Earlier this year I told myself I’m done with historical graphic novel epics but here I am again, finally figured out the design for Alexander the Great (on the second pass!!). Me hype!!
These design notes are based on cursory Greecian sources (Plutarch etc), but mainly Lysippos’ sculptures, which Alexander personally endorsed. So I’m gonna trust the man himself over some guys writing bout him 100 years later kthx.
Tonight I am copying my Tumblr ask archives to my blog when I reached ‘December 2018’ and remembered that this year is the 5th anniversary of when I made Alexander Comic public. (Is it 5 years already??? Goodness)
My first encounter with Alexander was in 2017. We met in a little bookshop in Melbourne, Australia by accident, coincidentally, without intention.
He came hidden in between the pages of Kanishk Tharoor’s short story collection Swimmer Among the Stars; a book I picked up mainly because of the pretty cover and the whimsical premise of each of the short stories. One of those premises was a series of retellings about the Persian face of Alexander, Iskander, and how he built the first lighthouse, defeated the fairies, explored the sea in a submarine, and other strange anecdotes.
At the time, I had no real knowledge of Alexander (except that he was an ancient Greek conquerer, one of those Great Men in history I couldn’t be bothered with) so I was surprised to see that 1) he could be a character of such imaginative adventures, and; 2) this isn’t just Tharoor’s authorial whimsy - he was actually engaging in a centuries old literary tradition, the Alexander Romance.
This was how Alexander introduced himself to me — as a legendary literary figure who travelled across cultures, faith traditions and time periods. That impression stayed, biding its time, distilled in the single image of Alexander riding on the back of Bucephalus with the Servant by his side.
It was not until the end of 2018 — after several life-changing shifts and despite announcing my brief retirement from historical comics — that I decided that the calling I felt for the Alexander Romance was truly serious.
So with trembling hands and an open heart, I accepted Alexander’s invitation to join this quest for the Water of Life.
Some questions to answer since I am here
When is Alexander Book 2 happening / When is the comic coming back?
It’s in progress!! Books 2 and 3 are my most challenging writing projects yet - not so much because of the content, but how the content should be framed. It also doesn’t help that since Book 1 ended in July 2022, I fell into this endless void of Real Life Stress, Dayjob Stress and Masters Stress, and I severely overestimated my ability to juggle all these things in addition to maintaining my art career.
Now that school is on summer break I’ve been getting back onto the horse. Alexander Comic is happening. But I cannot tell you when exactly Book 2 will drop because I still need to finish the script.
Where can I buy a print/digital copy of this?
Where can I read this (for free)?
What do you think of the new Alexander docuseries that Netflix announced today?
Lol lmao haha. Ok so I had been anticipating an Alexander cinematic revival after over a decade of complete silence, and it looks like it’s coming soon. Generally I am curious to see how they would depict his campaigns, but I am not expecting the docuseries to go beyond stereotypical depictions of ancient Greece made by Anglocentric productions. I mean, costume-wise and aesthetic-wise, it doesn’t even beat Oliver Stone’s movie.
Personal beef wise: Alexander is even thinner now in this casting??? (He doesn’t even have his classic long hair wth they gave him a Roman bowl cut if I am looking at it correctly) Persia and Egypt are so bland and dry and STILL in that horrible yellow filter they assign to MENA countries?
I wonder if my consultant will be featured in that docuseries. I wonder if they will mention the Alexander Romance at all.
