Talos of Sparta #1 is a comic written by Christof Bogacs with pencils and inks by Brad Van Geest and colors by Wilson Go. Talos trains in Sparta while his father travels to the north. This is a historical fiction story with plenty of violence and a bit of drama. The main man for this story is Talos, he is the son of the Spartan General and he is currently in Sparta training with a man named Odysseus. The Spartan General has gone up north through the cold and snow to meet with some allies. The story begins with Talos leading some Spartan soldiers in chanting their creed, afterwards he and Odysseus go off to train. Things then shift to the Spartan General trekking with some soldiers up north. The violence here is very bloody with some gruesome and gory attacks. The pacing here is a bit faster than average and the tone is militaristic. There are many of intense moments as this is combat-focused. The dialogue here is conversational with a decent amount of back-and-forth. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is a debut issue that sets up an interesting story with some violent characters.
The art here is detailed with some slight cartoonishness and notable lighting. This being a Spartan story the colors red and gold are very prominent as well as tan skin. For scenery there are snowcapped mountains in a snow-covered area. There are two primary locations here: the cold north with some huts and the barracks, specifically the training grounds. The backgrounds usually show the surroundings with gradient-like colors being very rare. The expression level here is a bit below average as these characters are hard people. The emotional range here consists of pained looks with smug smiles, anger, and shock. The faces have somewhat wide jaws with an above-average amount of detail so the different expressions come across clearly. The violence here involves spears, swords, and daggers with a lot of bloodshed and gruesome attacks leading to gore. The action scenes have a decent amount of panels with good flow. Most of the men here have their thighs out with no shirt.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like historical fiction stories centered on the Spartans with a nearly all-male cast and featuring gruesome violence and a bit of drama then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gore.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“—if you do not possess the power to change it.”
Purchase Link: https://comics2movies.com.au/product-category/comics/talos-of-sparta/
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2067957354/talos-of-sparta/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 25
Violent Pages: 13, for 52% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 4
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 4
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 4
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
