Sparte #3

The third volume of Le Lombard's Sparte series carries the striking title "Ne pas craindre la mort" — To Not Fear Death — a phrase that feels entirely at home in the world of ancient Sparta. Christophe Simon's cover art places us right in the dust and danger of a chariot race, a shirtless warrior cracking a whip above two powerful white horses while a second figure crouches in the chariot bed behind him. Published in 2015, this collaboration between writer Patrick Weber and artist/inker Simon (with colors by Alexandre Carpentier) delivers the kind of sun-scorched, muscular storytelling that fans of historical Franco-Belgian comics will find hard to resist.