My name is Antonius Axia and I am a detectioner, or rather, I am the Detectioner. Whereas my contemporaries turn to the gods to help explain the mysteries of life, I resort to logic and deduction...
Solicitation[]
AN ALL-NEW EPIC BEGINS! Valiant’s sold-out descent into the horrors of the ancient world returns with A BLOODSTAINED JUMPING-ON POINT from legendary comics master Peter Milligan (Detective Comics) and Harvey Award-nominated artist Robert Gill (BOOK OF DEATH) as Antonius Axia, history’s first detective, launches into an otherworldly mystery of monsters, magic, and conspiracy at the boundaries of human understanding…
The Roman standard – the eagle borne at the front of each Roman legion – was more than just a symbol of the soldiers that carried it… It was a symbol of Rome itself, the ultimate embodiment of the empire’s power…
But now, in the mist-shrouded Germanic forest of Tottenwald, the unthinkable has happened: A rampaging barbarian horde has crushed three of Rome’s most highly skilled detachments in battle… and captured their mighty Roman eagles.
His authority threatened by this all-too-public shame, the mad emperor Nero has dispatched Antonius Axia, the empire’s finest “detectioner” and hero of Britannia, and Achillia, the sword-wielding champion of the gladiatorial arena, to reclaim his stolen relics at any cost.
But what began as a simple mission will soon become a terrifying journey into the dark heart of belief itself as the isolated woodlands of Rome’s enemies reveal unseen dimensions…and the true power of the legion’s lost eagles threatens to consume any who would pursue them…
Book I[]
Appearances[]
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Emperor Nero
- German barbarians
Other Characters:
- Bodmall (Mentioned only)
- Claudius (Nero's great uncle) (Mentioned only)
- Counterfeiters (Mentioned only)
- Ganymede (Only appearance; dies)
- Ludus (owner of gladiator school) (Mentioned only)
- Roman Empire
- Bulbus (scout) (Mentioned only)
- Clodius (legionary) (Single appearance)
- General Verres (Mentioned only)
- Nonius Sentius (second-in-command)
- Unnamed female gladiators
- Vestal Virgins
Locations:
- 66 A.D. (or thereafter)
- Britannia (Mentioned only)
- Egypt (Mentioned only)
- Alexandria (Mentioned only)
- Germany
- Tottenwald
- Italy
- Baiae (Mentioned only)
- Rome
- The Colosseum (in the background)
- Nero's palace
- Temple of Vesta
Items:
Vehicles:
Credits[]
- Writers: Peter Milligan
- Pencilers: Robert Gill
- Inkers: Robert Gill
- Colorists: Jose Villarrubia, Diego Rodriguez
- Letterers: Dave Sharpe
- Cover Artists: Cary Nord (A), Brian Thies (B), David Mack (1:20), Cary Nord (1:50)
- Editors: Benjamin Peterson (assistant), David Menchel (assistant), Karl Bollers
- Executive Editor: Joseph Illidge
Synopsis[]
This article does not have a synopsis recorded yet.
Notes[]
- The events in Tottenwald, Germany, are based on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest that had taken place in 9CE; before Nero was even born. This might be the reason why Peter Milligan chose to give the forest a fictional name ("Tottenwald").
Quotes[]
- My name is Antonius Axia and I am a detectioner, or rather, I am the Detectioner. Whereas my contemporaries turn to the gods to help explain the mysteries of life, I resort to logic and deduction...
- Desperate people are liable to do desperate things.
- When you work for Nero, to remain alive is payment enough.
- Trust me, the poor of Rome always have plenty of reasons to be aggrieved.
- The only thing that stops people breaking in here and killing me is my aura of...of godlike authority. I must be seen to be invincible. The loss of the eagles makes me seem weak. Fallible.
- -- Nero
- I don't deny it. Since I met Achillia, I have thought about no other woman. The senator's wife and the prostitute whom I occasionally visit have ceased to hold any attraction.
- By the way I saw how you watched me. Remember that I killed the last man who tried to force himself on me.
- -- Achillia
- A simple technique. An angry man is more likely to reveal what he wants to hide.
- I like you, detectioner. You use that brain of yours...the way I use my sword in the arena.
- -- Achillia
- I hope it's not quite deadly.
- Oh, I'm sure you can be a real killer when you want to be.
- -- Achillia
- Wounds on the front are honorable. On the back, signifies someone who fled, and so are ignominious. No respect, and no pension.
- My methods of working are not always transparent, my Emperor.
- Abuse my patience any longer and you'll see Nero's dark side.
- -- Nero
- Then...we had better start praying to those gods I've stopped believing in...
Gallery[]
Cover Art[]
Preview[]
Final[]
B&W[]
Related[]
References[]
This section is for footnotes and citations.
External links[]
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