Speak Geeky to Me‘s Mathias Lewis has given Empire of the Wolf issue #1 a stellar review. Here’s just a sample:

“Empire of the Wolf is an amazing comic, both in story and art…[and] quite historically accurate. The depiction of Roman soldiers & military items are often spot on with current historical understanding and many of the written facts subtly hidden in the dialogue & captions could serve as a great Roman history lesson. It is the very ideal of what one looks for in historical fiction. Even one of the last bits of issue #1’s dialogue tragically predicts an event in Roman history that those familiar with will cringe at, knowing it unfolds in July of 64. Kogge masterfully crafts his tale around historical events, and builds upon the epic period by referencing them and even noting classical historians like Suetonius and Tacitus. Just this setting alone builds the tale up, yet the fictional end is something even more amazing.”

And as for his impression of the Dan Parsons’ art and David Rabbitte’s colors:

“Excuse me for being a bit like Kanye West, comparing 300 to something Roman, but Empire of the Wolf makes 300 look like drek. Narratively I can make a few comparisons to Frank Miller’s Greek graphic novel, especially with the opening involving the wolf, but if you were a fan of that comic you’ll quickly toss it aside when reading through Empire and absorbing the breathtaking battle scenes Parsons has penciled out.”

He even notices the great attention Marshall Dillon paid to the lettering!

Marshall Dillon does a magnificent job on the comics lettering, avoiding the clichés of Comic Sans and going with a much rawer font for dialogue, that truly pops in bold words. I can’t be certain, as it is a rarity in this day and age of comics, but the dialogue almost looks hand lettered.

Check out the review at speakgeekytome.com/2013/12/empire-of-the-wolf-1-indie-review. You can find issue #1 on comiXology here!