Murderous Vision: I don’t think it was widely circulated, but deeply appreciated by those who did get one. I seem to remember some favorable reviews circulating.
Post Scriptvm: The reception was very positive. Despite being a DIY homemade CD-R release, the compilation was sold all over the United States and Europe and received several positive reviews in the underground press. The early 2000s marked the pinnacle for underground industrial music artists and small independent record labels like Somnambulant.
What are your thoughts on the compilation as a whole, from the presentation to the other contributions?
Murderous Vision: I was quite proud of my involvement. The label pulled no punches in the presentation, using high quality artwork and paper stocks to present the art panels, and professionally produced media sealed the deal. Every other act contributed great sound materials. It was a stellar compilation from a golden era that was known for stellar compilations.
Post Scriptvm: It is certainly of its time both in terms of sound production and its distinctly DIY presentation. It’s a wonderful testament to the era when underground experimental music flourished, showcasing the passion and dedication of the record label and every artist involved. Regrettably, the record label and the majority of the artists are no longer active.
Reflecting on your song for the compilation, are there any changes you would’ve made for it? Any thoughts of updating, remastering, or remixing your song and giving it a second life?
Murderous Vision: I think the track was a nice representation of the sound of Murderous Vision in that era. I think it stands as a good representation of both the band and the theme. The version that appears on there was truncated by the label for whatever reason he had at the time. The full, unedited version did, however, appear in 2006 on the Murderous Vision retrospective Ghosts of the Soul Long Lost Volume 1 [Note: listed as “Tiberious (Full Version)”].
Post Scriptvm: If I were to reinterpret that track now, it would have a completely different sound. I prefer directing my attention towards the future rather than dwelling on the past. Nonetheless, having to revisit it would provide me with a compelling reason to reread The Twelve Caesars and The Roman Empresses and to rewatch Caligula and I, Claudius.
Finally, what are some upcoming project news you’d like to share?
Post Scriptvm: My new LP titled Eisstoß is now available on Tesco Organisation, and I have a cassette EP titled Секта set for release in April on DumpsterScore Home Recordings.
Murderous Vision: This year will be another filled with activity. 2024 actually marks thirty years since the inception of the project. Among things that will happen this year are a performance in May supporting longtime friends Awen in NYC. There are a couple special surprises planned for the gig, but one must attend to see what they are! This year will also see the release of a new full length album called Pestilent Black Breath on Germany’s excellent label Dunkelheit Produktionen. Work is also well underway on a retrospective book of reflections on thirty years of Murderous Vision that will be packed with photos, flyers and ephemera from the beginning to present times. The machine chugs on…
Sincere thank you to Stephen Petrus and Post Scriptvm for their time and answers. More information on their projects can be found at the below links:
Granger (Dolph Lundgren) is a retired special forces soldier who runs a martial arts gym in Vancouver, Canada. Sometime in the past he lost his squad during a battle, and each anniversary since then he sips a whisky in their honour. While partaking in his yearly ritual in his home office, he is assaulted by black robed assailants – Dark Ones – which he dispatches with his fists and firearms. In the midst of the skirmish, warrior-wizard Elianna (Natalie Burn) appears, summons a portal, and takes Granger back in time to the ancient kingdom of Ehb. When they manifest by a lake, Elianna is stabbed by a Dark One. After Granger kills the foe, he is besieged by the king’s right hand man, Allard (Aleks Paunovic), who knocks Granger out and takes him to the forest fortress. There Granger meets the king (Lochlyn Munro), who tells Granger he is a chosen one and part of a prophecy where he is to slay the Holy Mother (Christina Jastrzembska), an evil witch who has brought a plague upon the land.
After being tended to by healer Manhattan (Natassia Malthe), surviving an assassination attempt by a wench (Michaela Mann), and consulting a blind fortune teller who lives in a tree (Elisabeth Rosen), Granger is briefed again by the king and sets off into the forest on his quest. Though wanting to go solo, Granger is joined by Allard, Manhattan, and a small squad of the king’s soldiers. Granger and company are ambushed twice by the Dark Ones, with the second time Allard sacrificing himself to allow Granger and Manhattan time to escape.
While fleeing, Manhattan injures her leg, so Granger leaves her in a safe area by a stream and sets off alone to the Dark Ones’ camp. He deduces the Holy Mother wants him alive, so he strolls into the camp unimpeded and gains audience with the Holy Mother who informs him that the king is actually an alchemist named Raven, who is the real villain in the kingdom. He unleashed a plague that killed off many and took over the throne. Granger is actually a child from the prior royal family that the Holy Mother took to the future to hide from Raven, and now that he is back he needs to fulfill the prophecy: find the “catalyst” and defeat Raven.
The Holy Mother, who turns out was one of the Dark Ones who assaulted Granger in his house, passes away, leaving warrior Dunyana (Heather Doerksen) as the new leader of the Dark Ones. She and her men escort Granger to the outskirts of the dark forest where he is supposed to venture in to search for the unknown “catalyst.” Before entering the forest, Granger uses his new kingly abilities to make Dunyana the new leader of Ehb.
Granger enters the forest and encounters a dragon. As he is about to fight the dragon, Manhattan appears and throws a rock at the beast. The two escape and encounter a squad of Raven’s men, who are quickly dispatched by the dragon that was in pursuit. Granger and Manhattan flee the forest and run into Raven and his small army who take the two captive and back to the forest fortress where he intends to execute them. Just as he is about to kill the duo, the dragon arrives and starts attacking the fortress. Dunyana and her men, who have been waiting in hiding nearby, deduce that the dragon is the catalyst, and charge into the battlefield.
Raven makes his escape with Granger in pursuit. Arriving at the lake, Raven opens a portal to the future where he intends to unleash his alchemy plague. Raven and Granger hop in and find themselves in Granger’s house. Granger easily dispatches Raven by drowning him in his bath tub and stuffing his vial of plague solution into his mouth. Granger returns to his home office to do a new toast to his new fallen comrades. While doing so, an amulet given to Granger by Manhattan begins to shimmer.
Commentary
In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds (2011) is a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court-style neo-peplum and the second film in Uwe Boll’s In the Name of the King trilogy. As of 2024 it is the second to last video game inspired/adapted film that Boll has directed, the last one being In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission (2014). Like the first film in the series, the only connection Two Worlds has to the Dungeon Siege PC games of the aughts is being set in the kingdom of Ehb.
Two Worlds can be best summarized as diet Army of Darkness (1992). Both are low budget affairs that involve a time traveler unwittingly thrown to Medieval times, being part of a chosen one prophecy, having to kill an ominous villain (Bad Ash/Holy Mother), and questing to procure a “thing” (Necronomicon/the catalyst [a dragon]). While Army of Darkness has gone on to enjoy decades of cult film appreciation, Two Worlds is fairly run-of-the-mill. There are two primary issues with Two Worlds that hold it back from being a better film: Lundgren (and how he is portrayed/portrays himself) and the writing.
Lundgren is a proper action star, from bigger budget, A-list, popular films (Universal Soldier [1992], Rocky IV [1985], The Expendables [2010]) to direct-to-DVD fare (Diamond Dogs [2007], Icarus [2010], Silent Trigger [1996], etc.). In 99% of Lundgren films a viewer will know exactly what to expect: Lundgren bringing the martial arts, fisticuffs, and gunplay. Sadly, Two Worlds falls into that 1% category where Lundgren is not on his A-game.
Per IMDB trivia there are two reasons in tandem that are throwing off Lundgren: that this is a paycheck role and that he injured himself early in production. Paycheck roles are not bad per se, they can be fun or elevate an otherwise unremarkable film. Paycheck gigs can be an indicator of enthusiasm for the actor in some instances, with some going through the motions to collect their salary (see the advent of geazer teasers), while others still take their part seriously (such as Nic Cage during his financial troubles, he still brought “Nic Cage” to everything he did).
However, coupling a paycheck role along with Lundgren injuring himself and you have the performance of an actor who definitely does not want to be there. Lundgren must have been in some serious pain because he looks uncomfortable in every shot he is in. This is not the uncomfortable of a fish out of water scenario, (which is what should be going on in this time travel tale), but of someone in legit pain. Because of this, it can be assumed that Boll had to drastically alter the film’s action scenes to accommodate Lundgren. He has one scene in the forest where he punches, kicks, and spears soldiers part of an ambush, but a good chunk of the film shows Lundgren resting, sitting, or laying down. Narratively, the film tries to justify Lundgren’s lack of physical performance by showing scars on his back, that he was previously wounded in battle, and still takes medication to combat his lingering injuries. It is, pun intended, only a bandaid for the film. For these reasons, it appears Lundgren is not able to bring his full Lundgren-ness to Two Worlds, especially since he is no stranger to fantasy roles having played He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987), but commendable for him sticking it out.
The second major fault with Two Worlds lays with its writing, specifically in two arenas: the film does not lean in to its main, unique feature, and the film has no narrative stakes and will unfold the same way regardless of the presence of the Granger character or not.
Firstly, Two Worlds does not take advantage of its premise: that of a special forces person thrust into Medieval times. This movie should have had multiple scenes of Granger using his special forces expertise to dispatch enemies, infiltrate camps, and gather intel. Army of Darkness leaned into this attribute with the character of Ash (Bruce Campbell), even though that character is a normal person: he trains Arthur’s army, has a shotgun, uses a chemistry textbook to make explosives, outfits his car with a giant rotor and so on. The character of Granger exclaims he wants to sneak into the Holy Mother’s camp, but the king instead outfits him with a squad of soldiers, ruining an opportunity for modern day covert activity action. There is one sequence where Granger sneaks up on an unsuspecting soldier as they are cooking and then stabs them. Granger then proceeds to walk into the Holy Mother’s camp unimpeded, as he is expected, rending his stealth kill unnecessary. Movies such as The Final Countdown (1980) and G. I. Samurai (1979) narratively take advantage of modern tech/skills in historic times, Two Worlds does not.
Secondly, this is a film were the events that unfold do not “count,” like a movie that ends with everything being a dream, lowering the narrative stakes. If Granger had not time traveled back to the era of Ehb, the movie would end in the exact same way as if he did: Raven may or may not attempt to kill the Holy Mother, but regardless he will still take the time portal and – surprise – end up in Granger’s house. At that point, the movie would end in the same fashion of Granger defeating Raven as he would be an intruder in his home. The only reason for Granger to travel to the past is because the prophecy of him being the chosen one dictates it. Unfortunately, the plot of the film leans too heavy on the chosen one prophecy as it is used as hand-waving justification of why the movie unfolds the way it does. Why does Granger need to head into the woods? Who knows – prophecy. What is he questing for? Who knows – prophecy. Why do the Dark Ones, if they are the good guys, attack Granger in his own home? Who knows – prophecy. And so on. It’s a panacea for bad writing.
Boll, to his credit, salvages what he can with an injured actor and a script that was no doubt in flux. The woodland battles look good and the use of sweeping shots of tree-covered mountains give the film an epic quality to it. The choice to film in winter is an interesting one. Everyone in this film is obviously cold, with their breath visible in every shot, but this cold factor adds a gritty element to the film.
As a neo-peplum film, Two Worlds is sword and sorcery in the post-Lord of the Rings vein. There is not an emphasis on bodies in Two Worlds as one would find in 80s barbarian films. Like a peplum strongman character, Granger primarily uses punches and kicks to dispatch his foes. He is given a sword towards the film’s final act, which he unsheathes when he encounters the dragon, but he does not actually engage in combat with it.
Aside from the brief shot of his back in his gym at the beginning of the film, Lundgren/Granger’s body is never on display in Two Worlds, so no Ivan Drago shots to be found. Though he is not portrayed as a traditional strongman character, Granger does share some characteristics with Conan in that they are both orphaned very young and grow up learning how to fight (Conan as a gladiator and Granger as a special forces member). In a related observation, the kingdom of Ehb is similar to Conan’s Hyborian Age, a prehistory fantasy setting that allows wiggle room for magic and history proper.
There is a genre meta reference when Granger asks Allard if he is into “swords and sweaty sandals.” However, the jab sounds like it is trying to ape Airplane’s (1980) “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” except it comes off as needlessly homophobic in Two Worlds. The reference is welcomed, but it could have been delivered in a non-derogatory manner. In fact, this is another missed opportunity in that Granger could have brought up pop culture references of fantasy and peplum films to help him make sense of his time traveled predicament.
Boll has a reputation for making bad movies, particularly video game adapted films, but In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds is one of his better works. The movie proper is competent and scratches an epic fantasy itch. If Lundgren had been able to perform at his 100% his presence would have elevated the film to a more memorable status and provided a much needed wink-and-nod to make the greater narrative more digestible.
At a functional level, genre labels provide a short hand of attributes and qualities to assist in categorizing a text. By calling a film or a book or any sort of media a “comedy,” or “fantasy,” or “horror” and so on denotes that the text exhibits a large quantity of aspects associated with that label, with the assumption that genres are not absolute and that texts can straddle multiple genres (though some purists may argue for concrete borders on genre definitions). As time progresses and forms of media explore the limits of ur-genre boundaries, the development of subgenre labels come into being to assist in fine tuning categorizations: it’s not just a horror film, it’s a slasher film.
“New Edge Sword and Sorcery” can be thought of as a subgenre of the sword and sorcery genre, which is turn can be thought of as an offshoot of the fantasy genre. New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine acts as the first stake in the ground to lay the foundations of/crystalize the burgeoning subgenre.
What is New Edge Sword and Sorcery (NES&S) and what makes it distinct when compared to sword and sorcery proper? This is the question editor Oliver Brackenbury addresses in the final column of the first (zero) issue of New Edge magazine: a flexible iteration of sword and sorcery that embraces not only marginalized and outsider protagonists, but genre content creators as well (the magazine looks to be more rooted in literary New Edge, but the subgenre philosophy posited by the publication is certainly applicable to NES&S in other forms).
To illustrate these aspects of the subgenre, New Edge magazine is divided into 50% short fiction and 50% non-fiction that entails interviews, essays, and reviews. The non-fiction half of issue zero of the magazine contains the following: an extremely thoughtful, long-form interview with Milton Davis, one of the leading figures of the sword and soul subgenre; nice, succinct piece from Brian Murphy on the prevalence of the outsider in sword and sorcery fiction; a review on The Obanaax, and essay from Cora Buhlert about C. L. Moore and their S&S protagonist, Jirel of Joiry; and more. The fiction portion contains some great pieces, with “The Ember Inside” by Remco Straten and Angeline B. Adams being particularly stand out with its unique take on storytelling as a concept proper while the opening story, “The Curse of the Horsetail Banner” by Daniel R. A. Quioque offers up illustrative combat sequences with a hero that, against all odds, really overcomes the masses.
Peppered throughout issue zero of New Edge are a variety of black and white illustrations to accompany the various pieces, giving the whole issue a feel of classic RPG books.
The first issue (technically zero issue) of New Edge is both informative and fun. Old and new guard fans of the sword and sorcery genre will certainly appreciate the stories within, while the non-fiction pieces are thoughtful with the Davis interview being particularly insightful. The current trend of fantasy genre media seems to be sweeping toward titanic epics in the George R. R. Martin vein, which isn’t an antithesis of new edge per se, it is just a different approach via different modes. Fantasy is en vogue again, and it is the perfect opportunity to showcase that there are different, more inclusive ways to explore the genre, and that is were new edge (the subgenre) comes into play. New Edge (the magazine) acts as a portal for readers to enter the realm of new fantasy stories built upon the pillars of the old.
More information about New Edge the magazine and the genre can be found at the following links:
Note: This essay was first published in the autumn of 2018 in the Letters from Thanator zine that is part of S. T. Joshi’s Esoteric Order of Dagon APA. This essay has been updated with corrections to spelling, word usage, and various clarifications.
A Game Called Quest is author S. J. Larsson’s third book, after 2016’s Megalodon: Apex Predator and 2017’s Total Immersion. Published with Severed Press, (as with his other two titles), A Game Called Quest concerns brother and sister Donny and Amanda, joined by friend Kevin, as they play a video game on the Atari 2600 entitled Quest which seemingly has VR capabilities that puts them into a fantasy world called Quintarria. The novella itself has issues: misspellings pop up more frequent than they should and Larsson doesn’t appear to be up to task to convey the story at an appropriate pace and consistent fashion. Despite these shortcomings, A Game Called Quest is noteworthy for its attempt at blending retro-modernism in the form of 80s nostalgia that has surfaced in the past decade along with the neo-peplum/sword and sorcery genre. The ongoing wave of 80s nostalgia is mostly preoccupied with the era’s horror aspect, (as evident in the Netflix series Stranger Things), and Miami Vice-esque aesthetics and for the most part eschews the sword and sorcery element that were popular during the decade. A Game Called Quest’s intersection of 80s retro-ism and sword and sorcery is its strongest facet and deserves exploration.
Personal copy of A Game Called Quest.
This short-form article will first provide a plot summation of A Game Called Quest followed by an attempt to unearth both the 80s retro-modernism and sword and sorcery elements in the story. Next, additional contextualization will be pointed out between the text and the real world, specifically regarding the usage of Pac-Man and how A Game Called Quest relates to other early console fantasy games, some that flirt with ARG (alternate reality game)-elements, akin to Quest’s VR immersion.
A Game Called Quest centers on Donny, a fourteen year old freshman trying to purchase a copy of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 on launch day, but is thwarted by class bullies Brian, Duff, and Ernie. His punk-rock sister Amanda takes him and Kevin, a not-quite-a-friend of Donny’s, to purchase something else to cheer them up. They wind up in a mysterious trinket store where the eccentric proprietor, Royee, rents them an Atari game he created himself: Quest. The three take the game, along with its various peripherals, back home and play it. They are plunged into a fantasy world called Quintarria, with Donny assuming the role of a wizard and party leader, Amanda an elf archer, and Kevin a dwarf warrior. The three set off to save the kingdom, leveling up by killing monsters and bosses while gaining new skills and abilities in the process. At the same time, they also combat the real world bullies who intrude on them. The novella ends with the trio beating the VRgame, besting the bullies, and returning Quest to Royee, whose shop mysteriously disappears.
The 80s was perhaps the last gilded age of the sword and sorcery genre until the Lord of the Rings trilogy attempted to revive it twenty years later. The decade prior saw the cumulation of literary sword and sorcery, with folks like Lin Carter who edited many fantasy anthologies that gave visibility to both new talent and older, obscure works. The 80s saw the genre transcend the literary world and into other mediums, particularly in the cinematic realm. Examples include film adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s Conan such as Conan the Barbarian (1982, John Milius) and Conan the Destroyer (1984, Richard Fleischer), esoteric fare such as Hundra (1983, Matt Cimber), animated endeavors like Fire and Ice (1983, Ralph Bakshi) and even Italian derivatives such as Ator, The Fighting Eagle (1982, Joe D’Amato) and Conquest (1983, Lucio Fulci). The genre was also explored in video games, such as Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II, Legendary Axe and Golden Axe, and tabletop games as with Dungeons and Dragons.
Despite the popularity of the genre, sword and sorcery elements are greatly lacking representation in the current 80s nostalgia trend. Outrun, the aesthetics that dominate 80s retro-ism and so named after the Sega arcade game of the same name, concentrates on components such as neon-magenta colours, vector gridlines, VHS tracking artifacts and faux VHS boxart, a setting sun broken by clouds, fast cars and palm trees. Synthwave, the music genre heavily inspired by the 80s, focuses mostly on horror elements (especially John Carpenter films and his music), as well police elements such as those in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985, William Friedkin), and cyberpunk and 8-bit/16-bit video game aesthetics. Movies and television shows such as Stranger Things, Kung Fury (2015, David Sandberg), Turbo Kid (2015, Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell), and so on, also focus on these facets of the 80s. Stranger Things comes close to tackling the sword and sorcery genre during this time period, with the children in the show playing Dungeons and Dragons in season one and the arcade game Dragon’s Lair in season two. However, depictions of Frank Frazetta-styled barbarians and ruggedly harsh but fantastic worlds are absent in the present day trend of retro-modernism. Most sword and sorcery depictions appear in shows such as Game of Thrones, but even that series has its own identity and does not rely on 80s homage. The Fox television show Son of Zorn is perhaps the closest example of sword and sorcery done in a retro-modern fashion. Son of Zorn was a live action sitcom with a cartoonish He-Man inspired character named Zorn inserted into the “real world” à la Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, Robert Zemeckis) and Cool World (1992, Ralph Bakshi). The show was not a success and was cancelled after its first season.
Therefore, while the greater outrun, synthwave, and retro-modernism movements are concerned with exploring the horror, retro-tech, cyberpunk and Miami Vice elements of the 80s, A Game Called Quest differentiates itself within 80s revivalism by centering itself at the crossroads of retro-gaming and the sword and sorcery genre while borrowing heavily from other popular and cult 80s stories. To begin with, A Game Called Quest shares much in common with The NeverEnding Story (1984, Wolfgang Petersen): both involve bullies harassing a young protagonist and a sequence in which the youth visits a store and procures an item (a book in The NeverEnding Story and a video game in A Game Called Quest) that transports them to a fantasy world full of magic and populated by fantastic beasts and denizens. There are also shades of Labyrinth (1986, Jim Hensen) and Tron (1982, Steven Lisberger) present in A Game Called Quest as well, with both films involving heroes going to another world, with Tron complimenting the video game aspect and Labyrinth the fantasy aspect. Though made in the early 90s, it should be pointed out that A Game Called Quest’s plot anticipates Full Moon Entertainment’s Arcade (1993, Albert Pyun) in which teenagers are transported into a virtual video game world.
Regarding the 80s sword and sorcery elements, attention should first be directed to the novella’s cover. The artwork is a stock piece of art called “Dwarf Knight on Winter Cold” by Vuk Kostic1 that depicts a heavily armored dwarf in a forest during a winter’s night. The placement of the artwork against a solid red background and the typeface of the title has the cover replicate the box art of an old Atari video game. Though the dwarf isn’t quite in the Frazetta or Boris Vallejo style, it still evokes 80s fantasy elements. The story proper, of course, is submerged in video game sword and sorcery, with a party of adventurers fighting dragons, dark elves, snow imps, trolls, chimeras, and more. While the sword and sandal and the sword and sorcery genres share some overlap, A Game Called Quest contains elements of the neo-peplum genre, having been written post-1990, and by playfully making use of the genre tropes in a unique fashion.2 Basically, a contemporary-written book that leverages the sword and sorcery genre but via an 80s retro-gaming framework.
There is some fortuitous irony in that Donny is able to get Quest over Pac-Man. Various times through the story, Donny or Kevin exclaim how Quest is the greatest game ever.3 This is in stark contrast to the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man that Donny had been pining for. This was the first home console port of Pac-Man, though it differs wildly in quality to the superior arcade version. Though initially a best seller, the port’s poor quality eventually had a negative impact to both Atari (who had manufactured an excessive number of cartridges)4 and the overall image of the video game industry. These would be elements that led into the video game crash of 1983.5
Poor reception of Pac-Man aside, there is a greater link between Pac-Man, Quest and fantasy games as they appeared on early consoles. The 2600 port of Pac-Man was programmed by Tod R. Frye who would go on to program the Swordquestseries of games for the 2600. Swordquest consisted of three games, Earthworld, Fireworld, and Waterworld with a fourth release, Airworld, being unreleased (though a version would appear on the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration compilation released in late 2022). The Swordquest games were not RPG games but instead adventure-puzzlers. Taking place in a fantasy world, players would move between rooms, dropping off items and solving puzzles. The innovative feature of the Swordquest games, much like Quest, is the ARG/metagame aspect of it: accomplishments in the game could impact the real world. In Swordquest, clues are unveiled within the game and crossed referenced in an accompanying comic book. Solving these puzzles would offer the player opportunities to win real world treasures created by the Franklin Mint: the Talisman of Penultimate Truth from Earthworld, the Chalice of Light from Fireworld, the Crown of Life from Waterworld, the Philosopher’s Stone from Airworld and ultimately the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery. The series was ultimately cancelled after the limited release of Waterworld and Atari was purchased by Tramel Technology.6 It is quite uncanny that Quest attempts to blend a video game with the real world in its narrative while the Swordquest series was, in every practical sense, actually able to perform this feat.
A Game Called Quest is not the best written work as Larsson doesn’t posses either the technical writing or storytelling acumen to truly accomplish what they set out to do. However, the fragments that do exist, the intersection of 80s nostalgia and the sword and sorcery genre via retro-gaming, is a stand out, well executed aspect of the novella. It’s definitely aninteresting take on the sword and sorcery genre as well as a refreshing nostalgia piece that attempts to work with specific80s tropes that are not as popular as others.
A few of the tenants of neo-pepla is that while it is applicable mostly to the sword and sandal stories, it has a universality that is can be applied to stories with shades of sword and sandal and encourages different styles (especially post-modern) of storytelling as well. The genre is also not restricted to films, but instead is a true transmedia genre thatcan be found in television, video games, comic books, music, literature, and other media as well. Nicholas Diak, introduction to The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs since the 1990s, ed. Nicholas Diak (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017), 6-14
S. J. Larsson, A Game Called Quest (Hobart, Tasmania: Severed Press, 2018), 18, 130.
Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond – The Story Behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001), 236.
Diak, Nicholas. Introduction to The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs since the 1990s, 4-19. Edited by Nicholas Diak. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017.
Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond – The Story Behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Larsson, S. J. A Game Called Quest. Hobart, Tasmania: Severed Press, 2018.
There’s no time like the present to indulge in the stories of the heroic, mythical, and magical past. Streaming services from Amazon and HBO launched brand new fantasy shows, The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon respectively. Young adult fantasy continues to be a lucrative market and indie fantasy comics books are being realized via the power of crowdfunding.
Vanguard literary magazine Weird Tales pioneered pulp, cosmic horror, and sword and sorcery stories. Their upcoming issue, #366, is devoted to tales of heroic fantasy with new stories, poems, and essays contributing to the contemporary fantasy canon. A few contributors to this sword and sorcery special issue have graciously shared tidbits of their poems and stories along with their relationship with the genre.
Brian W. Matthews
Story Title
“Temm the Riven”
Story Synopsis
A knight is tasked by his king to save the realm, but to do so, he must return to his childhood home and confront the evil of his past.
Primary goal to accomplish with your story?
I wanted to create an effective blend of fantasy and horror. Clive Barker does it so well, but he blends horror with urban fantasy. I wanted to take a stab at injecting horror into an epic fantasy setting.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like R.E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
I’m more of an epic fantasy person. Nothing against heroic fantasy. I just never had much exposure to [Robert E.] Howard.
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
I grew up reading Tolkein and Donaldson and Zelazny and was taken by their characters and how the setting forged who they were into who they became. This is particularly true of Stephen R. Donaldson. He makes his characters quite human, injects common sense and self-preservation into them, and then puts them through the grinder of the fantasy setting to see what kind of person/hero they can become.
It recounts the life/career of a storyteller, and as a Celt a Seanache was an important part of the Celtic culture and means a lot to me.
Primary goal to accomplish with your poem?
I think all cultures, especially warrior cultures, the propaganda of narrative and drive much of their agendas. This is a tale of someone embracing that warrior ethic.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like Robert E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
Absolutely the R.E.H. type of tale. My own approach to poetry is very much in the shadows of Howard’s poetry. I much prefer the “in the streets” fantasy as opposed to the ‘from the place window’ type of story that has a grand, expansive view.
My own fantasy series of Altiva stories, which often contain poetry as part of the narrative, are very “down to earth.”
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
Clearly Howard is prime, but so are the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Nancy Hansen, and even the Lin Carter books. All very much in the same “in the trenches” feel, though Ms. Hansen’s stories have a very wide world view they never feel ‘effete’ or fantastic—they stay grounded. And, Moorcock is the perfect mix of a grand vision but a very personal, human story telling. The characters never feel like analogs, they feel like real people.
It’s a classic hero’s journey with really nasty monsters.
How about: It’s a twist on the classic hero’s journey in a fresh fantasy milieu, with some really nasty monsters…
Primary goal to accomplish with your story?
Dana: We pretty much wanted to write a story that was original, but stayed true to the elements that make sword and sorcery so much fun to read. I was dying to return to the fantasy world I’d created a few years ago for another short story. It had strong characters, both male and female, with a really unique setting and all the makings of a truly great series. Dave and I couldn’t wait to build on the promise of the original story.
Your favourite type of sword and sorcery: classic heroic fantasy (like Robert E. Howard) or big epic fantasy (like Tolkien)?
Dave: I admire the beauties of high fantasy, but if pressed, I have to confess I prefer to play in the rough-and-tumble gutters and back alleys of low fantasy.
Dana: I definitely prefer heroic fantasy, and more specifically, the darker entries in the genre. I love a good mix of fantasy, swashbuckling, and horror.
Any S&S authors that have had an influence on you? If so, who and how?
Dave: Both REH and Tolkien, but also Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné series, Jack Vance’s Dying Earth stories, Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, and so many others (RBT, Holdstock, Tanith Lee, Burroughs’ Warlord of Mars…). I especially love the blend of the outré and the strangely familiar in all these series.
Dana: While I love the works of Robert E. Howard, the king of dark S&S for me is Karl Edward Wagner and his Kanenovels and stories. I don’t think there’s a better anti-hero out there. I’ve reread them at least a half dozen times, my old Wagner paperbacks are very well-loved! I am also a huge fan of Jonathan Maberry’s epic S&S novel Kagen the Damned.
Sincere thanks and gratitude for all who partook in this collection of short form interviews to talk about their sword and sorcery texts. If you’re interested in reading these stories and poems when they are published, make sure to pre-order issue #366 of Weird Tales. The product page for this issue can be found here.
