Worth your time

I am picky.  Very picky when it comes to books, TV, movie, comics...I can't really enjoy something unless I am over the moon for it.  To that end, I don't recommend too much unless I think it is really worth your time to check out.  To that end I will share some of the books and comics that have a strong influence on my gaming and adventuring.

Let me start with Hercules.  Nope not the Marvel one, not the Disney one, and not the TV one.  I am talking about this one, Hercules from Radical entertainment's comic series. 

This Hercules is a bad hombre, not to be trifled with and not someone who epitomizes the classical hero.  He is grim, bloody, world weary and has no illusions about the world.  I hesitate to call it bronze age Conan because its more nuanced than that.  Yes there is blood, treachery combat, and everything else you want from a grim sword and sandal comic, but there is more because the characterization is outstanding as well.  

There are two Hercules series, the first is the Thracian Wars set in...well Thrace. This series will be made into a film with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing Hercules.  The second series "The Knives of Kush" is set in Egypt immediately after the events of The Thracian wars.

The effort that went into insuring the equipment used by forces in the books as well as the architecture is accurate historically is very impressive.  Add on a grim story line, lots of tension and combat as well as twisting the notion of a classic greek hero, well its a fantastic way to spend an afternoon engrossed in a great story.