Marathon (review)

In this graphic novel, Yakin adeptly melds history, legend, and imaginative back-story to recreate the Battle of Marathon from the perspective of the runner Eucles (also known as Pheidippedes), who reputedly ran either from Athens to Sparta to beg for reinforcements against the Persian forces of King Darius, or from from Marathon to Athens with news of victory. In Yakin's telling, Eucles achieves both feats, and with strong personal impetus. The exiled Athenian tyrant Hippias, who now accompanies the Persians against Athens, had murdered Eucles' parents in retaliation for his failure to deliver a message in a timely manner. Now Eucles will move heaven and earth to avenge his parents' death by assuring the rout of Hippias and the Persian fleet. Infurnari's dynamic monochrome drawings capably capture the strenuous exertion of Eucles and the small band of soldiers who accompany him to Athens, the roiling chaos of the battle itself, and the heartbreaking climax in which Eucles dies amid the Athenians' victory celebration. Certainly coverage of the Summer Olympics will bring this legend into currency, but it's the reader with a yen for noble heroes and classical warfare—not canoe slalom and trampoline—that will appreciate this gripping title.