Brand new episode of H. P. Lovecraft Presents: Fragments is online!
We start our 80s theme by diving into the film, The Void. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or on your. podcast app of preference.
Citation News
My essay, “Meteor Madness: Lovecraftian Horror and Consumerism in the Battle for Small Town USA” which appeared in Michele’s Bram Stoker nominated collection, Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre, looks to have its first citation, and in an unexpected book at that! Lisa Swanstrom references my essay in her essay, “From Protoplastics to the Plastiglomerate: Science Fiction’s Shifting Synthetic Sensibilities” which appears in the book Life in Plastic: Artistic Responses to Petromodernity.
I interviewed Samuel George London about the second issue of his neo-peplum comic, Band of Warriors, which can be read here. You can also read my first interview with him here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Bible Films Blog: Retrospective of The Bible on Film
Matt Page has begun his retrospective of The Bible on Film: A Checklist 1897 – 1980 at his Bible Films Blog.
Photo by Matt Page
First he has an interview with one of the authors, Richard H. Campbell. Next he has a list of ten factoids and trivia about the book. Keep checking back at the Bible Films Blog for more articles!
Recent Acquisitions
It was a Black Friday weekend and I decided to head to Zia’s Records and search around for any cool finds. I did come back with am armful of neo-pepla media that perhaps will make it onto my website as an essay or review or something!
First, here is a Blu-Ray for Ruggero Deodato’s The Barbarians. I am a fan of Deodato’s non-cannibal films, with Cut and Run being my favourite. This Italio sword-n-sorcery flick has been on my wish list to watch for a long time.
Michele and I went to the metal section, and working from both ends, tried to find any metal albums that had the most peplum-looking covers as possible. We wound up finding three along with the Gladiator soundtrack.
I only took a quick listen of all three albums, and none of them are really my cup of tea metal-wise (I prefer power metal and adventure metal personally) but all are pretty fascinating, at least from my nursery listen and looking at the art.
Stillbirth’s Revive the Throne has crazy cover art that is a gory parody, complete with pop culture cameos, of Gérôme’s Pollice Verso. Guttural death metal isn’t my thing, but I am digging that cover. Dark Quarterer’s Pompei also has great art, but the prog-rock vocals are a little too old school for me. I was really optimistic for Upon This Dawning’s To Keep Us Safe for some odd reason, but again, metal core not my cup of tea, but I dig the Spartans on the cover and I am not detecting the usual right-wing/eugenic nonsense on this album as found in other Sparta-centric projects/albums.
First things first, it’s been since January since we last talked. How are you, and aside from Band of Warriors, what has been going on?
What a year!? I’ve been busy badgering away on some other comics I’m pitching to publishers but also my son was born a few weeks ago. He’s our second child, so it’s been wonderful to see them interact but it’s also a game changer in terms of time management. On the whole though, I’m good and looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.
The first issue of Band of Warriors was released earlier this year. What has been the feedback and comments you’ve received thus far?
The feedback on BoW #1 has been really positive. The general feeling seems to be that it’s a strong start and people are looking forward to seeing where it goes. Pipedream Comics gave me a positive review which I’m really happy about.
Since issue one has been out for a while, spoil away! What has been the most delightful thing for you personally about that issue?
As you say SPOILERS AHEAD, but the most delightful thing for me about issue one was killing off who seemed to be a main character. I think most people thought that King Minos would be sticking around but unless they find a cure for decapitation, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Has there been any experiences, encounters, something read, watched or learned in the last few months that has had an impact on Band of Warriors?
I went to visit my in-laws in France over the summer and we visited a beach that inspired the front cover of issue two. It’s always good to base things off of experience when you can.
Any new obstacles or hurdles encountered while trying to get issue two up and running?
Haha… The only thing was my son being born the week before. I was in a mad rush to get everything ready, so that I could just press the launch button. I almost had everything ready but hadn’t got round to the video. I managed to cobble something together, which does the job.
Your Kickstarter has some new characters mentioned. Tell us about them!
We know Gaia and Girogos a little already, although we’ll find out more about them in this issue. The main difference is that we’re ten years in the future from the previous issue, so they’re ten years older. The other two main characters in this issue are Sarpedon and King Brutus. Starting with Sarpedon, he’s King Minos’ brother and chief of Aremorio, which is where Gaia and Giorgos reside and is located in modern day Brittany, France. King Brutus hails from Cornovii, which is modern day Cornwall, England. He has an interesting back story to say the least but you’ll have to read issue 2 before finding out what that is.
Whats been your soundtrack while writing Band of Warriors? What do you suggest as a soundtrack for your readers?
When writing I usually listen to the same music whatever I’m writing, which is Tycho. It doesn’t distract me but helps boost my thought process. If I was to recommend a soundtrack for BoW #2 though, it’d be traditional Breton music. If you watch this video closely you’ll see that in the background there’s a triskell symbol, which you’ll also find on Giorgos’ shield.
You’ve been contributing to the canon of neo-pepla with your comic. The genre seems to thrive on in other medias except for film nowadays. What do you feel the sword and sandal genre needs to do in order to stay relevant?
Relevance is always difficult to a handle on but people just need a compelling story they can relate to. I’m hoping that this and the next issue (#3) of BoW does that through the journey that Gaia and Giorgos are about to go on.
A little outside scope for Band of Warriors, but still relevant to you: you have a podcast called Comics for the Apocalypse. Can you tell us about this endeavor?
Comics for the Apocalypse is a lot of fun. I interview other comic creators about what comics they’d take into an apocalypse. I started it a few years ago and I now have over 130 episode with the likes of Charlie Adlard, Alison Sampson, Mark Waid, and Rachael Smith having been on the show.
As spoiler free as possible, what are some amazing things readers can look forward to in issue two of Band of Warriors? The main thing is that readers will get to see who Gaia and Girogos are. In the first issue they were being protected by their parents, but now they’re all on their own.
Thank you very much for this second interview, wishing you and all your endeavors continued success!
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.
Chopping Spree is the debut novella of Angela Sylvaine and the 27th entry in Unnerving Press’ Rewind or Die series. The novella is about Penny, a young teenager who works in a fashionable, 80s inspired mall in Eden Hills, Minnesota. After working her shift at a clothing store, she and her coworkers stay late in order to have a party. They soon become menaced by a wolf-masked murderer who chases them through the mall. The tables turn when Penny’s coworkers capture the wolf man and take him to a secret room in the mall in order to sacrifice him to the Greek god Plutus, who will in turn guarantee wealth to his followers. It is a night of terror as Penny has to not only survive a murderer, but cultists that count her own family in their ranks.
Sylvaine’s Chopping Spree is an ambitious novella that, much like a mall proper, offers up a variety goods for readers (consumers) in the form of genre blending. Overtly Chopping Spree is a horror novella, but it is a combination of two distinct forms of horror: the 80s slasher (such as Halloween and Final Exam) along with the occult/secret society genre (such as Rosemary’s Baby, but perhaps more appropriately, The Wicker Man). In addition, the novella dips a toe in the neo-peplum genre while at the same time, by virtue of its faux 80s mall setting, flirts with the 80s retrowave genre style without going full synthwave/outrun. These genre juxtapositions merit a closer look.
Firstly, and Chopping Spree’s strongest aspect, is its combining of the slasher/secret society genres. The first three chapters (first half) of the novella recreates the feel of being trapped in an 80s mall while being pursued by a masked killer. Penny, of course, is the virginal final girl, seeking acceptance from her friends and fawning over a coworker named Dirk. After vomiting from drinking whisky, Penny soon discovers a murdered pretzel store employee, which leads to the wolf man giving chase to the teens.
At this point in the story, Chopping Spree could run with the genre formula, have the teens get picked off one by one by the wolf man, with Penny performing some final girl trickery at the end to best the villain and escape the confines of the mall. Instead, it turns out that Penny’s friends/coworkers are all part of a secret cult that worships the Greek god Plutus. They take out their ceremonial daggers and more-or-less become slasher villains themselves. They apprehend the wolf man and take him to a secret chamber in the mall to sacrifice him. Chopping Spree has now left slasher territory and entered the niche horror subgenre that deals with secret societies and the occult. It is in this genre that folks sell their souls for power and prosperity. Rosemary’s Baby is a fine example of this type of genre, with Rosemary’s husband making a deal with the devil. However, Chopping Spree is much more akin to the classic The Wicker Man. Both Chopping Spreeand The Wicker Man feature communities that are down on their luck and turn to sacrifice to bring in prosperity: the cult of Plutus needs to sacrifice people to guarantee the mall’s prosperity while Lord Summerisle needs a sacrifice to guarantee a bountiful crop for the island. The fact that The Wicker Man contains diegetic folk singing while Chopping Spree peppersclassic 80s synthpop and new wave songs in its narrative further strengthens the connection making them both musicals.
What makes this genre turn so unique is the subject of the sacrifice: in these stories it is usually the protagonist (or final girl) that is to be the offered sacrifice. Chopping Spree turns this on its head by instead offering its slasher villain as the sacrifice.
With its mall setting, Chopping Spree joins the ranks of films such as Chopping Mall and Dawn of the Dead that offerscritiques on consumerism and capitalism, though Chopping Spree is a bit heavy handed at times. Employee bathrooms in the mall have motivational John Locke quotes scribbled on the walls, while characters robotically recite pro-capitalist verses. These moments are not so subtle and perhaps a bit handholdy, however there are other brilliant elements of the story that accomplish the critique in a much more creative and subtle fashion, specifically via Howard the wolf-masked slasher villain.
Howard’s donning of the wolf mask as his villain MO is multifaceted. At a base level, it is leveraging the 80s slasher trope of the masked killer (Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and so on), which of course, is appreciated by genre connoisseurs. Intentionally or not, there is also a Scooby Doo vibe with his character, manifested when his mask is removed (by meddling kids no less) to reveal “old man Howard.” As Howard pursues Penny and entourage he makes various references to “The Three Little Pigs” and “This Little Piggy,” which seems fitting for a wolf character, but it is when he is juxtaposed against another horror character that new meaning (specifically a critique on capitalism and consumerism) is taken on. In the film Motel Hell (another 80s cult horror film), the character of Vincent Smith is an aged farmer and butcher who also runs an inn. As with the cultists in Chopping Spree, Smith is an unabashed capitalist, and his ace in the hole to keep his business ventures afloat are to capture other people, plant them in his farm, and then butcherthem to create smoked meats. At the film’s climax, Smith gets into a chainsaw duel and dons a pig’s head as a mask. Smith’s pig facade and what it stands for (protecting business ventures built on murder [the very same as the cultists in Chopping Spree]) becomes a visual counterpoint to Howard’s wolf facade, aimed at tearing down those ventures. Chopping Spree is the ying to Motel Hells’ yang.
Leaving the horror genre, Chopping Spree flirts with the neo-peplum genre by way of having the cultists worship Plutus. Genre expectations would have normally lead to the cultists engaging in devil worship, but having them revere a Greek deity is a welcomed surprise (though the story sometimes conflates Greek with Roman, but this can be attributed to Penny’s educated guesses). Visually, the sword and sandal elements are presented in the story via Grecian decorations displayed on the hidden chamber’s entryway (“Dirk pushed open the wooden doors, which were carved with figures of ancient [R]omans in togas”) and stamped coins (“gold coins that looked ancient, their surfaces carved with the head of a Roman god”). Mythologically, however, Chopping Spree is brilliant by making the cultists revere Plutus. Firstly, the cultists thirst for money and power don’t make them ordinary run-of-the-mill capitalists, but full on plutocrats. Secondly, by having them in a secret cult, echoes Plutus’ own mother (Demeter or Persephone) who also have a secret cult as referenced in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
There is some subtle trickery here by having the cultists worship Plutus: at no point in Chopping Spree does anything magical happen. While films such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen depict supernatural and occult ongoings, Chopping Spree stays firmly in Wicker Man territory in that no overt divine intervention or miracles overtly occur. This begs the question: is Plutus actually granting favour? Depending on the answer radically changes the subtext of Chopping Spree.
Overtly, Chopping Spree shows the ends of the process: it is a contemporary setting book, with a hugely successful mall, which in reality, is hard to fathom as the mall has been a dying concept. Yet, here it is, alive, well, and extremely successful in Chopping Spree. For this end to happen, only one of two scenarios can be true:
A: The mall is successful because capitalism and the invisible hand of the market has actually granted it success. Despite all odds, this mall in Eden Prairie flourishes because of consumer want. If this is the case, that means (much like in TheWicker Man, where the destitute crop harvest is attributed to poor volcanic soil), that Plutus does not exist and therefore is not granting favours, and the cultists are simply murderers.
B: The mall is successful because of the (unseen) intervention of Plutus. This means that the cultists spewing of capitalist slogans and Locke quotes is hypocritical. The laws of capitalism have spoken and have determined that the cultists/their mall should fail, so the cultists must turn to corrupt/criminal/occult activities in order to survive. They are capitalists only when it benefits them. As soon as it does not, capitalism is just veneer they overtly tell the world while inside they are hypocrites and murderers. Which, perhaps on the path of creating a plutocracy, is expected.
Finally, Chopping Spree engages with the synthwave genre, albeit in a slightly different manner than genre expectations. Post Stranger Things, Drive, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, 80s retroism is big. Today, there are many stories that are set in the 80s and embrace the visual hallmarks of the genre: VHS tracking artifacts, VHS rental box recreations, neon pink and purple vector gridlines, the broken sun, palm trees, and so on. Chopping Spree eschews these genre tropes: it is retroism without being retro. The story is contemporary and not a period piece, yet it has 80s call backs that readers enjoy seeing in their retro texts, specifically the slasher and mall aspects coupled with the novella’s various name droppings of various 80s synthpop and new wave hits (such as Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” and Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon”). The 80s mall initially feels out of place in the story: why have an 80s throwback mall in the present day? Firstly, it is the 80s mall that helps ground the story in retroism, but secondly, and surprisingly, the 80s mall couples extremely well with the neo-peplum genre. If one is going to venerate Plutus, what better way to do so than with a mall, which of course, is a modern interpretation of the Agora. As to why specifically an 80s mall? The 80s (and early pre-internet 90s) was when the mall was at the zenith of its cultural dominance, and as the people of antiquity erected statues and created art to celebrate their deities and empires at their height, so too do the Plutus cultists seek to celebrate the mall at its peak.
Chopping Spree does not just feature a mall, it also acts as a literary mall of genres. Just as one can enter a mall and walk by different offerings: the sports store, the clothing store, the pretzel restaurant, and the bookstore, one reads through the pages of Chopping Spree and are treated to various horror subgenres, and differing genres in the form of pepla and retroism. The novella is successful in this regard, successfully blending genres while at the same time both embracing and subverting genre expectations to create a fun and frightening experience.
2024-04-21 – Addendum
The Unnerving Press edition of Chopping Spree is out of print. However, a new, updated editing with a brand new cover is being published by Dark Matter Ink on September 24th. The new cover art, by Dan Fris, looks like this:
In early May 2021, Italian dungeon synth project Sidereal Fortress dug into their archives of unreleased material and published Circus Maximus, the first entry in their Official Bootlegs series. In contrast to typical subject matter found in the dungeon synth scene, Circus Maximus, as the name implies, was rife with sword and sandal elements: a fantastic cover depicting chariot racing, and alluring peplum, gladiatorial song titles such as “Into the Arena” and “We Live Well, We Die Well.”
The anonymous mastermind behind Sidereal Fortress had generously allowed me to interview them about their sword and sandal opus.
You’ve recently released the EP Circus Maximus, which was originally recorded in 2019. What has been the reception of the EP so far and what was the primary goal you wanted to accomplish with it?
So, Circus Maximus is an EP that came [about] after watching a beautiful documentary on the national television. That movie was about the life of Flavius Scorpus, the greatest charioteer that ever lived in Ancient Rome. Do you know about him?
I do not!
He was a true living legend back then! As long as I remember, I wrote and recorded the title track for the Circus MaximusEP immediately after seeing that documentary. About the EP’s reception by the audience; the fact that YOU are here basing your interview on the Circus Maximus album says everything. The new one has definitely reached its goal, like all the other Sidereal Fortress albums, and that’s the best prize an artist could ever win, believe me.
The Bandcamp description of Circus Maximus equates it to historic epics such as Ben-Hur and Demetrius and the Gladiators. Do you have a greater interested in the sword and sandal genre, and if so, what is your relationship with the genre?
Just to connect to the previous question, the main influence for Circus Maximus was the documentary about Flavius Scorpus, at least concerning the title track. When I had to compose the other songs with the same Roman concept, I went back to reviewing those incredible movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. That’s how it works best for me, I find inspiration in retrospective: reviewing things I did, watched, or just enjoyed when I was younger. I’m absolutely sure that it is the best way to portray nostalgia in music. But, apart from this, I don’t want the EP to be labeled as “Hollywood-dungeon-synth.” Circus Maximus is somehow darker, rawer, more minimalistic and threatening than my other albums!
Do you have any favourite sword and sandal movies?
Oh, yes I do! I really loved Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, even if it’s not exactly a “historical” pic, you know. It’s just a novel of fiction with all its chronological mistakes and other funny things. I watched Demetrius and the Gladiators and Ben-Hur for the first time when I was almost a child and both really impressed me; it must have been the 80s or so. Also, Hercules by Luigi Cozzi is a B-movie that I’m really bound to. Of course it’s not a masterpiece at all, but I think it’s a rare example of [the] fanta-peplum paradox. With that movie, Cozzi makes the sword & sandal clichè coexist with weird, DIY, steampunk robots and laser beams…well…that’s absolutely great, don’t you think?
You’ll laugh at this: while I do like Cozzi’s Hercules, I have a guilty pleasure for his film Contamination. Other people deride the film, but I think it’s brilliant, campy, and gory.
Cozzi’s movies are as low-budget as most of the Italian movies from the 70s and 80s. His strength was being able to make them weird enough, using just what he had on disposal.
When it comes to fanta-peplum, I think of Antonio Margheriti’s film Yor: The Hunter from the Future. I adore that film, but I am also a big fan of Margheriti.
[As with Cozzi] we could say the same about Margheriti, Fulci, Aldo Lado and other Italian directors from the good old days. They were like craftsmen, that’s all. Yor is a total cult!
The second track of Circus Maximus, “Into the Arena,” has an epic, militaristic sound to it; it successfully creates the fanfare of, as the title states, “entering the arena.” There seems to be a peppering of the martial-industrial genre in this track. Is this a genre you indulge in or find inspiration from?
Definitely not. “Into the Arena” is maybe the track off the Circus Maximus EP where I wanted it to be the most EPIC. The inspiration for that song is more obvious than you may wonder, I mean…I was just referring to old movie soundtracks, but with a personal approach. If you noticed, there’s a weird time-signature in some sections of that track. I like to use them sometimes.
Your album, Odissea, also has shades of the peplum genre, with a focus on Greek mythology. What was the genesis of this album and what did you want to accomplish with it?
Odissea was a real smash hit: it was the first dungeon synth album to be reviewed on Bandcamp Daily and one of the best sellers of the HDK (Heimat Der Katastrophe) catalogue. Well, I’m not sure it’s also one of my best album as well. I’m curious to know your thoughts about it.
Odissea was actually my first foray into Sidereal Fortress when I was out questing for peplum-centric dungeon synth albums. I loved it!
What I honestly think, at the risk of glorifying myself beyond reason, is that Odissea is one of those very few albums that draws in something new in the dungeon synth genre. Odissea is the album that, much more than [the] others, broke the barriers and let new elements in. There was a huge risk for [its] mixture of new-age, bombastic and comfy elements (musically and aesthetically) to not be accepted by the community. When I recorded The Forgotten Tomb of Yshnakalbum, there had been the same “issue” with [its] 70s synth influences and fusion-sounding guitar solos. Maybe the average DS-fan does not accept when artists dare to go out-of-the-box, but I can tell you that Sidereal Fortress fans are NOT AVERAGE at all! [Laughs]
About the genesis of Odissea: if you have the HDK tape, all you need to know is written in its J-card. I was reading an in-prose version of the Odyssey written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, and the reaction was the most obvious you can imagine: writing a soundtrack for Ulysses’ adventures
There’s a small handful of neo-peplum albums released by dungeon synth artists: Båvingr’s Bycirce, Marsyas Zskin’s The Flight of Icarus and Echo and Narcissus, Golden Fleece’s The Journey to Colchis, possibly Basilica Rift’s Through the Unknown Rift, and of course, your own Odissea and Circus Maximus. It’s an extremely niche subject matter within the greater dungeon synth scene, but perhaps it bears more exploration and interpretation? What aspects of sword and sandal genre do you think are the most compatible with dungeon synth, or conversely, what do you think dungeon synth can uniquely contribute to the world of pepla?
Well, well, let’s see… I remember Båvingr popping up in the early days of the “revival,” just a couple of months after Sidereal Fortress’ Ruins. Both him [Båvingr] and Marsyas Zskin have recorded very good stuff, they clearly take care of what they’re doing and that’s a correct approach to music in general. As to the aspects of S&S into dungeon synth…maybe I’m disappointing you, but, apart from the epic side of peplum, with swords, battles etc. that obviously fit the DS imagery, what I really think is that DS definitely needs to go out-of-the-box if we want it to survive. Releasing another Tolkien-inspired dungeon synth project is completely useless, unless you’re releasing a true masterpiece. Thangorodrim hit the spot in 2016 just because Taur nu fuin is an album of the highest level, but we already had plenty of Lord of the Rings dungeon synth. So, the concept on which I built Odissea brings in some freshness even in that sense.
You say Sidereal Fortress fans are not average dungeon synth fans, which of course means that Sidereal Fortress is not an average dungeon synth project. What would you say is your most unique attribute that distinguishes Sidereal Fortress from other outfits in the genre?
This reminds me of those tricky questions at job interviews! [Laughs] As I was telling about Båvingr, Marsyas Zskin and other artists, I have a basic discipline that allows me to never release actual garbage. You may not like my music and there’s nothing wrong in that, but be sure I’ll never release sketchy or low-quality stuff. I’m not here to make fun of listeners, riding the crest of the dungeon synth wave or stuff like that. I just want to record music the best I can, being sketchy just when the album/track NEEDS that shape or mood. With my “kosmische” project, Il Generale Inverno, I play only free-form and improvised tracks, but I did the same a couple of times even with Sidereal Fortress. If you listen to my full length album The Hermit’s Hole you will understand what I’m saying. Sidereal Fortress fans are not people who just look at the “cool” tape, artwork, mood or theme, they want to listen to an artist who takes care of his music. They have to finally state if I hit the spot or not.
Any plans to revisit the sword and sandal in future Sidereal Fortress compositions?
Sidereal Fortress is actually a project in a sleepy status of stand-by. I have lots of archived stuff written and recorded between 2017 and 2020, so I’m going to publish those unreleased things eventually. If you want to hear more epic & heroic stuff from Sidereal Fortress, I highly recommend the Bogatyr EP, a short album about the knights of venture in Medieval Russia. I spent a lot of money, time and attention in that mini-album, but I can tell you the result it’s a true speaker-blower! Yes, that EP could definitely be my ticket to Hollywood! [Laughs]
And finally, any final words you’d like to impart, or news you’d like to share?
No news at all right now [because] my projects are in actual standby. Maybe I will return to my most new age project called Nuovaera, where I explore the fantasy sound with even more freedom, [which includes] brighter moods and some guitar tracks. But, man, I’m not sure it’s the right time. The scene has moved forward (or backwards, depending on your thoughts about) and the needs of dungeon-synth listeners have radically changed in the last two years…so, what I honestly think is that it’s not the right time for Sidereal Fortress…
I’m sincerely grateful for this opportunity to interview Sidereal Fortress. Despite their reservations, I sincerely hope the project keeps flourishing, and hopefully, even returns to explore the toga and sandal genre further. Wishing the vanguard dungeon synth project continued success!
Michele and I launched a new program under the H. P. Lovecast banner called H. P. Lovecast Presents: Transmissions. Transmissions is made up of small, 15-20 minute interviews with other authors (or content creators), more-or-less being asked the same six questions. The idea is to have a non-obstructive platform for folks to promote their newest releases. The format is flexible enough to accommodate not only books, but novellas, short stories, collections, and other texts. The idea being that a handful of the 15-20 minute episodes, combined with a one minute reading, are merged together for a longer episode.
Our first episode has interviews with Howard David Ingham and Candace Robinson. The episode can be streamed at Buzzsprout or your podcast platform of preference.
Transmissions is set to air on the final day of each month. If this is a program you’d like to be featured on, feel free to email us at hplovecast@gmail.com and we evaluate.
Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference
If you’ve noticed that lately I have not posted much new content here (such as interviews, essays, etc.) it because for the past month I’ve been neck deep in preparing for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, which is part of StokerCon in the latter half of May. In addition to getting my presentation in a row, it’s also being coordinating with the StokerCon chairs, working with the other presenters, lots of emails, and so on. Thankfully, the end is in sight for all the prep work for AnnRadCon (though there is still lots to do for StokerCon proper). So come June you’ll start to see an uptick in new content from your’s truly when StokerCon/AnnRadCon is over.
However, hope to see folks attend StokerCon and also AnnRadCon and support horror academic! The convention is May 20-23rd, and here is the link to register or get more info.
General Neo-Peplum News
The Forgotten City
Modern Storyteller is releasing a neo-peplum game across all major platforms called The Forgotten City.
From the publisher’s website:
The Forgotten City is a mature narrative-driven game, and a re-imagining of the critically acclaimed mod that won a national Writers’ Guild award and racked up over 3 million downloads.
Trapped in a secret underground city during the Roman Empire, twenty-three lost souls cling to life. In this precarious utopia, if one person breaks the mysterious Golden Rule, everyone dies.
As a time-traveller drawn two thousand years into the past, you’ll relive their final moments in an endless loop, exploring and interrogating, and changing the course of the day with each secret you uncover. Only by cleverly exploiting the time loop and making difficult moral choices can you hope to solve this epic mystery.
Here, your decisions matter. The fate of the city is in your hands.
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.
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.
On Tuesday February 23rd mega retailer Fry’s Electronics announced it was immediately suspending operations and permanently closing all of its remaining thirty-one stores. While the announcement was sudden, it was not unexpected: Fry’s had been in a death spiral for many years with many speculating its end. Customers, past and present, turned to social media to share their nostalgia of the former titan of electronics and reminiscence over each store’s unique theme.
My first experience with Fry’s was while living in Phoenix in the early 2000s. At the time I was attending a tech school, working on my Bachelors of Science, and the store was a mecca. Myself and many of my friends would go to the Aztec-themed Fry’s on Thunderbird and get lost in the store for hours. This was the era of PC games still being released in big boxes, and niche music labels such as Mute and Metropolis had albums for sale. I greatly rounded out my KMFDM collection at this Fry’s while plucking up computer games and an occasional part or two for my PC. As a tech student, Fry’s was heaven.
I vividly recall my final purchase at this Fry’s: a copy of Persona 2 on the Playstation in the discount bin, which now goes for 100s of dollars on eBay.
When I moved back to Washington, the Fry’s in Renton became the go-to Fry’s for Michele and I. By this time my interests has shifted: I was knee deep in my masters on film studies. While we didn’t visit this Fry’s as much, (and I unfortunately cannot recall its theme), I was always impressed by its massive DVD section: huge aisles broken into genres. I was able to load up on quite a bit of exploitation and foreign films at this Fry’s that I was unable to get elsewhere.
In the 2010s Michele and I moved to Orange CA and the Fry’s in Anaheim became our home base. Unlike the Renton Fry’s, the Anaheim Fry’s was mere minutes away from our apartment. This Fry’s was to say rather lackluster in its theme, which was NASA and Cape Canaveral. What should be a fairly easy to execute theme, this Fry’s was rather bland and generic. It was also quite empty. I recall the Aztec Fry’s in Phoenix in the early 2000s being filled to the brim with customers, with long queues to get in. The Anaheim Fry’s, 10+ years later, a ghost town. Regardless, it was often our place of preference to pick up a last minute movie, or find a cheap video game. By this time, the movie section was obliterated: the genres all gone and everything condensed to simply “blu-ray.” The music section was practically absent. However, I was able to load up on Skylanders figures extremely cheap.
And thus my history with Fry’s Electronics. What does this have to do with the peplum genre? In the very late 2010s the news really started to pick up traction of Fry’s closing down. There were a plethora of articles about shuttered stores and Fry’s that were entirely empty of product. Directly south of me on the border of Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley was a Roman-themed Fry’s. Not wanting to miss out on seeing this Fry’s before it shuttered, in October 2019 Michele and I went and checked it out. What follows below is a gallery of images I took of the Roman-theme Fry’s, highlighting its many embellishments of antiquity while also documenting a store in decline.
There are a few things to note about this Fry’s. First, its address was on Kalama River Ave, which resonated with me for I grew up in Kalama Washington on the Kalama River. Secondly, this Fry’s was 80% empty. Entire aisles were void of product, which you might get a hint of in these photos. However, all of the Roman statues and faux-architecture was still quite a sight to behold, which is what this gallery focuses on. Much like how we behold the glory of a fallen empire by marveling at its crumbled ruins, one can get a glimpse of what Fry’s would have been like back in its heyday.
Secret Rites is a neo-peplum, mythological comic by Sammy Ward. The one-shot comic was successfully Kickstarted and subsequently published in late 2020. The comic provides an alternate viewpoint of the myth of Persephone and Hades by being told from the point of view of her mother, Demeter. Simultaneously, the comic also not only depicts, but acts as an extension and interpretation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. This places the comic in the same canon as other artifacts of antiquity and paintings that depict the mysterious rituals.
Sincere thanks to Sammy Ward for allowing the following interview about her comic.
Secret Rites cover
Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into art and comics.
I’ve always been creative and enjoyed drawing. My first interest in comics came when I discovered Kabuki by David Mack. I was really interested in how he used different media and how it didn’t follow the typical conventions of a comic book. It opened up the medium to me and I realised it wasn’t all just super heroes.
Tell us more about the catalyst that started this comic, that is when you happened across the Eleusinian Mysteries? What was the big “A-ha! I want to make comic from this!”
The first spark for me was when I did an illustration of Persephone for a drawing challenge back in 2018. I wasn’t following the usual prompt list but drawing deities from different cultures. Persephone is so fascinating as a symbol of life and death as well as being presented as powerful and a victim. When I was researching Persephone I read about the Eleusinian Mysteries. It just captured my imagination in that it was a real mystery so it opened up all these possibilities that I played around with for a while before writing what is now Secret Rites.
What texts did you use to draw inspiration from?
I’ve read Circe by Madeline Miller which explores Circe’s defiance as a witch and a mother against the Olympians. That defiance was definitely a theme I wanted to use in Secret Rites. I also enjoy listening to a lot of soundtracks whilst working and I find it can be inspiring. The God of War OST has probably been the main one but I also discovered the Hadestown the musical by Anaïs Mitchell whilst creating Secret Rites. It’s a different Greek Tragedy with a modern take but I still found it inspirational in creating the characters for Secret Rites where each one has a selfish agenda.
What texts and resources did you use for research materials?
I found articles by Mark Cartwright and Joshua J. Mark very helpful which led me to discover The Myth of Er by Plato (said to be an initiate himself) which describes the character Er joining the afterlife and then returning to reality. I also came across a talk from Terence Mckenna who was an ethnobotanist and mystic. He discusses the use of Ergot, a deadly black fungus found on wheat and barley with psychotropic properties which was a component in a drink consumed during the ritual. I found the link of this and Demeter being the goddess of the harvest very alluring.
Interior page depicting a scene of the Eleusinian Mysteries
What is your relationship with Greek mythology?
I think my interest in Greek mythology started when I was at school studying Greek playwrights in drama class. It’s not something I’ve devoted loads of time throughout my life but mythology and folklore have always fascinated me. I love reading different stories from all over the world whether it’s the Poetic Edda or Russian fairy tales. That’s my constant go to for books and comics.
Are you into any sword and sandal media?
I do enjoy the 1963 Jason and The Argonauts and [the] 1981 Clash of the Titans. I have a big appreciation for the Ray Harryhausen era of stop motion animation that really captures those stories. I also really enjoy reading Wonder Woman comics, I especially enjoyed the 2011 relaunch written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiangs and Tony Akins. Again, women defying the power and will of the Gods seems to be a favourite theme of mine.
What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered while realizing Secret Rites?
Whilst the actual concept and story came pretty naturally, the script process was challenging as it would change whilst I was creating the art. There are good and bad aspects of being both writer and illustrator. I started illustrating the book in 2019 but my art has changed/improved a fair bit since then so I went back and changed a few pieces I had previously completed. My first comic, Scavengers, is a silent comic so I managed to create a story without having to do any lettering other than the intros which I hand lettered. Learning to letter Secret Rites has been a really fun journey for me though a slow one. Lettering is it’s own art form.
Secret Rites and pin-up art from a Kickstarter package. Photo by Nicholas Diak.
Do you any any successor plans to Secret Rites?
Secret Rites is a one shot so there are no sequels planned. Not to say I wouldn’t be interested in exploring the mythos a little more. I’m very interested in exploring more deities from the Greek pantheon and from many different cultures and religions. I would also like to collaborate more in the future especially with those writing mythology and folktales.
Do you have any upcoming projects on the horizon that you’d like to share?
I worked on some original pieces illustrating winter and Christmas deities which are available from my Etsy store along with my comics. I’m currently working on a comic/zine hybrid which will involve deities but I can’t say much more at this stage, it will include more mixed media in terms of art and will be a lot more experimental.
