Horns of Hattin Gets Medieval

Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Posted By: Shawn Patty

"O Death, thou comest when I had thee least in mind!"

So cries Everyman, the carefree protagonist of medieval literature's classic morality play, The Summoning of Everyman, when commanded by God to judgment. In a graphic adaptation, writer Shane L. Amaya (Roland: Days of Wrath; Lord Takeyama) and artist Bruno D'Angelo (Prey; Lord Takeyama), set Everyman's tale in Jerusalem, in the late 12th century between the Second and Third Crusades, on the eve of a historical battle known as the Horns of Hattin. The armies of the King of Jerusalem stand arrayed against Saladin, medieval Islam's most famous Sultan, at whose hands the Latin army suffers a defeat that stuns Christendom.

In Horns of Hattin, Everyman is transformed from an allegory for the stage into a faithless Crusader who must reconcile the sin he has done against his good deeds; prove the faith he has in friends, strength, kinsmen, and material things; and find salvation before his life's end, speared on the field of battle. The political intrigue, Everyman's role as a Crusader knight, his spiritual quest, and the disaster at Hattin combine to make a story that is at once medieval and contemporary.

Horns of Hattin is the third collaboration between Amaya and D'Angelo, and Amaya's second adaptation of a medieval classic. The action of the first, Roland: Days of Wrath, a retelling of the French epic poem, The Song of Roland, also centers on a historical defeat for Christians: the 778 A.D. battle in which Charlemagne's rear-guard was ambushed by Saracen brigands in the Pyrenees.

Horns of Hattin is published by Terra Major, established in 1999 as an independent publisher of historical fiction, and is the publisher's first original graphic novel (OGN). Horns of Hattin will debut in July, at San Diego Comic-Con International.

Horns of Hattin is a softcover OGN, 100 black-and-white pages in length, and will retail for $15 US. Intended for mature readers, it is currently listed in Diamond's Previews catalog (MAY04 2901; ISBN 0- 9704149-1-9) for products shipping in July.

Horns of Hattin is ™ & © 2004, Terra Major. All rights reserved.

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