The actual story of the 300 is seldom heard in history classes. In 480 B.C., 300 Spartan warriors held off the entire Persian army (of at least 300,000 in size) for 3 days during an initial attempt to conquer ancient Greece. King Leonidas of the Spartans had planned the battle's location well, and expected their superior fighting style to be able to keep back the Persians indefinitely. The spot was called the Hot Gates, and it was a narrow valley along the edge of the sea. They might have succeeded to, if not for a betrayal from someone who was from another Greek city. But with their failure, the rest of Greece realized that they had a chance. The few individuals who held off the Persians, made it possible for the larger society as a whole to fight back, eventually keeping Persia out of Greece.

If this story did not actually have taken place, Miller would probably still have written this story, for it is composed of so many things that Miller holds true to his heart. The unselfish sacrifice that individuals make for the good of their society. A relentless will to keep fighting against impossible odds. A dislike for the larger 'brute force' army as opposed to the more intelligent, or more focused one. And most importantly, the whole concept of what is considered 'Spartan'.

Like most of Miller's work, the layout is similar to an edited movie. Each panel is meticulously laid out to add to the story in ways that the format of a regular novel could not. There is extended use of voiceovers, which may work in a novel, but never in a film. In a novel, one can only read the voiceover, but cannot see the action. In a film, one can see the action but not hear the voiceover without it being distracting. Miller is able to use dialogue and pictures at different times to give a stronger meaning to both.

This may be Miller's first color artwork in almost a decade. He has spent most of the 90's writing on Sin City variations, which are completely black and white. Here, even some color shots benefit from what he learned working strictly in the 2 color medium. Miller's artwork is able to convey huge battles as easily as he does facial closeups.

As successfully varied as his art is, his writing mixed with it is able to convey the fourth dimension, time, better than pure text ever could. Some pages give the illusions of hours going by. Towards the end, two-thirds of one issue must take place in less than a minute or two. You would think that this wouldn't work, but it does. And incredibly well!

There is an excellent mix of educational and entertaining material here. There are lots of historical quotes from Greek history. There are many stories of the Spartans that I have just recently read in HDF Kitto's "The Greeks", for example.

One of my favorite moments is when the 300 Spartans come across several thousand Arcadians. We 'hear' King Leonidas' thoughts 'Noisy Arcadians greet us with noisy complaints.'. We see Arcadian troops massed beneath their king saying things like "can't be more than a few hundred of them" and "we were told Sparta was on the warpath. Is this some sort of a joke?". Their king says "We expected Sparta's commitment to at least match our own!". King Leonidas responds with "Doesn't It?", and pointing to an Arcadian says, "You there, What is your profession?", to which the Arcadian responds "I am a potter, sir.". Pointing to another he asks the same question again, and gets the response "I am a sculptor, sir". And as he points to more, he gets responses of "A Blacksmith", and "A Baker". Finally he turns to his troops and says "Spartans, what is your profession?", and all the troops merely hold up their spears proudly in the air. Turning to the Arcadian general Leonidas says "You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did." This is drawn, and laid out far better than just words can express.

This graphic novel is educational, exciting and artistic. It is Frank Miller at his best, and most personal. I can't imagine anyone reading this who doesn't get something out of it.


Recommended: Yes