Age of Bronze is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 series by writer/artist Eric Shanower

Eric Shanower

Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...

 retelling the legend of the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

. It began in 1998

1998 in comics

-Spring:* Gay Comix , with issue #25, publishes its final issue -October:* Toy Biz buys Marvel Comics* Excalibur is canceled by Marvel with issue #125.-November:...

 and is published by Image Comics

Image Comics

Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...

.

Overview

The series aims to be true to all literary traditions, from Homer

Homer

In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

's Iliad

Iliad

The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...

to Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Troilus and Cressida

Troilus and Cressida

Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...

, as well as to the archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 of the Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 Aegean

Aegean civilization

Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization...

. When complete it is projected to comprise seven volumes.

Publications

31 issues, three trade paperback

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

 collections and two specials have been published to date.

Collected Volumes

• A Thousand Ships (2001, ISBN 1-58240-200-0) collects issues 1 to 9, in which Helen, wife of the king of Sparta
  Sparta
  Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
  
  , is abducted by the Trojan
  Troy
  Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
  
   prince Paris
  Paris (mythology)
  Paris , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War...
  
  , and the Greeks gather their armies for war in response.

• Sacrifice (2004, ISBN 1-58240-360-0) collects issues 10 to 19, in which the progress of the Greek army is held up, until their king, Agamemnon
  Agamemnon
  In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
  
  , pays a debt he owes to the gods.

• Betrayal, Part One (2008, ISBN 978-1-58240-845-3) collects issues 20-26, in which Agamemnon's fleet sails to Troy and his envoys negotiate with King Priam
  Priam
  Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...
  
  .

Specials & One-Shots

• Age of Bronze: Special, published in 1999, provides backstory, telling of the curse on Atreus
  Atreus
  In Greek mythology, Atreus was a king of Mycenae, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
  
   and his sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus
  Menelaus
  Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
  
  .

• Age of Bronze: Behind the Scenes, published in 2002, gives an insight into Shanower's research and working methods.

Awards

Shanower won the Eisner Award

Eisner Award

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

 for best writer/artist in 2001 and 2003, and was nominated for the Ignatz Award

Ignatz Awards

The Ignatz Awards are intended to recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year since 1997, but skipped a year in 2001 due to the show's cancellation after the September...

 for outstanding artist in 1999, for his work on Age of Bronze. The series was also nominated for the R.A.C. "Squiddy

Squiddy Awards

The Squiddy Awards, also known as The Squiddies, were the annual awards given by the participants in the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.comics through 2004. The awards are named after the humorous typo "Suicide Squid"...

" Award for Best Ongoing Comic Series in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.

External links

• Age of Bronze Official site
• A Thousand Ships and Sacrifice reviewed at Bryn Mawr Classical Review
• Comic Book Awards Almanac