In 9 CE, an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius defeated three Roman legions and halted the Roman Empire’s expansion into what is now modern day Germany. The new Image Comics series Dead Romans from writer Fred Kennedy, artist Nick Marinkovich, and colorist Jose Villarrubia attempts to retell this epic historical underdog story, but stumbles in characterization and pacing. However, the art is glorious and evokes Heavy Metal and Conan, especially with Villarrubia’s color palette even if the the fight sequences (With one notable exception) are choppy and lack a flow that gets you immersed in the story and setting.
If you’re thinking about reading Dead Romans, reading the Wikipedia page for Arminius and/or the Battle of Teutoberg Forest would be a smart move. Kennedy and Marinkovich don’t do a great job of contextualizing their story beyond some captions about being deep in Augustus’ reign as Roman emperor, and Rome bringing a lot of legions to put down a Germanic uprising. I definitely applaud a show, not tell approach, but Dead Romans #1 doesn’t give a lot of reasons to care about Arminius and his whole situation beyond the Romans having the woman he loves, Honoria, and that he’s also working for them for some reason. Now, I know a little bit about Roman history from taking Latin courses in university (But, honestly, mainly from the Starz Spartacus show) and know that the Roman legions were often supported by auxiliary forces of non-Roman citizens in their various conquests.
However, this isn’t really explained in the comic nor is Arminius’ motivation for fighting against the Romans and his relationship with Honoria. Fred Kennedy and Nick Marinkovich do succeed in showing Arminius’ tactical brilliance (Mainly through dialogue), and their lack of establishing panels actually creates a bit of dark humor when the Roman commander completely misreads that the Germanic tribes are doing textbook guerrilla warfare on them. Big empires and dense forests tend not to work out, in both fact and fiction. But, by the end of the book, there isn’t a lot of psychological insight into the characters, it’s just a flashy retelling of history with some generic thriller elements.
And, honestly, in many cases, it’s okay to have a story that is all visceral action and doesn’t dig particularly deep into its character. However, Dead Romans fails as an action book too. Nick Marinkovich and Jose Villarrubia’s visual style is definitely cool. As mentioned earlier, there’s a little Heavy Metal in it and echoes of more contemporary cartoonists like Stephanie Hans and Rod Reis. I wasn’t really able to connect to the characters via facial expressions, but there are some fun visual flourishes like letterer Andrew Thomas’ sound effects when the Germanic tribes and the Romans throw down for the first time. But the brevity and awkward layouts and page turns for these action scenes hinder their momentum. For example, early in the book, Honoria is talking to a Roman leader who wants to marry her and take her away from everything. (Think Dirty Dancing with a gladiuses.) Then, the Germans attack taking up space under their conversation, which for some reason is a double page spread. Flipping to this page and seeing the attack already distracts from their chat, and then the battle wraps up rather quickly on the next page with Honoria passing out “dead” and not really showing any of the combat between the Romans and Germans. She’s just a victim, and Kennedy and Marinkovich are on to a character they care about more, Arminius. (And he’s good at fighting, but honestly comes across as a bark-y middle manager.)
As well as having issues with its storytelling style, Dead Romans #1’s sole named female character, Honoria, exists only to service the plot, including a cliffhanger that is just a repeat of a page midway through the comic when she’s crawling through the wreckage. Hey, at least, Dead Romans didn’t pull a Spartacus or Gladiator and kill one of their key female characters in the first act. Both Germanic and Roman societies were patriarchal, but one great thing about writing stories set in the past during our current time is recontextualizing them and giving voices to folks who were ignored by the writers and historians of their day. Sadly, Honoria doesn’t get this treatment and definitely fails what Kelly Sue DeConnick calls the “sexy lamp test”. Seriously, she could have been replaced with some of kind of cool sword, an important hill, or a father’s dying wishes.
Although Dead Romans is based on a badass historical event, it sadly doesn’t live up to the hype or the sheer metal quality of its title. Featuring thin characterization, truncated fight scenes, and lack of context about the the twilight years of the Pax Romana and the role its characters play in it, it ends up not having much to offer fans of Roman history or general interest readers.
Story: Fred Kennedy Art: Nick Marinkovich
Colors: Jose Villarrubia Letters: Andrew Thomas
Story: 5.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Pass
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle
Source: Graphic Policy
