Set in 65 A.D., Antonius Axia is sent to the remote outpost of Britannia to investigate strange goings on, but will he return to tell the tale? This volume collects BRITANNIA #1–4. After each chapter, the author supplies researched information on the Vestal Virgins, Nero, and more.

Easily a great book, and definitely a great example of Valiant's use of talent. Like most Valiant stories, it contains a very careful balance between "showing" and "telling". In other words, it has enough narrative (and additional prose sections) to keep the story rich, but retains enough of the art (similar to the balance in Hellboy or BPRD) to stay visually interesting.

While I don't expect more Britannia, I certainly would enjoy it.

There's A Lot Going On Here, and It's All Good

I like the occasional sword and sorcery or Conan style book, but it takes a lot to distinguish a new character and a new plot from the general field. This book offers a fresh and interesting approach, and I found it interesting, if not necessarily "gripping".

The tale is set in the time of Nero's Rome, and the action mostly switches back and forth between Rome and an isolated Roman fort in Britannia. There is some sort of demon wreaking havoc with that fort, and, well, "who you gonna' call?". You call on Antonius Axia, a former Centurion who has been trained in logic and reasoning and is known as "The Detectioner". So, the overall sense is a bit along the lines of "The Name of the Rose", with more blood and sand, and actual demons.

What distinguishes this, or at least what keeps it interesting, is that a real effort has been made to make the story and its presentation historically sound and reasonably accurate in social, military, economic and cultural terms. I rather liked the capsule intros before each chapter that described the Vestal Virgins, the reign of Nero, the life of a Centurion, and so on. The info may not be on the Civ Pro final exam, but it was illuminating and charmingly earnest.

But, hey, this isn't a World Civilization text, it's a ripping Valiant Opus. On that score, how does it do? Well, Antonius Axia is a fine and noble hero. He's a little angsty about his dead-in-childbirth wife and the son he left behind, but he's all business when it matters. He's been outfitted with a slave/sidekick who gets all the best lines and who offers some amusing diversion. The Britons are very Druidy in that vague Druidy way, but the story doesn't really need a detailed sorcerer. The demon is also vague, but since a large part of the story is really about a noble Roman who's a long way from home that doesn't detract from the tale. A lot of the fun is in the cuts back to Rome, where the Chief Vestal Virgin, who sort of programmed Antonius, and Emperor Nero match wits and pithy repartee while fencing over who really runs the show.

The quality of the writing is high. Tone is pretty consistent, although sometimes the Vestals sound more like Valley Girls. Nero is an entertaining knuckle-headed villain. And Antonius really does add some honest gravity to the whole affair. I don't know if I'd like a steady diet of Roman adventure, but this, to me, was an intriguing and worthy effort and a nice and rewarding change of pace.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Cool art style with a great Ancient Roman storyline.

Dark, witchy history. Lots and lots of blood. But I particularly love the history essays that close out each issue. Strong storytelling from Peter Milligan and wonderfully rich art from Juan Jose Ryp. Britannia is definitely a cut above (no pun intended).

Too tough to read on a laptop as it's not available in Kindle format. Got to page 5 and gave up. Too bad as the story sounded promising.