By Marini and Desberg
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781905460625
Set in Rome during the Renaissance this is a story of power, corruption, swordplay and adventure above and below the city.
At the end of the Roman Empire nine families recognise that the growing Christian faith could be used to their advantage to ensure their long-term grip on power and influence. Jump forward to the late eighteenth century and moves are being made to remove the current Pope and the nine families are very much involved, led by the sinister cardinal Trebaldi.
The fly in the ointment is a dashing man in black who seeks out holy relics to sell. He is known as The Scorpion because of a birthmark on his shoulder and is the son of a woman burned at the stake for being a witch. The cardinal appears to know something of The Scorpion's history and is hellbent on disposing of him, to the extent that he sends a young gypsy who specialises in poisons to do the job, and she very nearly succeeds too.
The Scorpion learns that Trebaldi was involved and seeks a personal audience with him, but tracking him down runs him directly into the path of Trebaldi's masked warrior monks and to the very centre of the plot to remove the Pope.
I confess that I've sat on this book for a while now (there are only so many books you can read after all) and do I feel stupid for that. Aside from the entertaining story, the rich plot and the historical setting, the artwork is genuinely gorgeous, painstakingly detailed and complements the narrative perfectly. The creators take their time to depict the characters and the settings carefully and sensitively, so you soon become accustomed to the period and, most importantly, you care about what happens next. It's an intriguing blend of genres that successfully results in something fresh, strong and new, and I really do wish I'd picked it up sooner.
And if you enjoyed that: Grab yourself volume 2!
No comments yet.