The Trigan Empire

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Although the strip has seen only limited English-language release it remains one of the most popular comic series in Holland and Germany, with over two million albums sold.

I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes. The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gasses: gasses can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected.” (12 May 1919)Villains, often officers or councillors appointed by Trigo, who must have been a Horrible Judge of Character, try to usurp the throne or place upon it a puppet emperor; happened lots of times. The Big Guy: Brag, if only by default. He's quite willing to stand aside and let his more ambitious brother Trigo not only rule their people, but completely transform their way of life while carving out an empire — but Brag retains his barbarian robustness, and can always be relied on to supply a strong sword arm when things turn violent on a personal level. In the meantime, “The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire” remains one of the high watermarks of UK comics and an essential part of any collection of British comics. To begin with, the story was entitled The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, and tried to trace the development of the eponymous civilisation from a humble beginning as a bunch of nomads to becoming the greatest power on the planet. Presumably, a decline was supposed to happen after this.

I'm really glad I found it... totally up my alley. The Trigans are a Roman Empire analog on an alien planet, so there's plenty of future tech around as well. Alot of the plots are pretty standard (the empire is founded by brothers on a hill.. one story is almost beat for beat Ben Hur without the Jesus bits, etc)... but it's really fun. Sure, the continuity isn't real tight... many of the stories speak of a couple years passing, but none of the adults age.. the kids just grow up. But taken one story at a time, it's pretty entertaining. The series’ fascinating and thrilling combination of the Roman Empire and ancient Greece alongside fantasy and sci-fi storylines make it one of the landmarks of British comics, and provided childhood inspiration for pop culture luminaries such as writer Neil Gaiman and director Duncan Jones. The series initially ran from 1965 to 1982, dealing with the long-past events of an empire on the distant planet of Elekton. Heavily influenced by mythological tales, a number of the societies seemed to be based on ancient cultures that had existed in history. Chief among these was the Trigan Empire, apparently modelled on Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. This similarity even extended to Trigan City, the capital being built on five hills, in a similar fashion to the seven hills of Rome. The Trigans' clothing was similar to that of the Romans, with many of the populace dressed in toga-like garments, or in the case of the soldiery, in Greek or Roman-style armour. A similar likeness could be drawn with Hericon, the chief rival in power to the Trigans, whose appearance seemed to mirror that of elements of the Byzantine Empire, and the Persian Empire. Retcons and reboots galore. Facts could be changed whenever the story needed it. The Vorg calendar mixes names with numbers, e.g. "In the third year of Zemm..." or "In the month of Yuss of the solar year..." or "In the seventeenth year of Neva..." and we never find out how these time periods fit together. The writing style was very purple. Probably not since Robert E. Howard wrote that Conan the Barbarian was destined to "Tread the Jewelled thrones of the world beneath his sandalled feet" has there been more overblown verbiage in a piece of popular entertainment. Certainly, not many characters in modern comics "slake their ravening thirst" at waterholes or "feel the icy fingers of terror course down their spines"; but maybe the world of comics, and the English language, are the poorer for it.Don, who started out as a comics creator in the Gower Street Studios in London, first working on Marvelman before moving on to Karl the Viking for Lion. Other artists who worked on the strip include Ron Embleton, Miguel Quesada, Philip Corke, Oliver Frey and Gerry Wood. This world is one of simple good and evil but certainly not along politically correct lines. We are not supposed to turn a hair at conquest or slavery so long as the slaves are well treated and the conquest is by a noble and just hero. And we channel our inner boy to go along with that. The early stories, featuring Storm, an astronaut from earth who is dragged into the great red spot in Jupiter’s atmosphere and sent forward in time to a post-apocalyptic earth known as the Deep World, ruled by barbaric kingdoms and ruthless warlords, were pedestrian and are notable only for the introduction of, Ember, a beautiful red-headed companion and Lawrence’s continued excellence. But sadly, after a couple of months it became apparent that it would probably need to employ every heavyweight action adventure-leaning actor in Hollywood at the time to make it work in the way he wanted, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. Synchronising the schedules of all this action talent proved impossible at the time. Wie sehr sich einige Panels bei mir eingebrannt hatten, merkte ich erst, als ich diese Bilder nach über vierzig Jahren jetzt wieder sah. Don Lawrence hatte eine ganz eigene Mischung aus Farben, Formen und Mimiken. Er brachte Dinge zu Papier, die nicht zu beschreiben waren.

Argo, the son of Trigo while being controlled by an evil alien, had King Kassar, his own grandfather and previously a major character, executed. His numerous credits include screenwriter for The Viking Raid VR Experience for The Ridley Scott Creative Group / Viking Planet and articles for The Times, The Telegraph, NME, Shortlist, The Guardian, Private Eye and more.The set-up remains the same, science fiction mixed with historical epic set on the far distant world of Elekton. A dynasty of handsome blond rulers, including the noble Trigo and various brothers, nephews, courtiers and advisers, lead the Trigan Empire through a sequence of constant crises and adventure. Trigo stands for decent patrician rule in the British Empire tradition – the positive aspects of that concept, at least. Although some stories involve random events in far off places, others arise closer to home from unhappy social groups or rebellion against Trigan rule. Hints of ethnic exaggeration in the faces catch the eye now, but the educational and liberal remit of Look and Learn is still clear around these stories – it’s 1968 and UK children’s comics are steering a delicate course through post-Colonial waters.