Written By: Jordan Mechner,
Art by: Leuyen Pham and Alex Puvilland
First Second, 2013
My first encounter with Templar was back in 2010, when it was called Solomon's Thieves. Originally, the idea was for the story to be published annually in three volumes, Solomon's Thieves being the first. This idea was later scrapped and First Second decided to publish the entire story in one gloriously thick volume instead.
The Story of Templar begins in the year 1307 when the entire order of The Knights Templars are arrested on trumped-up charges by order of the king of France, who wants to use the order's accumulated wealth to line his empty coffers.
The main character, Martin, narrowly escapes and upon learning that the treasure of the order has been hidden away in a secret location, rallies a band of surviving Templars to find the treasure and smuggle it out from under the king's nose.
Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince of Persia games as well as one of my favorite games of all time, The Last Express, has crafted an immensely enjoyable tale of adventure, fraught with perils, swordfighting, chase-scenes, scheming and even some romance. In short, Templar is just the kind of comic I enjoy the most.
I found the characters of Templar, historical as well as fictional, to be well-written and interesting. Our band of heroes are all deeply flawed and yet despite their flaws (or perhaps because of them?), they're very easy to like, sympathize with and root for. Out of all the characters in Templar, my absolute favorite would have to be Cassim, a saracen who converted to christianity and became a member of the order but now finds himself an outcast in both worlds. That said, all the characters are good.
The artwork by Pham and Puvilland is a great mix between cartoony and realistic. They are especially good at the more action-filled scenes, (such as Martin's swordfight with Nogaret's right-hand man), which are very exciting and dynamic. Why yes, I would like to see an animated movie based on this comic, thank you.
To sum it up: If you want a ripping good yarn in the spirit of Alexandre Dumas' work, I definitely recommend checking Templar out.
Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince of Persia games as well as one of my favorite games of all time, The Last Express, has crafted an immensely enjoyable tale of adventure, fraught with perils, swordfighting, chase-scenes, scheming and even some romance. In short, Templar is just the kind of comic I enjoy the most.
I found the characters of Templar, historical as well as fictional, to be well-written and interesting. Our band of heroes are all deeply flawed and yet despite their flaws (or perhaps because of them?), they're very easy to like, sympathize with and root for. Out of all the characters in Templar, my absolute favorite would have to be Cassim, a saracen who converted to christianity and became a member of the order but now finds himself an outcast in both worlds. That said, all the characters are good.
The artwork by Pham and Puvilland is a great mix between cartoony and realistic. They are especially good at the more action-filled scenes, (such as Martin's swordfight with Nogaret's right-hand man), which are very exciting and dynamic. Why yes, I would like to see an animated movie based on this comic, thank you.
To sum it up: If you want a ripping good yarn in the spirit of Alexandre Dumas' work, I definitely recommend checking Templar out.
