Age of Bronze

Now this is some crazy stuff! This guy actually traveled to ancient Troy to check it out as research for this series. I would love to do something like that - at least once in my life, you know? I don't care if it is for pure text, sequential art, or just to do some sketches; I want to travel somewhere really exotic just on art-related business like once.

No, neither Atlanta nor San Francisco are what I'd call "exotic." At least not in the sense I mean.

This is an official Image Comics press release:

Berkeley, CA - Nov. 20, 2007 - Image Comics announces Betrayal Part One, the eagerly anticipated new volume in the award-winning AGE OF BRONZE graphic novel series by Eric Shanower

"I first started researching the story in 1992," says Shanower, "and I'm still collecting material. There are countless versions of the story that have been created in the last 2800 years. I doubt I'll be able to find them all, but I'm trying. Sometimes it's a challenge to fit all the material into Age of Bronze, but it all informs the project to some degree."

Though the story AGE OF BRONZE tells is ancient, its relevance echoes today. Shanower points out how little has changed since the Late Bronze Age. On a worldwide scale, the West is still in conflict with the East, still fighting long, bitter wars, just as in the ten-year long Trojan War. On a smaller scale, each of us deals with basic drives and emotions, such as love, jealousy, ambition, and obsession, in the same way that the characters fighting at Troy played out their story. To keep the art in AGE OF BRONZE firmly within the correct historical period Shanower traveled to the ancient site of Troy in northwest Turkey to gather information for the setting of the story.

"Visiting Troy where I spent time with the excavation team and hiked around the area was one of the most magnificent things I've ever done," he explains. "The sights and the geography have already proved invaluable to AGE OF BRONZE. In fact, when I was on the island of Tenedos just off the coast from Troy, I found the actual spot that I was in the middle of drawing back in my studio in the USA. It was uncanny."

AGE OF BRONZE: BETRAYAL PART ONE, a 176-page graphic novel is available in paperback (MAY071856) for $17.99 and a limited edition hardcover (MAY071857) for $27.99, will be in stores 11/28/2007.