300 (comics) - Wikipedia 300 (comics) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search "The 300" redirects here. For the mythical/historical contingent of Spartans, see 300 Spartans. For other uses, see 300 (disambiguation). 300 Book cover Publication information Publisher Dark Horse Comics Schedule Monthly Format Limited series Publication date May – September 1998 No. of issues 5 Creative team Written by Frank Miller Artist(s) Frank Miller Colorist(s) Lynn Varley Collected editions Hardcover ISBN 1-56971-402-9 300 is a historically inspired 1998 comic book limited series written and illustrated by Frank Miller with painted colors by Lynn Varley. The comic is a fictional retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300 was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, a film Miller watched as a young boy.[1][2] The work was adapted in 2006 to a film of the same name.[2] In 2018, Dark Horse published Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander, also written and drawn by Miller, acting as a prequel and sequel to the events of 300, depicting Xerxes I's rise to the throne, and the subsequent destruction of the Persian Empire under his descendant Darius III, by Alexander the Great. Contents 1 Publication and awards 2 Synopsis 3 Criticisms 4 References in other works 5 Film adaptation 6 Video game adaptation 7 Further reading 8 Collected editions 9 References 10 External links Publication and awards[edit] Each page of the novel is illustrated as a double-page spread. When the series was gathered into hardcover form, the individual pages were twice as wide as a normal comic. Miller's art style for this project was similar to his Sin City work, although the addition of consistent color is an obvious difference. 300 was initially published as a monthly five-issue comic book limited series by Dark Horse Comics, the first issue published in May 1998. The issues were titled Honor, Duty, Glory, Combat and Victory. The series won three Eisner Awards in 1999: "Best Limited Series", "Best Writer/Artist" for Frank Miller and "Best Colorist" for Lynn Varley. The work was collected as a hardcover volume in 1999. The popularity of the film has boosted sales of the trade paperback edition. The 10th printing had an announced print run of 40,000 copies, with an 11th printing to follow. This is in addition to the 88,000 copies already sold since the initial volume was released in 1999.[3] Synopsis[edit] In 480 BC, King Leonidas of Sparta gathers 300 of his best men to fight the upcoming Persian invasion. In what is likely a suicide mission, they and their allies plan to stop King Xerxes' invasion of Greece at the narrow cliffs of the "Hot Gates" (Thermopylae). The terrain prevents the Greeks from being overwhelmed by Xerxes' superior numbers (a military tactic usually called "defeat in detail"). Before the battle starts, Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan, begs Leonidas to let him fight but is rejected due to his hunchbacked form, which prevents him from lifting his shield high enough to be of use for the phalanx. Ephialtes becomes so desperate by Leonidas' refusal that he throws himself off a cliff. The Spartans and their allies successfully hold off the Persians for two days and nights. During a break in the fighting, Xerxes meets with Leonidas and offers wealth and power in exchange for his surrender. Leonidas declines, and battle continues. Meanwhile, Ephialtes awakes from his suicide attempt and decides to betray the Greeks by telling the Persians about the existence of a small pass that allows Xerxes to attack them from behind. Learning of the Persian maneuvers the Greeks realize their position is indefensible, but the Spartans and a few others refuse to retreat. Before engaging the Persians for the last time, Leonidas orders one Spartan (Dilios) to return home so that he might survive to tell their story. On the third day Xerxes has the Spartans surrounded, their remaining allies (Thespians) already dead. He gives Leonidas one final chance to surrender and kneel to him. After some hesitation, Leonidas finally complies and throws down his arms and kneels. This, however, is a trick by Leonidas, and signals Stelios, a loyal Spartan soldier, to jump from his back and kill a general. The Spartans fight. Leonidas throws his spear at Xerxes, intending to make the "God-King" bleed, and succeeds. The Spartans are killed to the last man by a storm of arrows. The story then shifts about a year later and ends as now-Captain Dilios relates the heroic sacrifice of Leonidas and his Spartan comrades to his troops before the historic Battle of Plataea. Criticisms[edit] Writer Alan Moore has criticized 300 as being historically inaccurate, with particular reference to the characters' attitudes towards homosexuality: There was just one particular line in it where one of the Spartan soldiers—I'll remind you, this is Spartans that we're talking about—one of them was talking disparagingly about the Athenians, and said, ‘Those boy-lovers.' You know, I mean, read a book, Frank. The Spartans were famous for something other than holding the bridge at Thermopylae, they were quite famous for actually enforcing man-boy love amongst the ranks as a way of military bonding. That specific example probably says more about Frank's grasp of history than it does about his grasp of homosexuality, so I'm not impugning his moral situation there. I'm not saying it was homophobic; just wasn't very well researched.[4] Miller, in the letters page of the series, replied to accusations of homophobia from a reader regarding the phrase "Those boy-lovers": If I allowed my characters to express only my own attitudes and beliefs, my work would be pretty darn boring. If I wrote to please grievance groups, my work would be propaganda. For the record: being a warrior class, the Spartans almost certainly did practice homosexuality. There's also evidence they tended to lie about it. It's not a big leap to postulate that they ridiculed their hedonistic Athenian rivals for something they themselves did. "Hypocrisy" is, after all, a word we got from the Greeks. What's next? A letter claiming that, since the Spartans owned slaves and beat their young, I do the same? The times we live in.[5] Writer David Brin has also criticized 300 as being historically inaccurate, with particular reference to the bravery and efficacy of the non-Spartan Greeks: That Athenian triumph deserves a movie! And believe me, it weighed heavily on the real life Leonidas, ten years later. 300 author Frank Miller portrays the Spartans' preening arrogance in the best possible light, as a kind of endearing tribal machismo. Miller never hints at the underlying reason for Leonidas's rant, a deep current of smoldering shame over how Sparta sat out Marathon, leaving it to Athenian amateurs, like the playwright Aeschylus, to save all of Greece. The "shopkeepers" whom Leonidas outrageously and ungratefully despises in the film.[6] During the Battle of Marathon, ten years previous to Thermopylae, the Spartans had been obligated to honor the Carnea, a religious festival during which military engagements were forbidden.[7] Once the religious prohibition was lifted, the Spartan troops covered the 220 kilometers (140 mi) to Athens in a quick three days and arrived only one day after the battle had taken place. The Spartans toured the battlefield at Marathon, and agreed that the Athenians had won a great victory.[8] Xerxes' invasion happened to coincide yet again with the celebration of the Carnea. This time, however, the Spartans chose not to hold back their entire army in deference to the festival, but instead sent an advance force of 300 men under Leonidas, who were to be reinforced by a full contingent of Spartan warriors after the festival concluded. It is impossible to know for certain whether this change in policy regarding the Carnea was based in shame about missing Marathon (as Brin suggests) or merely marked a reinterpretation of the military threat posed by the invading Persians. All Herodotus tells us is that the Spartan officials did not think that the engagement at Thermopylae would be decided so quickly and intended the main part of their force to arrive before the fighting broke out.[9] References in other works[edit] There are references to the Battle at Thermopylae in several of Frank Miller's other comic books. In Sin City: The Big Fat Kill, Dwight McCarthy considers Leonidas' choice of "where to fight" and manages to loosely recreate the Spartan defense tactics by cornering the enemy gang in a tight alley; they then annihilate them with heavy gunfire and explosives. Also in Hell and Back when Wallace is drugged he sees his friend as Leonidas with a machine gun. In The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Miller's "omega" Batman stories, there are references to a character named "Hot Gates" (the literal translation of Thermopylae), an adult film star who first makes a version of Snow White, and then declares herself Dictator of Ohio. In the Emmy Award-winning episode "Jack and the Spartans" of the cartoon Samurai Jack, Jack meets a group of Spartan warriors fighting Aku's minions. This episode was partially inspired by Miller's comics.[10] Film adaptation[edit] Main article: 300 (film) In 2007, Zack Snyder directed a film adaptation of 300 with Frank Miller serving as executive producer to adapt his work for film. It used greenscreen technology to capture the comic book feel; the film is in fact notable for remaining extremely faithful to its source material as a result. It was released in both conventional cinemas and IMAX in 2007. In 2014, a sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, was made, which is based on Frank Miller's mini-series Xerxes. Video game adaptation[edit] Main article: 300: March to Glory A video game based on the movie and the graphic novel was released in 2007. Further reading[edit] In the afterword for 300, Frank Miller recommends the following books: The Histories, by Herodotus The Hot Gates, by William Golding Thermopylae: The Battle for the West, by Ernle Bradford The Western Way of War by Victor Davis Hanson Collected editions[edit] ISBN 1-56971-402-9 Hardcover, 88 pages, Dark Horse Comics References[edit] ^ Frank Miller, 300 #3 (July 1998),"Slings & Arrows" letters page, Dark Horse Comics ^ a b Ito, Robert (November 26, 2006). "The Gore of Greece, Torn From a Comic". The New York Times. ^ "Sales skyrocket for Miller's 300 graphic novel". Newsarama.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-03-07. ^ Furey, Emmett (2007-07-19). "Homosexuality in Comics: Part IV". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-20. ^ Frank Miller, 300 #4 (August 1998), "Combat" letters page, Dark Horse Comics ^ Brin, David (2011-11-13). "Move over, Frank Miller: or why the Occupy Wall Street Kids are Better than the #$%! Spartans". Retrieved 2011-11-14. ^ Holland, pp. 187–190 ^ Herodotus VI, 120 ^ Herodotus VII, 206 ^ "Samurai Jack: XXV: Jack And The Spartans – TV.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-10-24. External links[edit] Ancient Greece portal United States portal Comics portal Dark Horse Product Page Sparta Pages: 300 Review Frank Miller`s Sin city & 300 & Spirit – Database articles, images and other files about Frank Miller and his comics. 300 at FactBehindFiction.com v t e Frank Miller Batman comics The Dark Knight Returns Batman: Year One Spawn/Batman The Dark Knight Strikes Again All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder The Dark Knight III: The Master Race Other comics Written Bad Boy The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot Daredevil "Born Again" Elektra: Assassin Give Me Liberty Martha Washington Hard Boiled RoboCop RoboCop Versus The Terminator Written and drawn 300 Daredevil Elektra Lives Again Rōnin Sin City The Hard Goodbye A Dame to Kill For The Big Fat Kill That Yellow Bastard Family Values Hell and Back Holy Terror Xerxes Drawn The Twilight Zone Daredevil Wolverine Heroes for Hope Characters DC Comics Arnold John Flass Carmine Falcone Carrie Kelley Gillian B. Loeb Holly Robinson James Gordon Jr. Officer Merkel Sarah Essen Marvel Comics Chaste Elektra John Garrett Karma Kirigi Maggie Murdock Mauler Nuke Shingen Yashida Stick Sin City Ava Lord Dwight McCarthy Goldie and Wendy John Hartigan Kevin Marv Miho Nancy Callahan Roark family The Girls of Old Town Wallace Wallenquist Organization Film adaptations RoboCop 2 (1990) RoboCop 3 (1993) Sin City (2005) 300 (2006) The Spirit (2008) Batman: Year One (2011) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part One (2012) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part Two (2013) 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) Television and video games RoboCop Versus The Terminator (1993) The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (1999–2001) 300: March to Glory (2007) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=300_(comics)&oldid=999094973" Categories: Dark Horse Comics limited series 1998 comics debuts 1998 comics endings Comics set in ancient Greece Comics set in ancient Persia Comics set in the 5th century BC Battle of Thermopylae Fantasy comics War comics Anti-Iranian sentiments Comics by Frank Miller (comics) Dark Horse Comics adapted into films Dark Horse Comics adapted into video games Eisner Award winners for Best Limited Series Harvey Award winners for Best Continuing or Limited Series Comics based on real people Cultural depictions of Leonidas I Cultural depictions of Xerxes I Hidden categories: Title pop Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar 日本語 Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Shqip Simple English Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 8 January 2021, at 13:22 (UTC). 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