The Scorpion: The Devil's Mark. Enrico Marini (Artist), Stephen Desberg (Writer). Cinebook (2008)

This is an exciting period swashbuckler that captures and updates nicely the best of the Erroll Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks. The Scorpion is a relic hunter among the catacombs of Rome, he sells the items he finds to rich patrons who desire holy and scarce items. He is handsome, fabulously athletic, happily sexually active, in short everything that he should be.

He is called the Scorpion because of a birthmark on his shoulder in the shape of the insect, his mother was burned at the stake for witchcraft and he is considered the devil's offspring in some circles. He becomes snared in a plot when he is marked for death by Cardinal Trebaldi, who hires an woman to kill him, she is an Egyptian, a Gypsy whose skill is poison and she is a very dangerous and determined enemy.

The Scorpion survives his first encounter with her in a entirely suitable way and sets out to find out why Trebaldi wants him dead. The reasons for this stretch back to the dying days of ancient Rome and a plot by a group of people to maintain their power under the cloak of the expanding Christian Church. At the time the story is set the autocratic rule of the Church is being questioned by the Pope as part of the changing political tides across Europe and there are move afoot in the Vatican to ensure that this change does not continue.

The story is well developed, the plot threads are cleverly interwoven and the reveals are nicely paced. The struggle between the Scorpion and the Egyptian is a battle of equals, each are determined capable people and they clash has real vigour. The rest of the cast are treated with care, they all have clear voices and identities, the swirls of intrigues among them are worth following.

The art is clear and vibrant, the city itself is drawn in detail and provides a great stage for the action, the costumes are properly detailed and distinct. The uniform of the group of warrior monks is reminiscent of the uniforms of the Inquisition in Rex Mundi, they actions are also somewhat similar. Solid storytelling, lovely art, rooftop chases, sword fights, the spirit of swashbuckling burns brightly.