Three is set in Ancient Sparta. It follows a trio of helots who are on the run from a band of 300 Spartan warriors. This is my review.
Three takes place in Ancient Sparta in the year 364 BC. It follows three helots names Klaros, Damar and Trepander. They manage to survive as well as three helots can; each day's being its own small blessing. One night, after their master Eurytos forces them and their fellow helots to get drunk and dance for his amusement, they kill their master and his Spartiates in revenge for massacring their fellow helots. Now the three helots are on the run. Danger lurks around every corner as they are pursued by their master's son, Nestos, and a band of 300 Spartan warriors.
So yeah, this comic is, in many ways, intended to be the antithesis to Frank Miller's (in)famous comic-turned-movie 300. Kieron Gillen said that he was inspired to write this comic because he found 300 to be hypocritical, with how the Spartans bragged about fighting for freedom, and yet kept slaves. From the very first pages we get a sense of this. We begin with some helots picking olives, but then they're massacred by Spartans as part of the Krypteia. Krypteia was an annual festival where Spartans were allowed to kill helots just for fun. The Spartans did this to cull the helots, and prevent and slave revolts or other uprisings. It also did a lovely job of keeping the helots in constant fear.
I suppose I ought to explain what helots are. Helots were slaves who did all of the agricultural work, and other undesirable jobs, in Sparta. To say that it sucked to be a helot would be a massive understatement. Besides the Krypteia, there were several other ways to be killed. For example, when young Spartans trained to be warriors they had a final exam to take. However, if they successfully murdered a helot they automatically passed the final exam.
You don't really see many historical fiction comics, at least in America; it's a different story in France and Japan. So, this comic was quite a treat, and there's a very strong commitment to historical accuracy. At the end of the comic there are several pages devoted to explaining the reasoning behind different panels of the comic, and the historical research behind them. There's also an extended conversation with a professor of Classical Antiquity who specializes in the study of Sparta.
Even without all of that you can just feel that there was a lot of time, love and research put into this comic. For example, at one point our trio of helots stop by a statue of Aphrodite, who is carrying a spear, and Trepander remarks that even the gods follow the insane way of life in Sparta. The Spartans did indeed worship Aphrodite. Ares was, unsurprisingly, Sparta's favorite god, but they did worship other gods. Aphrodite is often depicted as Ares' lover, and you could make an argument that love and war spring from the same sorts of passions and emotions. Also, all of the statues are depicted as fully painted in full color, just as they would have been in Ancient Greece.
Another point of note is when we met Nestos' mother Gyrtias. She's shown to clearly be the one in charge of the family plantation, especially after Eurytos is killed. Women in Sparta enjoyed quite a bit more freedom than most of the other city-states of Ancient Greece. They managed the farms and estates while the men were off fighting wars and waging battles.
Then there's the armor the Spartans wear. Nine times out of ten, when you see Ancient Greek helmets they tend to be Corinthian helmets. Corinthian helmets were the ones that covered almost all of the face, and often had plumes on the top. Those appear here, but they're always shown to be older, more antiqued armor inherited from previous generations. The overwhelming majority of the Spartan warriors wear opened-face conical pilos helmets; which is what most Spartans wore at the time of the story.
Overall, the way that Sparta feels in this comic is a nation past its prime. It's been almost 100 years since the famous Battle of Thermopylae. Sparta's glory days are behind it, and everyone in positions of power are keenly aware of this. That's why 300 warriors are sent after the three helots. Even a rebellion that small could have major ramifications for Sparta's waning way of life.
Have you read Three? If so, what did you think?
Link to the full review on my blog: http://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2018/09/comic-review-three.html?m=1