It’s never a dull moment in the Eternal City, which means the Detectioner Antonius Axia always has a job to do. When a job from Emperor Nero comes up and reunites him with Achillia they are sent on a mission to reclaim lost icons of Roman glory or die trying.
Written by Peter Milligan
Illustrated by Robert Gill
Colored by Jose Villarrubia and Diego Rodriguez
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
AN ALL-NEW EPIC BEGINS! Valiant’s sold-out descent into the horrors of the ancient world returns with A BLOODSTAINED JUMPING-ON POINT from legendary comics master Peter Milligan (Detective Comics) and Harvey Award-nominated artist Robert Gill (BOOK OF DEATH) as Antonius Axia, history’s first detective, launches into an otherworldly mystery of monsters, magic, and conspiracy at the boundaries of human understanding…
The Roman standard – the eagle borne at the front of each Roman legion – was more than just a symbol of the soldiers that carried it… It was a symbol of Rome itself, the ultimate embodiment of the empire’s power…
But now, in the mist-shrouded Germanic forest of Tottenwald, the unthinkable has happened: A rampaging barbarian horde has crushed three of Rome’s most highly skilled detachments in battle… and captured their mighty Roman eagles.
His authority threatened by this all-too-public shame, the mad emperor Nero has dispatched Antonius Axia, the empire’s finest “detectioner” and hero of Britannia, and Achillia, the sword-wielding champion of the gladiatorial arena, to reclaim his stolen relics at any cost.
But what began as a simple mission will soon become a terrifying journey into the dark heart of belief itself as the isolated woodlands of Rome’s enemies reveal unseen dimensions…and the true power of the legion’s lost eagles threatens to consume any who would pursue them…
“The Lost Eagles of Rome,” the third story in the “Britannia” series from writer Peter Milligan with new artists illustrator Robert Gill with colorists Jose Villarrubia and Diego Rodriguez, like most historical fiction treats the ancient world with a certain degree of mythic status. That quality works in the series favor as it navigates the tensions between Roman paganism, the supernatural, and modern deductive reasoning from Antonius Axia. However, the inciting incident for this latest adventure fudges the historical record in a way that feels like a bit of a letdown considering how well “Britannia,” overall, has done capturing more minor details about Roman society in the latter days of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty.
The opening pages of “Eagles” is a massacre of epic proportions. Roman legions march through a forest in Germania in a thin column. When, suddenly, out the forest barbarians burst forth. Unable to use their superior training and tactics, the legion is cut down. In these early pages Robert Gill and the colorist quickly show how their art is different from the previous art team, Juan Jose Ryp and Frankie D’Armata. Gill’s figure work has a greater sense of dynamism to them, with lighter line weights and an overall smooth color pallet capturing the sense of impact between legionnaire and barbarian. His page designs overall are also less linear, in conversational sequences he’ll often use panels as literal frames for larger images.
What is shown in these opening pages is straight out of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest of 9 C.E., which saw the complete decimation of three Roman legions. It was the kind of utter defeat Rome wouldn’t see for another 300 years until the Battle of Adrianople. It gave us the likely false, but never the less cool, line “Quintili Vare, legiones redde!“ (‘Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!’), from Suetonius. This all happened nearly thirty years before Nero was even born. It was the kind of black mark that stayed with Rome for generations and became legendary. Which is why having a similar style massacre under Nero’s watch doesn’t really track. In a series that is all about the tensions between religion, superstition, and deductive reasoning, not using the Teutoburg Forest as a phantasmic driving force for an increasingly unhinged Nero seems like missed opportunity when the parallels line up so well. Milligan gives his fictional commander a Varus adjacent name, Verres, and the location is the Tottenwald not Teutoburg forest.
Continued belowIn the story, the ever debauched Emperor is scared the people of Rome will rebel against him if he doesn’t retrieve the lost standards. While “Britannia” has never given strict dates, the series clearly takes place in the back half of Nero’s reign given how consistently blames the mother he murdered. There are plenty of odious actions and policies he enacted in that period that could (and historically would) ferment rebellion; and in the world of the story drive him to, in a mixture of superstition and politic, order Antonius Axia and Achilla on a mission to retrieve them.
Historical accuracy aside, the first issue of “The Lost Eagles of Rome” is an all around solid start that does everything one would hope for from a first issue. The basic quest and hints of a conspiracy are setup with Antonius and Achilla on the trail. Despite being the third entry in this series, like other detective fictions, this is an accessible entry into the series. There are some references to prior cases and relationships, but Milligan’s script communicates what you need to know. Think of this more as a “continuing adventure” as opposed to direct sequel.
Part of that accessibility comes from Milligan’s use of a internal monologue with a bit of an omniscient flair. Milligan gives Antonius thematically relevant thoughts paired with art work depicting events that he can never really understand or know, but are important to the plot or story as a whole. When things are less stylized the narration helps give the book that detective story vibe. This doesn’t stop it from running into the normal friction as it relates to showing and telling at times. There are beats where the art doesn’t fully sell the subtext that the narration is bringing to the forefront so things can read as slightly out of sync.
The new art team acquits themselves well overall in this issue. The color pallet and line work is noticeably softer compared to the earlier books, but that softness creates a sense of vitality to these images. A training sequence between Achilla and two new female gladiators creates a sense of motion through connected paneling and a nice use of perspective as it relates to sword points. That is a design choice that wouldn’t have been made by the previous team and has me interested to see how things appear when Antonius and Achilla inevitably throw down. This aesthetic allows for more emotive facial designs. Nero is ever the orange colored little gremlin. Unlike previous depictions of Nero, there is a feeling of fear and desperation as he orders Antonius and Achilla around or laments committing yet another murder. Antonius has a soulful quality to him at times, which was developed by the narration in previous stories but marred by the more stoic design sensibilities.
“The Lost Eagles of Rome” does what it needs to do in this first issue. Milligan’s plotting gives this book a fulfilling episodic feel as Antonius and Achilla head for Egypt. The particulars of the mystery are developed and there are hints at what it’s really dealing with, ideas of Roman honor and masculinity at large. The change in art teams isn’t that jarring and provides a new way of looking at the series. There are some shortcomings as it relates to narrative choices, but overall it is an engaging first chapter to the latest “Britannia” mystery.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Symbols of the might and power of Rome are missing and the Detectioner is on the case. In an overall successful first chapter to another ancient detective story.
