I finally read a Casca novel, The Warrior (#17). Casca is the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with the spear. As a curse, he is destined to roam the Earth as a soldier until the Second Coming. He can be killed, but never truly dies (he can be resurrected) and his wounds heal quickly. The series features Casca in many historical periods, from ancient times right into Africa and Vietnam. (More data can be found via the link.)
While it probably wasn't the strongest entry in the line, it seemed a good place to start. Seeing as how the tale takes place in the 1860s/70s in the South Pacific, it lacked large, sweeping military action. But it made up for that with bloodthirsty cannibalism and study of culture clash. Good short read for action-adventure, historical fiction.
Don't let the near "romance-novel" cover fool you. It is nothing of the sort.
When I was a kid, I had the Marvel comic adaptation of the original Star Wars movie. Before even The Empire Strikes Back had arrived, the Marvel Star Wars line had taken on a life of its own. I had a few issues past the movie timeline, but always wondered where the storylines went.
I recently learned that some years ago, Dark Horse reprinted the run in graphic novels. Fortunately for me, as I discovered a few months ago, it so happens that Dark Horse has re-(re)-issued the Marvel run in an omnibus. I picked up the omnibus and I'm eager to dig in. It will be interesting to see where the writers went without the (soon to be famous/infamous) heavy hand of George Lucas. (It will also be interesting to see how they eventually did tie-in with an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back - that omnibus is due later this year.)
I've read some of these and found "em good. Not great but good.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to read some Casca's, still have to grab them in my haunts.
ReplyDeleteHmm, Casca sounds a lot like my John Dee character (based upon Simon Magus of the Bible), though Dee is a mage as well as a warrior.
ReplyDeleteAnd man, I hadn't thought of those old Marvel stories of the Star Wars universe in a looooong time. I remember the stories taking place after Star Wars were kind of goofy, but they were also a lot of fun reading for a kid back then. Wasn't there a man-sized green rabbit or something?
Giant green rabbit, check. Don Quixote Jedi, check. Magnificent Seven story right off the bat, check.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny seeing what the writers didn't know. I swear in the initial movie adaptation, there is a panel where Darth Vader is levitating himself a cup of coffee! Shades of Dark Helmet from Spaceballs.
Not surprised John Dee could be Casca-like. The myth of Buttadeus/WanderingJew has always intrigued me, long before I knew about Casca.