Heavy outlines and squared corners add to the effect.

The Spartans are carved from the rocky terrain of Greece. His art style, used to perfection in '300,' is all about strength and weight. I cannot think of any other artist who could do it justice.įrank Miller was made for manly, hot-blooded stuff. 300 against more than 100,000.įor three days, the Spartans stood against Xerxes until a betrayal lead to their downfall. King Leonidas and his personal guard of 300 Spartans personified courage and individual strength, as they held off the more than 100,000 strong Persian army, lead by Xerxes the Great King.

The story of the battle at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae was always a favorite of mine growing up. For a lighthearted look at post-invasion Athens and a very young Alexander the Great, check out William Messner-Loebs and Sam Kieth's witty and gorgeous graphic novels, Epicurus the Sage Vol. For the full story of the failed invasion, read Herodotus's Histories or, for a concise, graphic-novel retelling, Larry Gonick's great Cartoon History of the Universe: Volumes 1-7, From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great. Nonetheless, 300 is a brilliant dramatization. 300 establishes a believable connection between Ephialtes's affliction and behavior, but his monstrous appearance, King Xerxes's effeminacy, and the Persians' inexplicable pierced-GenX-African looks make for an eyebrow-raising choice of villain imagery. Herodotus's Histories does not identify the traitor Ephialtes as ugly and hunchbacked, or even as Spartan. Miller doesn't say how many Greeks remained for the climactic battle-you'd think 300 Spartans and maybe a dozen others, when there were between 700 and 1,100 Greeks. His Spartans are mildly homophobic, which is goofy in such a gay society. The Phocians did not 'scatter,' as Miller describes. Do not, however, read 300 expecting a strictly accurate history. And Miller's writing is his best in years. Miller and Varley's art is terrific, as always the combat scenes are especially powerful. They focus on King Leonidas, the young foot soldier Stelios, and the storyteller Dilios to highlight the Spartans' awe-inspiring toughness and valor. Writer-artist Frank Miller and colorist Lynn Varley retell the battle of Thermopylae in the exciting and moving graphic novel 300. In 481-480 B.C., King Xerxes of Persia raised forces in Asia and Africa and invaded Greece with an army so huge that it 'drank rivers dry.' Then they entered the mountain pass of Thermopylae and encountered 300 determined soldiers from Sparta. It sounds like the plot of a preposterous fantasy novel.

Only a few hundred warriors stand against them. An emperor amasses an army of hundreds of thousands, drawn from two continents, to invade a third continent and conquer a tiny, divided nation.

Frank miller lynn varley 300