Author: Chris Jaymes;Illustrator: Ale Aragon

This desktop-sized graphic novel brings to vibrantly colorful life the Greek War of Independence of 1821. With the War being comparatively little discussed, in contrast to many of the other wars waged in Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century, the issues leading up to the conflict are described in both word and skillfully drawn picture (with the illustrations being done by the masterful Argentinian artist, Ale Aragon).

First conceived of as a screen play, Sons of Chaos (written by Chris Jaymes; illustrated by Ale Aragon) vividly shows how the untenable situation of despotic Turkish rule over many centuries led to so much resentment by the Greek locals that it ultimately paved the way to a revolution of the underlings against their power-hungry overlords. Jaymes has taken great care to ground his conceptualization of the war in historical fact, so that many of the incidents which he describes actually did happen (an instance of this is where a group of Greek women and children, rather than be captured by the Turks, throw both themselves and their children over a clifftop). The heroism of the Greek nation is clearly portrayed in their stoicism under fire, as well as in the nature of their resistance to what must have seemed to be overwhelming odds.

The multi-layered nature of the leading characters is revealed in dramatically featured incidents that are depicted in bold and swirling line, with the speech bubbles and text boxes that are used in many of the frames being carefully positioned so as not to detract from the central action. In some cases, the frames do not contain text, especially where the artist wishes to convey a sense of deep emotion, as reflected on the faces of those involved. Although most of the pages contain approximately eight frames, some contain only a few (if any at all), inset into drawings that cover the entire page, which convey the importance of the scenes depicted. 

An instance of such is the beheading of the much-loved mother of the revolutionary leader, Marcos Botsaris, which is portrayed in graphic detail. The two sentences on the page read: “With God on our side she was gone. And as her blood seeped deep into the soil of Hellas—the seeds of revolution had been planted.” The importance of the visual art medium to the conveyance of the central thrust of the story is clearly indicated here, with this being only one of the multiple instances in Sons of Chaos where the startling visual image lends great coherence and significance to the literary text.

Sons of Chaos should appeal to all Game of Thrones ardent followers, with its mythic appeal and historical context. Although not for the faint-hearted, as many of the scenes depicted are gory in their detail, the work should find an instant following among many young adults. Believe me, you don’t have to have anything Grecian about you to be able to appreciate the excitement of this raw enactment of a War that still has relevance today to contemporary European studies.