Categories
Peplum

Immortals Fenyx Rising: Ubisoft’s Newest Neo-Peplum Game

Immortals Fenyx Rising is the newest neo-peplum game slated to be published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Quebec. Ubisoft have long established themselves as the premier publisher of video games that embrace the different shades of the sword and sandal and historic epics genres, specifically in regard to their Prince of Persia releases and numerous Assassin’s Creed titles that sees players exploring various time periods. Assassin’s Creed fully embraced the sword and sandal genre with their release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in 2018 that had gamers playing as the misthios Kassandra (or Alexios) during the Peloponnesian War in Greece in the latter half of 400 BCE.

Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey more-or-less stuck to the non-magical variety of the sword and sandal genre, only making occasionally forays out of the historic epic subgenre when Kassandra fought legendary creatures such as a cyclops and a Medusa, or, via a simulator, traveled to Elysium. Otherwise the game kept mostly to being a stealth-action game with conspiracy theory intrigue.

Immortals Fenyx Rising looks to fully embrace the mythological aspect of the sword and sandal genre that Odyssey only flirted with, making it more akin to the legendary Harryhausen film Jason and the Argonauts (1963) rather than, say, Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960).

Immortals Fenyx Rising has gamers playing as Fenyx, a winged demigod who is trying to save a Grecian-Mythological world from various other gods and beasts. The gameplay looks to be an action-RPG, with comparisons to Nintendo’s sword and sorcery game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Here is a slideshow of screenshots and artwork from the Ubisoft press materials for the title’s announcement:

Ubsisoft has also uploaded various trailers and gameplay reveals on YouTube:

Overall, this looks like an exciting game and a fun take on the sword and sandal genre. The colours are vibrant, the graphics look playful and excellent, and if the game does mimic Breath of the Wild even a little bit, then it should have some solid gameplay that can easily be expanded upon. While the neo-peplum genre continues to show declining interest on the big screens for a contemporary audience, Ubisoft is instead demonstrating how successful the subject matter can be in video game medium with not only with Immortals Fenyx Rising, but also with their upcoming Prince of Persia remaster and new Assassin’s Creed title: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2020-09-27

Personal/Website News

Michele and I interviewed cosplay couple Steven and Tiffany Carmel Lake on the Scholars from the Edge of Time program where we talked about the art of cosplay.

Earlier in the week I had a quick appearance on the Voice of Olympus program to talk about Antonio Margheriti’s film Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules. Both podcast appearances have been added to the podcast appearance index.

I did a write up of the neo-peplum comic Elysian Fields #0 and an interview with the comic’s creator Michael Oden.

This upcoming weekend we will be recording our newt episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast where we discuss stories form the book Swords Against Cthulhu.

Michele and I will also be appearing on the program Chatting with Sherri.

General Neo-Peplum News

Michael Oden’s neo-peplum comic, Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit, launches on Indiegogo.

Screenrant has an article up “10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Making Of Gladiator (2000)” in honour of the film’s 20th anniversary that was celebrated earlier this year. A condensed list of the trivia:

  • General Maximus was an amalgam of many historic peoples, with Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, and Hugh Jackman all considered for the role.
  • There was lots of re-writes and ad-libbing
  • The coliseum was 1/3 built and 2/3 CGI
  • Opening battle scene in Germania took 3 weeks to film
  • Oliver Reed died and his remaining scenes were accomplished with rewrites, body doubles, and CGI.
  • Maximus was going to fight a rhino instead of a tiger.
  • Film shot with different cameras and different frame rates.
  • The blurry sequences during a big fight scene were accidentally caused during post-production, but they went with it.
  • Joaquin Phoenix was super nervous to play his part, so to help out, Russell Crowe got him drunk.
  • Crowe got lots of injuries making the film.

The upcoming Hindi fantasy film Brahmāstra (trailer) looks to contain many India-style sword and sandal elements.

Just learned of the Byzantine Empire neo-peplum comic Theophano: A Byzantine Tale. The folks at Fanbase Press have an interview with the comic’s illustrator, Chrysa Sakel. The graphic novel is readily available on Amazon, I’ll be checking this out!

Legendary sword and sorcery film Beastmaster is getting the 4K treatment over at Vinegar Syndrome.

Comicon.com offers a sneak peak at Vampirella/Red Sonja #10.

Categories
Interview Peplum

Entering the Arena: Elysian Fields #0

Elysian Fields #0 is a neo-peplum comic, the first in a series, written by Michael Oden with artwork by Marcelo Oliveira Costa, lettering by Luke Stone, cover art by Jim O’Riley, and published via Oden’s own 9 Realms Publishing imprint.

Elysian Fields #0 poster

Taking its cues from mythological pepla, Elysian Fields follows somewhat in the footsteps of Marvel’s attempts at historic epic adaptations that appeared in the late 2000s on the short lived Marvel Illustrated imprint. These releases include comic book (and collected editions) adaptations of The Iliad (2008), The Odyssey (2009), and The Trojan War (2009). Elysian Fields is a continuation of The Iliad, albeit in a slightly unexpected fashion. The comic begins during the siege of Troy with Achilles locked in battle with King Memnon. While Achilles bests the warrior king (as per the Aethiopis), he himself is slain by an arrow shot by Paris (the prince of Troy) though his heel. From here Elysian Fields splits from the epics and follows Achilles into the afterlife where Charon (ferryman on the river Styx) takes the legendary warrior to Hades’ arena where he is to do battle with other iconic warriors of history and mythology. Elysian Fields #0 concludes on a cliffhanger with Achilles teaming up with King Theseus (founder of Athens) to battle Enkidu (bull-man from the Epic of Gilgamesh) and Gilgamesh proper (hero of ancient Sumer), setting up the events that will transpire in Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit.

The underlying premise of Elysian Fields seems to be setting up a series that will see Achilles and other heroes through the ages, from various other civilizations and time periods, duking it out in Hades’ arena. This Mortal Kombat approach to the sword and sandal genre has promise, and in fact, perhaps echoes an earlier attempt at the same concept: the collectable card game Anachronism. A short lived affair in the mid-2000s, well past the collectable card game boom of the 90s, Anachronism was The History Channel’s attempt at a CCG, which involved players pitting mythological and historical figures (such as Genghis Khan, Vlad Tepes, Achilles, Spartacus, and so on) against each other. The second issue of Elysian Fields, called The Pyramid Gambit, hints that Achilles (and others) will be in combat with figures of Egyptian antiquity.

Elysian Fields’ approach to this old school subject matter is equally old school. While the plot is a love letter to mythology, the cover and artwork looks to homage 90s comic book aesthetics and practices. There is a definite post-McFarlane/Spawn vibe in the artwork, with a color pallet and action sequences that evoke the likes of Witchblade, Blood Hunter, Gen 13, and other titles of the decade. The foil cover of issue #0 also recalls the various experimentations and gimmicks done to comics during that period. The nostalgia factor in strong in Elysian Fields #0, but it is competently executed (the foil cover is pretty slick), and if anything, underscores the efforts of the comic to take readers back into the past; not just in subject matter, but in the reading experience as well.

The Indiegogo campaign for issue #0 has long since ended and copies posted to backers during the summer. However, copies of the comic can be still procured during the current running Indiegogo campaign for The Pyramid Gambit.

Writer and creator of Elysian Fields, Michael Oden, provides some additional insight into his comic in the following interview.

Tell us something about yourself, a bit of your personal background.

Well, I have done a lot of things in my life. I served six years as an Infantryman in the Army National Guard, and I have done freelance journalism for the creative industry for years now. I have written my own industry blogs as well as have worked for sites like Moviepilot, Heroic Hollywood, and currently Up Your Geek.

I have always been a big history fan. My dad used to read me the Iliad as a bedtime story which started my love for history and mythology from an early age. This love has persisted my entire life and so getting a chance to use it in this way, to create a story like this [Elysian Fields comic] has been super surreal and cathartic in no small way.

What was the genesis of the Elysian Fields comic, how did this come about?

Honestly, it started as a game growing up. As I said, I grew up loving mythology and history, and so, big shock, I surrounded myself with friends with similar interests and it was always one of those big debates. Normal nerdy kids were arguing between Superman and Batman, Kirk or Picard, and for sure we had those discussions too, but I remember really chatting up my friends about which of our mythic heroes was better and who would win in a fight. This concept never left me and while it has continued to evolve, even as a write it now, it’s something that had always stirred in the back of my mind, knowing the potential it could have.

What is the primary goal you want to accomplish with the Elysian Fields series?

I mean the primary thing I want to accomplish is honestly to make a great book. There is also a measure of financial success I would like to have as well, anyone who dismisses the financial aspect is either lying or stupid. Doing books is expensive, it’s not just some hobby to bankroll, especially for me as a single father. However, the chief thing is of course to make a book that people really enjoy and that establishes myself, and additionally get people interested in these characters and their stories. No matter how well Elysian Fields has been received, the stories where these characters drew their routes have stood the test of time for a reason.

What would you say distinguishes Elysian Fields from other mythological comics out there?

Honestly, I would like to think the big distinguishing factor is trying to be as authentic as possible. That’s not to say that the other mythological books I have read don’t do that in their own way, but I feel like a lot of books I see in relation to mythology take inspiration from the myth, but that’s where the line stops. They want to make the characters theirs. And while I am sure that there are some that will see my versions of characters and it won’t be how they see them, my goal has been to look at the characters I choose and create as authentic a picture as I can from what I have read.

What was the biggest hurdle or challenge you faced while creating issue 0?

Oof… that’s a tough one, I don’t know if I’d be able to narrow it down to just one. Creating a book is a multi-pronged process, so I feel there is a challenge that I had that was equal with each phase. However, with the actual writing aspect of it, it was writing a script. I remember being very frustrated because all the script writing classes I found were effectively an introduction to creative writing class, and that’s not what I needed. I needed to learn about structuring and format, but instead I was being lectured about “what is a protagonist.” This was beyond frustrating. I then ended up picking up the deluxe edition of Marv Wolfman’s Man and Superman and was pleasantly surprised to find that what made it so deluxe was that the comic legend included a copy of the first draft of his script for the first issues of the book. I was ecstatic, if it works for Marv Wolfman then it has to be good. I used that script as a template for how to write my own and taught myself how to write a comic script as I was writing: teaching myself panel set up and perspective, familiarizing myself with the terminology, you name it.

Where did you draw some of your influence from, be it for this comic or other projects? Films like Gladiator, comics like 300, television like Spartacus, actual mythology, something else?

[A]ctual mythology played a massive role in how I wrote this book. However, there was a series that played an instrumental role in how I came about the overarching idea of what is now called The Abyssal Tournament of Champions. The series I am speaking of is none other than the Fate anime series, specifically Fate/Zero and Fate/ Apocrypha.

What has been the feedback so far on your comic?

Very positive. We have had constructive criticisms for sure, but the overall consensus is that our book is a book worth having and to me that means the world. However, all the criticisms we have had have played a massive role as well. No comic is perfect, no story is either. So I have used this feedback to grow the book and really make it the best it can be, and that’s what I aim to do moving forward.

What is 9 Realms Publishing and what do you hope to accomplish with this endeavor?

9 Realms Publishing is my own publishing imprint and it is continuing to grow. We have two other projects outside of Elysian Fields attached to that imprint written by myself, however, I don’t want people to think that this is a vanity project. It is an equal hope that, at some point, we are able to bring on and sign other creators and help build their IPs and promote them. It is my genuine belief that one of the greatest problems with the mainline industry is that they have cut themselves off from outside ideas. 9 Realms’ mission is to bring aspiring creators to the forefront and give them the chance to make books. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a shot and frankly, that’s more than a lot of people get.

Can you give a preview of what folks can expect with the second Elysian Fields comic, The Pyramid Gambit?

The second comic is all about bringing Team Hades together. Honestly it’s a bumpy ride for these guys. Theseus and Herakles have been fighting in this tournament for a long time, and as an added bonus, they knew each other in life. However, enter this arrogant kid Achilles who is running his mouth off at everyone, god included. So there are growing pains for all of these characters, and you add on the stress of going against Imhotep, a champion who has never been directly beaten in the arena, there are a lot of mixed emotions we see from our champions.

Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit

What is your general thoughts or impressions on the depiction of mythology and antiquity in pop culture today? Where do you think it is headed?

The answer to that is simple: it’s headed nowhere. Sadly there hasn’t been a solid sword and sandals movie since Gladiator, and there hasn’t been a solid sword and sandals show since Spartacus, and while I love both of those projects, they are the farthest thing from portraying the period with any sort of authenticity. That’s not to say they are bad, just that Hollywood has no faith in the classical time period. I think it is a damn shame because with the success of superhero films as a genre, you’d think they’d realize “hey, why don’t we push movies that accurately depict the ORIGINAL superheroes.” Heroes of myth are the archetypes that inspired the modern superhero, they are the blueprint. But I haven’t seen Hollywood show reverence to that in a long time. Hopefully the success of things like Elysian Fields can inspire other people to bring myth to the forefront in the entertainment industry.

Addendums / Connections

2020-11-29 – Michele and I conducted an interview with Michael Oden on the Scholars from the Edge of Time podcast where we talked in detail about Elysian Fields. That episode can be streamed/downloaded here.

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2020-09-20

Here is a news round up for weekending September 20th, 2020. On these weekly posts, I’ll list not only personal and project news, but I’ll be rounding up neo-peplum news that has occurred in an attempt to aggregate and promote the genre.

Podcast News

New episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is now online. In this episode Michele Brittany and I discuss Gou Tanabe’s manga adaptation of Lovecraft’s “The Nameless City.”:
URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1022692/5521708-hplcp-fragments-ep-02-gou-tanabe-s-the-nameless-city

This upcoming week I’ll be on a sword and sandal cinema segment on Hercules Invictus’ Voice of Olympus program on Tuesday the 22nd followed by Michele’s and my monthly Scholars from the Edge of Time segment Thursday the 24th. For that episode we will be interviewing cosplayers Tiffany Carmel Lake and Steven Lake. Links will be added to the podcast page when they are live.

The next episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast will be on stories from the Swords Against Cthulhu anthology.

General Neo-Peplum News

Ubisoft, publishers of the historic epic/neo-peplum video game series, Assassin’s Creed, announced two titles later this year that are in the sword and sandal genre: Immortals Fenyx Rising (trailer) and a remastered version of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (trailer). This is in addition to the prior announced next entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (trailer). I’m saddened that Kassandra’s storyline from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is officially at an end, but happy to see Ubisoft continuing to pump out neo-peplum video games. I look forward to writing about these titles after they are released.

Late last week I received my copy of issue 0 of Elysian Fields by Michael Oden and published by 9 Realms Publishing. I’ll be interviewing Oden and doing a write up about this comic in the very near future. More info about the comic can be found at the 9 Realms Publishing Facebook page or at the Indiegogo campaign page for the comic.

Issue one of the neo-peplum/Lovecraft comic Isidora and the Immortal Chains by G. A. Lungaro just concluded their Kickstarter campaign.

I’ve also backed a neo-peplum comic on Kickstarter that takes place in the Mesoamerican period that is called Aztlan. I’m always excited for sword and sandal that is outside traditional antiquity.