The Last Battle

This December, THE LAST BATTLE will arrive in the form of a gritty story of Caesar's war against the barbarian armies of Gaul. Writer Tito Faraci (Diabolik, Spider-Man: The Secret of Glass, Daredevil, and Captain America) and artist Dan Brereton (NOCTURNALS, The Punisher, God-Sized Thor, Red Sonja, Thrillkiller) created this complete and unflinching tale of one of the unsung heroes of Caesar's Legions.

THE LAST BATTLE has been translated in many languages, and found great success in Italy, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and more, but has not yet been available in English. Image Comics is now proud to introduce THE LAST BATTLE to American readers.

"The 'peplum' or 'sword and sandals' genre was very popular in Italy, mostly in the '70s," said Faraci. "As a child my imagination was formed by the gladiators, centurions, slaves, rebels, and charming maidservants of those films. As a student, I studied, learning how the ancient world truly was... and found it fascinating. In THE LAST BATTLE, I tried to transmit the 'peplum' emotions of my youth with a correct, trustworthy, historical approach."

"This project required me to be as well-versed in Roman and Celtic history as I could be to create the visual authenticity required for Tito's script," Brereton explained. "An added layer of truth in Tito's script spurred my research and made the story that much more exciting to illustrate for me, and I believe readers will become as immersed in this ancient world as I was painting it."

THE LAST BATTLE, set in 52 BCE Gaul, begins as Caesar’s forces lay siege to the barbarian stronghold of Alesia in a battle which would forever change history; while the rebel Cammius, who once fought for Rome, leads a second barbarian army to attack the combined Legions of Rome from behind. Caesar dispatches his favorite general, Caius Rodius, to track through the untamed countryside, and bring back the rebel’s head. Who better to hunt Cammius, than the man who taught him the very skills he now uses to defy Rome? Tasked by a power-hungry leader he no longer trusts, to murder the man he raised as a son, Rodius questions whether the Roman “road of stone and blood” is a path he still wants to follow.

THE LAST BATTLE, an 80-page full-color graphic novel of intense historic war fiction for $7.99, will be on sale in stores December 21^st, and will be available for order in the upcoming November issue of Previews.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011