Rubicon
Based on an idea by Christopher McQuarrie
Story by Dan Capel
Written by Mark Long
Art by Mario Stilla
Colors by Howling Monkey Studios
Letters by Marshall Dillon
Archaia Entertainment/Archaia Black Label
Release Date: March 12, 2014
Cover Price: $14.99

Rubicon is the brainchild of Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Capel. Take the story of the Seven Samurai, bring it to Afghanistan, and appropriately, cast the US Navy SEALs in the role of the seven noble Samurai “” a legendary story that has been playing out for close to ten years now.

Artist Mario Stilla paints a gritty world in a style which reminds me of early Frank Miller, only neater and less confused. The subjects that need to be gritty are almost lost in the detail of their clothing, but when addressing the women in the story, the lines are clean and even. Stilla displays both a proficiency at marrying different styles, and a clear intention that the art tell as much of the story as the words. Frame-by-frame, he shows you what to be focused on as writer Mark Long spins the tale.

Rubicon
Hardcover
Written by Dan Capel, Mark Long, Christopher McQuarrie
Based on works by Akira Kurosawa
Art by Mario Stilla
Archaia Entertainment
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Cover Price: $22.45

Akira Kurosawa’s work is legendary and rises beyond the test of time. It’s long lasting, and has been reinterpreted millions of times in a manner of ways, from Spaghetti Westerns to a “Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Along comes Rubicon, a graphic novel from Archaia Entertainment – the newest reimagining of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, though placed in the environment of the modern Afghanistan war.

Rubicon focuses (mainly) on a group of SEALs and Special Forces, in a situational conflict in Afghanistan that is very loosely based on the Kurosawa classic. Facing a group of insurgents largely supported and controlled by the Taliban, the group of elite troops opt to focus on safeguarding a small village that harvests poppies, rather than their own base of operations.