Digenes: Graphic Novel Recreation of a Medieval Epic

Konstantinos Dimitriou says:

Digenes is a retelling of the medieval epic of Digenes Akritas, the Two-Blood Border Lord, and an ambitious graphic novel about love, vengeance and duty, set along the Silk Road of the Dark Ages.

It's the 10th Century AD. Europe is in deep decline. An entire continent mired in bloody conflict, superstition and pestilence is desperately trying to fend off the formidable armies of confident and thriving Islamic states. The fate of Europe's peoples hangs by a thread.

It is at this time that, on Europe's eastern border with Saracen Syria, a frail and bookish young man called Vassilios Musur is coming of age. A half-blood, the son to a Syrian emir and a Byzantine noblewoman, Vassilios shows very little promise at a time when manhood is defined by the sheer ability to survive in a world full of violence: strength and skill in arms.

Yet, through a harrowing, mystical journey from Europe to China, and an internal battle between good and evil, Vassilios will defeat his greatest fears to transform into Digenes, an unstoppable martial artist, and become leader of the Akrites, Byzantium's celebrated border guards.  But is that enough to win back the love of his life, exact revenge on his enemies and save the Byzantine empire from ruin?

The 5-strong team behind Digenes, which includes 2017 European Union Prize for Literature winner writer and poet Kallia Papadaki, has already been working for four months on the project full draft of the Digenes omnibus and all key concept art.  Their writing and artwork are firmly rooted in extensive historical and philological research.

Team Digenes is currently targeting a 3,000-copy print run funded from Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digenes/digenes-part-a-aristocrat) for Digenes | Part A: Aristocrat, the 75-page first volume of the full 375-page series. A free sample can be found at www.digenes.com.

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Josh here– Digenes  promises to be an exciting excursion through the Medievel Silk Road recreating a classic epic. If you have the ability, support the Kickstarter at the link above.