Salvete, Amiculi!
The year 2017, or the year 2770 A.U.C. (ab urbe condita - from the founding of the City), as the Romans would call it, was a pivotal year for Amiculus. It saw the completion of the Amiculus Trilogy, a passion project a decade in the making. In this time, Amiculus has grown from just one history nerd's flight of fancy to the foundation of an institution, with backers and readers on five continents and a growing reputation locally and regionally. For this, let me say thanks to the comic creator and artistic communities of my hometown of Columbus, Ohio (particularly the good people of Madlab and Sunday Comix Group), my artistic team and my creative partner Giancarlo Caracuzzo, my Kickstarter backers who have stayed with me since my very first (failed) campaign in 2013, my family, and most of all my wife Becky for her ridiculous faith in me.
Now that the project is finished, it leaves me at a bit of a crossroads, an appropriate place to be on December 31. We've briefly looked back, so let's take a glimpse at some resolutions for 2018 and beyond!
The year 2017, or the year 2770 A.U.C. (ab urbe condita - from the founding of the City), as the Romans would call it, was a pivotal year for Amiculus. It saw the completion of the Amiculus Trilogy, a passion project a decade in the making. In this time, Amiculus has grown from just one history nerd's flight of fancy to the foundation of an institution, with backers and readers on five continents and a growing reputation locally and regionally. For this, let me say thanks to the comic creator and artistic communities of my hometown of Columbus, Ohio (particularly the good people of Madlab and Sunday Comix Group), my artistic team and my creative partner Giancarlo Caracuzzo, my Kickstarter backers who have stayed with me since my very first (failed) campaign in 2013, my family, and most of all my wife Becky for her ridiculous faith in me.
Now that the project is finished, it leaves me at a bit of a crossroads, an appropriate place to be on December 31. We've briefly looked back, so let's take a glimpse at some resolutions for 2018 and beyond!
Resolution I: More Projects!
I'm sure if you've checked out my newsletter or have seen recent updates via Kickstarter, you know about these coming projects. However, as excited as I am, I really can't shut up about them! So, once again, here are the planned Amiculus Books of the Future:
1) Sugar Creek is a smaller project, 22-32 pages in length, that features a modern horror story with roots in primordial history. As a small town in western Ohio prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary, a frantic call for help to the Sugar Creek police department is cut off, prompting two officers to investigate a home on the edge of town. What greets them is a horror centuries in the making. Long-buried at the headwaters of the creek that is the town's namesake, the dark secret underlying its origins now threatens to burst forth and consume them all...look for an announcement sometime in 2018!
2) Amiculus: A Secret History reveals the identity of the shadowy title character, and illuminates his motives. But what of his true origin? In Amiculus: Domina, we track the path of Amiculus's creation from a fateful day on a Mediterranean beach to the catastrophic Battle of Ticinum, a path that is intertwined with the tragic tale of another mysterious figure: the mother of Romulus Augustulus. The timeline on this project is a bit more ephemeral, but I'm looking at a potential campaign in 2019-2020.
3) Pythia takes place in A.D. 362, when Christianity is ascendant and paganism is breathing its last. Apollo's Oracle of Delphi barely subsists on the waning faith of the god's remaining followers. But the newly-crowned Roman emperor Julian promises a return to the old gods. All he requires from the Pythia is a prophecy of triumph in the coming wars, and Apollo will bask in the glory of an Olympian renaissance. The Pythia must do everything in her power to stop this from happening. This project will likely follow Domina.
1) Sugar Creek is a smaller project, 22-32 pages in length, that features a modern horror story with roots in primordial history. As a small town in western Ohio prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary, a frantic call for help to the Sugar Creek police department is cut off, prompting two officers to investigate a home on the edge of town. What greets them is a horror centuries in the making. Long-buried at the headwaters of the creek that is the town's namesake, the dark secret underlying its origins now threatens to burst forth and consume them all...look for an announcement sometime in 2018!
2) Amiculus: A Secret History reveals the identity of the shadowy title character, and illuminates his motives. But what of his true origin? In Amiculus: Domina, we track the path of Amiculus's creation from a fateful day on a Mediterranean beach to the catastrophic Battle of Ticinum, a path that is intertwined with the tragic tale of another mysterious figure: the mother of Romulus Augustulus. The timeline on this project is a bit more ephemeral, but I'm looking at a potential campaign in 2019-2020.
3) Pythia takes place in A.D. 362, when Christianity is ascendant and paganism is breathing its last. Apollo's Oracle of Delphi barely subsists on the waning faith of the god's remaining followers. But the newly-crowned Roman emperor Julian promises a return to the old gods. All he requires from the Pythia is a prophecy of triumph in the coming wars, and Apollo will bask in the glory of an Olympian renaissance. The Pythia must do everything in her power to stop this from happening. This project will likely follow Domina.
Resolution II: More History!
I had to take a little time following my year-long blog series The Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic because, well, it ended up depressing the hell out of me. The point was to illustrate similarities between the Roman Republic and our modern one, and in the process it brought a lot of things a little too close to home. Also, I thought the quality of the content varied significantly between posts, and could ramble at times as it descended into historical rabbit holes and cul de sacs. I aim to work on providing better, more consistent content in the future.
Fortunately, there are also a lot of other things connecting ancient Rome to our modern times that fall into the positive column, and I plan to revert back to the format used in my "Roman Debauchery Fun Facts" posts, such as this timely tidbit:
Fortunately, there are also a lot of other things connecting ancient Rome to our modern times that fall into the positive column, and I plan to revert back to the format used in my "Roman Debauchery Fun Facts" posts, such as this timely tidbit:
Two-faced Janus, Roman god of gates, beginnings and never-ending bad hair days. This will likely not shock you, but it was the Romans who formalized January 1 as New Year's Day. Going back at least as far as the Babylonian calendar circa 2000 B.C., most societies started the New Year at the vernal equinox, or sometime in mid-late March. (New Year's Day for the Romans was originally around March 15, insert eyebrow waggle.) In 153 B.C., the Romans made January 1 the day that incoming consuls assumed office, effectively making it New Year's Day for the Roman government. Julius Caesar made this custom official for all Romans in 45 B.C. with his eponymous Julian Calendar.
Fun Fact Extra: the Roman calendar was so far out of whack by the time Caesar changed it that 80 days had to be added to the year 46 B.C. to get the months back in sync with the seasons for the year 45. I don't know if this makes 46, with 445 days, the longest year on record, but it's definitely a contender.
Fun Fact Extra: the Roman calendar was so far out of whack by the time Caesar changed it that 80 days had to be added to the year 46 B.C. to get the months back in sync with the seasons for the year 45. I don't know if this makes 46, with 445 days, the longest year on record, but it's definitely a contender.
Resolution III: New Look!
Expect to see this logo gracing the website soon! With Amiculus done, I feel that my mission and, with it, my website and branding, will need to evolve somewhat in 2018. Therefore, this site will change from being dedicated solely to the Amiculus Trilogy to one for all projects appearing under the aegis Amiculus Books. This will of course include more comic book and graphic novel content, as well as possible prose works. As you've seen above, new Amiculus storylines are being planned, but so are completely original projects. Who knows? Perhaps one day you will see short films offered, in which case we would need to evolve again to Amiculus Media.
So Happiest of New Years to you all, and as always, more to come!
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