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46th out of 51 books
—
112 voters
Pax Romana
In 2045, as Islam has overrun Europe and the West openly shuns monotheism, the Vatican funded, CERN Laboratories 'discover' that time travel is possible. The Pope orders the creation of a private army, and led by a few handpicked Cardinals and the finest graduates of selected war colleges, they travel back in time to 312AD - the reign of the first Christian Emperor, Consta...more
Paperback
Published
May 1st 2009
by Image Comics
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673)
Jul 07, 2011
Daniel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Classics majors? Early Roman know-it-alls?
Recommended to Daniel by:
Jonathan Massaquoi
Shelves:
art
I told a friend that I was interested in speculative historical fiction, and he said I would get a kick out of this book, and let me borrow it. I finally picked it up to read it on the beach, and finished it in a day or so.
The art was great, pushing the form of sequential art in comic book form, using a shit ton of white space, frames that are abstractly shaped tear across the page and blend into the next frame without any warning or boundary. At times, however, the art was too sparse. The trans...more
The art was great, pushing the form of sequential art in comic book form, using a shit ton of white space, frames that are abstractly shaped tear across the page and blend into the next frame without any warning or boundary. At times, however, the art was too sparse. The trans...more
I've been following Hickman since Nightly News blew up a few years ago, and of all of his ideas, this is probably my favorite. The premise is a potential 5 star concept, the execution however is a bit shallow. My feelings are a little mixed about the artwork as well. I can't help but feel despite the impeccable graphic design, the artwork falls back on too many shortcuts. There's a static quality to the actual pen and ink that doesn't transcend the overall presentation enough to let me give it a...more
Of all the alternate history stories I have known, Pax Romana has what I consider to be one of the most intense time paradoxes along the lines of graphic novels like Watchman, mangas and anime series like Black Butler and D-Gray Man, and video game storylines like the sci-fi shooter franchise Resistance. When I first started reading this, my initial impression was that this story was made to appeal to a Catholic audience. After all, the story started in the mid-21st century when the world was "o...more
Sep 11, 2012
Phillip Goodman
added it
A genuinely stunning work, i actually think that Hickman has created a new form of comic book, or even a new form of literature, if comic means combination picture, then this is comlit: combination literature, graphic design, multiple styles of visual art, story, alternative history/speculative-science fiction and philosophical treatise, all together, in a form of graphic fiction that doesn't allow the graphic to overwhelm the fiction, and yet it all ends so early, but perhaps that's good, you w...more
Based off the goodwill from Manhattan Projects I picked up Pax Romana. I was surprised to find it isn't penciled cartooning, but something closer to collage work with colors and patterns done by what looks to be digital means. The lettering is completely mechanical, and in many sections you get essentially undrawn script (posing as computer data entries). The graphic presentation took some getting used to, and I can't say I loved it. Despite all that I did enjoy this book and found it quite crea...more
Wow, pretty amazing stuff. What a great high concept too: Catholic church sends an army back through time to ensure the primacy of the Holy Roman Empire from Constantine I on. AWESOME.
Hickman's design sense is just crazy too. I hesitate to call him a straight "artist" as we understand comic book artists to be nowadays, because his style is so outlandish and so mindbending. He is, at his core, a graphic designer, and any penciling and inking he does for the book serves the overall design sense th...more
Hickman's design sense is just crazy too. I hesitate to call him a straight "artist" as we understand comic book artists to be nowadays, because his style is so outlandish and so mindbending. He is, at his core, a graphic designer, and any penciling and inking he does for the book serves the overall design sense th...more
The idea of modern forces travelling back to Roman times with the express purpose of rewriting history for the better is a fantastic one. And it's played out rather well in this story. My only real complaint is that this could have been much more than 4 issues and still maintained the integrity of the overall story, but I guess that's up to the author.
The art is somewhat abstract and takes a little getting used to if you're more in tune with "standard" graphic novels and comics but it's really w...more
The art is somewhat abstract and takes a little getting used to if you're more in tune with "standard" graphic novels and comics but it's really w...more
Yet again with Hickman we have an amazing premise, a great set-up with some fascinating questions neatly explored, but a flawed conclusion and wasted potential. His own art was genuinely impressive, not at all what I'd normally expect in a comic, although the reliance on extended text conversations too often sucked the drama out of an otherwise edgy book.
Could such a plan ever work? It's desirable of course in many ways, but although Hickman plumps for a messy 'yes' he never quite delivers on t...more
Could such a plan ever work? It's desirable of course in many ways, but although Hickman plumps for a messy 'yes' he never quite delivers on t...more
Jonathan Hickman continues to impress... although as intrigued as this effort was, I can't help but feel it could have been so much more. The historical fiction aspect and world that is built is a fertile ground for many intriguing stories, but I feel like you never get a chance to explore them. You get the gist of the initial "mission" but near the end some big changes are introduced that could have been fuel for 100's of pages of story, but instead this particular story is rushed to conclusion...more
The Nightly News was my introduction to Johnathan Hickman's work, so my expectations were high. Stylistically, Pax Romana is very similar to the previous outing, almost to the degree of shedding originality. The story is an interesting one at a glance. The tagline of "destroy the past, create the future" aims for a high concept where religion meets conspiracy through a science fiction prism. However, the deeper I read, the more I felt as if the initial ambition outweighed the final product. It d...more
This just about single-handedly defines "speculative fiction" as a genre, and really stretches the bounds of what a comic can be. In four issues, it packs in more than some books do in forty. Super-high-concept, and ambitious, almost like Pax Romana's protagonists(?), Hickman must've realized that he'd need to pack as much into each issue as possible if he attended to accomplish his goals.
As he did. Though the visual style and some of the formatting I wasn't too keen on, it is an unquestionably...more
As he did. Though the visual style and some of the formatting I wasn't too keen on, it is an unquestionably...more
I just finished Anathem by Neal Stephensen which was a healthy dose of ontology weaved into a fascinating story. I picked up Pax Romana based on a review I heard and thought it would be a good light read after Anathem. On the contrary though it turned out that Pax itself had a healthy dose of moral, political and even ontological philosophy in it. Once again wrapped in a mindblowing narrative. Imagine what would happen if a modern day army/peacekeeping force went back in time to the Roman Empire...more
And then it just...ends. And far too early for my tastes.
I've finished this book days ago and haven't known how to capture the significance of this work. It simply amazes me how much time and thought must have gone into planning the intricate interplay of historical confluences that play out here. I think this book is fantastic - and when I use the word fantastic here I mean it literally... The fantasy, the scope of imagination, and the sheer sense of wonder and surprise that the creators evoke...more
I've finished this book days ago and haven't known how to capture the significance of this work. It simply amazes me how much time and thought must have gone into planning the intricate interplay of historical confluences that play out here. I think this book is fantastic - and when I use the word fantastic here I mean it literally... The fantasy, the scope of imagination, and the sheer sense of wonder and surprise that the creators evoke...more
A really strong story, amazing graphic design work, and a fairly innovative concept made this graphic novel by Jonathan Hickman a real stand-out. In 2053, in the waning days of Catholicism, the church gets its hands on technology that makes time travel possible. Of course, the Pope decides that it is his duty to go back and ensure things go more favorably, starting with Rome at the dawn of Constantine's reign. From there, nothing goes as planned, demonstrating that even foreknowledge of the futu...more
Sep 04, 2009
Robert Browning
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Alternate History or Sci-Fi fans
This is easily a contender for greatest graphic novel ever. Seriously. Right up there with Alan Moore's work. This is so textually intensive that it's really somewhere half-way between a normal graphic novel and a typical book (and that's a very good thing!). It's in a realm of its own. This book WILL make you interested in reading time-lines of dates and is a perfect example of how formatting can be an art form unto its own. The premise is fantastic and my only complaint is that is was too shor...more
As with Nightly News, reading this I felt like I was witnessing the dawn of a new era of visual storytelling - not necessarily one that would take over comics completely, but rather enrich the medium's vocabulary with an efficient, design-centric approach that finds new and inventive ways to cram your brainhole with awesome.
On top of that, I think the premise and story here are even better than Nightly News, making this the Hickman book to beat for me.
On top of that, I think the premise and story here are even better than Nightly News, making this the Hickman book to beat for me.
Hickman's second offering bring about the evolution of his visual style and high-concept story-telling, but falls short of being a truly compelling and high-impact read. The theme and concept are great, but the time he spends creating the philosophy and arcs means that the characters lack a mooring point. The human twists just didn't grab me as a result.
I'm glad I read it, and I'd still recommend it to many of my friends, but it won't get a "must read" recommendation.
I'm glad I read it, and I'd still recommend it to many of my friends, but it won't get a "must read" recommendation.
Un bonito comic de autor (Hickman escribió la historia, dibujó, entintó y coloreó) sobre un viaje en el tiempo para la modificación de la historia de la civilización occidental como la conocemos. Un grupo de mercernarios contratados por la iglesia católica viaja al pasado, concretamente a la época de Constantino, para tratar de "arreglar" la historia y evitar la expansión del islam en el futuro. Muy recomendable... la única objeción es que es un comic un poco corto.
Fantastic idea, innovative design concept, extremely poor story execution (no pun, I swear. Signum Crucis was a nice touch).
I can see why the author draws comparisons with Alan Moore (text heavy pages, footnotes...), but I think the comparisons need to stop. Because if Moore had written this idea/story, it would actually have had some meat on its skeleton.
I felt like I was reading a sketchbook or an outline to what would have been an amazing comic series or book. Imagine a From Hell treatment o...more
I can see why the author draws comparisons with Alan Moore (text heavy pages, footnotes...), but I think the comparisons need to stop. Because if Moore had written this idea/story, it would actually have had some meat on its skeleton.
I felt like I was reading a sketchbook or an outline to what would have been an amazing comic series or book. Imagine a From Hell treatment o...more
hickman is really brilliant (and very very fun to read). it's time travel, it's religion/society, it's the "building a better mankind" story, and it's beautiful to read. i wish more of hickman's books were drawn by him (though so far, all of them are very good reads). i think it's as more of an heir to books like "dune" and "the sparrow" than it is to anything in comics. highly recommended.
I was pretty disappointed in this one. I had to read it for a graduate school class, so I suppose my expectations were pretty high. I feel like the idea had so much potential, but the writer didn't really take it anywhere interesting. Reading the last half of it was like watching the last hour of Titanice - just SINK already! And I really, really hated the art. So, not really an enjoyable experience at all for me.
Amazing.
The only thing wrong with this book was that it ended. I love Hickman's visual style, and he weaves a twisted tale of a time-traveling quest for power. His characters are wonderfully flawed, driven to change the world but struggling to carry through with their plans. The message seems to be 'Technology can't change the world, people can'.
The only thing wrong with this book was that it ended. I love Hickman's visual style, and he weaves a twisted tale of a time-traveling quest for power. His characters are wonderfully flawed, driven to change the world but struggling to carry through with their plans. The message seems to be 'Technology can't change the world, people can'.
I read a lot of different comics, so its unusual for me to come across something different, Pax Romana is different. The art is engaging and the story was deep and interesting. So if you are looking for a story about time traveling soldiers sent back in time by the Vatican, or you just want something interesting to read this is the book for you
Beautiful alternative history novel. Basically: What if the roman catholic church discovered time travel and sent back a small military force to insure the domination of Rome forever? Kind of amazing. Thought provoking. Although as an aside: I fervently hope the catholic church never dissevers time travel.
This one is a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, but it's pretty amazing all the same. Time travel, religion, humanity, etc etc. It finishes and you're like, huh? Then you think about it, which is the point, really. Hickman's art work is wild. You really have to stare at it for a while, and the more you do, the more fascinated you are. Very cool graphic novel.
wow, just wow. this book was something I have been looking forward to for a long time, and it still snuck up on me and punched me in the face hickman is at his best, weaving comics and sometimes full-page transcripts of conversations into an exciting and fascinating read that is far more than the sum of its parts.
I liked the premise, soldiers of the future heading back to change history by helping Constantine defend his Christian Empire, but once they get there the plot dies out. Interesting artwork and wordy pages give it Hickman's own style, but I found it a bit lacking in substance
First work of Jonathan Hickman's that I wasn't totally in love with. It's not bad, it has some very interesting ideas, but the execution never quite grabbed me and absorbed me the way The Nightly News, Manhattan Projects, or Fantastic Four have done.
amazing art from Hickman once again, this time with a story I enjoyed muchore than Nightly News. the timeline at the end is especially fascinating, and makes me wish for more stories set in this world.
phenomenal art, but under-developed story crammed into a book less than half as long as it should have been. pages of dialogue should not appear in a graphic novel without any graphics.
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More about Jonathan Hickman...
After a certain amount of time you get tired of wasting talent. Of being part of a fraudulent profession — or actually being a fraud. And, most importantly, not living the life you are capable of having.
I remember the first night I went out with my wife. It was raining, she was beautiful… it was a normal, ordinary, intentionally uneventful, date. But at...more
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