Spend The Holiday Season With The Roman Holidays!

Posted on December 24, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update I have decided to cover another comic series that is based off of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series and have chosen a mostly forgotten one called The Roman Holidays! Wait what, you have never heard of The Roman Holidays? Well don’t feel bad as it was a very short-lived cartoon that disappeared as fast as it appeared on Saturday Mornings and barely made its mark when it comes to Hanna-Barbera cartoons. When planning these updates for 2025, I knew that I wanted to cover more comics based on the toons of Hanna-Barbera as they were such a big part of the entertainment for kids of the 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s, and I have been slacking a little here showcasing them so if you have not read my past updates about Yogi Bear, Grape Ape, Inch High Private Eye, FooFur and Go-Bots make sure to do so. But if you are ready, let’s head to Ancient Rome and spend some time with The Holiday Family. Oh and Merry Christmas Eve to you all!!

The Roman Holidays was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon that was made to air on NBC for Saturday Mornings and would follow the Holiday Family who was living in Ancient Rome and dealing with all the crazy things going on around them. The cartoon would run from September 9 – December 2, 1972, with the series running for one season and a total of 13 episodes. The toon would have many classic voice actors working on it with names like Dave Willock, Daws Butler, Judy Strangis, Harold Peary and Shirley Mitchell making up most of the main cast. The show would end up being rerun in the 1980’s as part of the USA Cartoon Express that of course ran on the USA Network. And after that it would be shown on Cartoon Network through the 90’s and Boomerang in the 2000’s with it finally getting a home media release in 2013. The cartoon is mostly forgotten and is mostly remembered by those big fans of the cartoons created and released by Hanna-Barbera. I for one barely remember it thanks to its time on the Cartoon Express! I should note that The Holiday Family did appear as manatees on the HBO Max series Jellystone in 2022, allowing them to be discovered by a new generation of cartoon watchers.

Lets now talk about the Holiday Family as this Marble Age Family was the main focus of the cartoon series. Gus Holiday is the father who is a good natured and a very stressed man who works for the Forum Construction Company and is always on the bad side of his boss. Laurie Holiday is the mother and they have two children teenage son is Happius Holiday and Precocia Holiday is their young daughter. They also have a pet lion named Brutus who is a troublemaker. The Family lives in the Venus DeMilo Arms Apartments in A.D. 63 and their neighbors are Herman along with his wife Henrietta and teenage daughter Groovia who is dating Happius. The landlord is Mr. Evictus who has a daughter named Snobbia, and they are rude and hate Brutus who they do not want living in the building. And Mr. Tycoonius is the boss at Forum Construction Company and is the stress in Gus’s life. This is a crash course of the cast of The Roman Holidays, and really you should track down the DVD Complete Series that was released by Warner Archive to get the full dose of who these characters are.

The Roman Holidays was clearly Hanna-Barbera trying to capture the magic that they had with The Flintstones and The Jetsons that were set in the Stone Age and The Future respectively, but unlike those two very iconic cartoons, The Roman Holidays just never caught on with the viewers. But while the cartoon was very short lived that did not stop Gold Key Comics from giving it the comic book treatment. I would like to thank Lone Star Comics and an Amazon Seller for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s head to Ancient Rome and spend some time with the Holidays Family.

The Roman Holidays # 1 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .15 Gold Key # 1 of 4

“Double Date” The Holiday Family are home with Gus trying to watch the football game, but things get crazy for them when Brutus, the pet lion, runs across and even smashes Mr. Evictus into wet cement as the family’s landlord was putting in a sidewalk at the apartments, and he is not happy and storms to the Holiday’s apartment and after the family lie to try and cover for Brutus, with the lion being caught with cement on his paws Mr. Evictus decides that they are being evicted! That is unless the Holiday’s can find a date for his daughter Snobbia to the prom and she must have a great time, and Gus takes that deal and sets out to find his landlords daughter a date with the help of his son Happius and his girlfriend Groovia. As Gus talks to the teens of the town he finds out that none of them are willing to date Snobbia, so he even gets desperate and calls his nephew Clodius who turns out to be a goofy hillbilly and they worry he is not right for this prom date. So the new plan is for Gus to dress and act as a teenager complete with wearing a metal girdle, wig and sunglasses and calls himself Smoothius. After picking up Snobbia they all arrive at the prom and Smoothius is proving to be a lame date, and it gets worse when he tries to dance and his metal girdle flies off and smashes the bands amplifier causing their to be no music! The Prom is a bust as is the date and it looks like The Holidays will be homeless, that is until Clodius fixes the amp and Snobbia falls for him and the two are now each others dates and their home is now safe, and Brutus shows up to the Prom and even wears the metal girdle and dances around.

This is a pretty fun first issue as it is just an adaptation of the first episode with a few additions to help flush out the story. The plot of this kids comic has The Holiday Family in trouble with their landlord over the actions of their pet lion and must find a way stay in their home and that is by finding a date for his daughter, and for father Gus that means trying to become a teenager again! The humor for this issue is truly that classic Hanna-Barbara style with goofy situations and characters that are all around silly like Gus Holiday is a goof, but also a very good man. Speaking of Gus Holiday, he is a husband and a father who really cares about his family. He has a pet lion who, while a troublemaker, Gus still cares about and will eve lie for to cover up his antics. Gus also likes sports and will even be willing to make a fool of himself in order to try and protect his family from living in the park. Mr. Evictus is a heartless man, who has no issues of throwing people out of their homes in the apartments he owns and seems to almost take pride in his meanness towards people, plus I have the feeling that he really does hate animals! The hero of this issue is the silly hillbilly Clodius who while is a big goofball is the one who saves the day as he not only gets the music back playing at the prom but also has Snobbia fall for him and his good nature attitude. On a side note I want to point out that Happius Holiday is willing to have himself and his family go homeless because he does not want to not play in the band at the Prom and break his date with Groovia…what a sport willing to put himself out to help others…well doing the opposite of that. The main comedy and drama of this issue comes from The Holiday’s threat of being kicked out of their home and having to make their landlord’s daughters prom a good one. The cover for this issue is very cool and eye catching and the interior art by Unknown Artist is really great and captures the look of the cartoon! And if I had to pick a favorite character from this issue I would say that it would be Gus Holiday as he is just a likable dad who is even willing to act like a teenager and make a fool of himself in order to save his family from having to live in a park. And some of the changes I noticed from the cartoon that this comic made is Brutus is shown running through the wet cement and even smashes Mr. Evictus into it being the biggest one I noticed. Over all this is a pretty good first issue of Roman Holiday’s and really does do the cartoon series justice, so let’s see what issue two has in store for us.

The Roman Holidays # 2 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .15 Gold Key # 2 of 4

“Friends, Romans And Cassius” Happius and Groovia are teaching Brutus how to dance and it’s clear that Happius is starting to get a cold, and as Gus gets home he informs them that work gave him free five tickets to the Davey Cassius concert! So Gus, along with his family head to the concert and are caught in a traffic jam, and once at the arena Happius’s cold gets worse and he heads home with Brutus by his side, when they run into Davey Cassius who is tired of all the fame and just wants a small break! And when Davey’s wig falls onto the head of Happius the fan girls come flocking and the three have to run back to Davey’s dressing room were Davey’s manager comes up with an idea that will allow Davey to get some needed rest and for Happius to take his place on stage by wearing the wig and lip synching to a record…and it works as the fans don’t catch on and go home happy! But Happius and Brutus are stuck at the arena as Davey ends up going home with The Holidays as they think he is their family member and treat him well as they think he is sick from the cold. Meanwhile Happius is having a terrible time as being famous is more work than he thought and he quits and goes home only for the Holidays to discover that Davey Cassius has been living with them, he thanks them for a fun and relaxing time and heads to the TV Station to be the music star he is.

The second issue is really the third episode of the cartoon turned into a comic book and is a pretty fun and entertaining read that’s plot has pop rock star Davey Cassius needing some time off from performing as his agent Max is just running him ragged, and when they find that Happius Holiday looks like the star the two switch places for a short time in order for Davey to get rest and Happius to get a taste of fame. This issue truly focuses on Happius and Brutus as the two are stuck in the arena and having to take orders from Max who is all about fame and money and does not seem to care about the wellbeing of his stars. And poor Happius was kind of conned into being the stand in (or Shemp if this was a Sam Raimi project) as he is sick with a cold and being forced to dance around and lip synch another persons songs! And Brutus The Lion is kind of just stuck as he was with Happius when this discovery and plan was made. The rest of The Holiday Family are around but do truly play bit parts to the storyline and that’s a shame as Gus Holiday is the man and should have been in the story more. The downside to this issue is that while it is a fun one, it also slightly drags as much of it is the same thing over and over and that’s Happius having a bad time while Davey is having a good time, plus I just don’t find the character of Happius that entertaining. The cover for this issue is fun with Brutus in the bathtub and Gus looking mad as this was to be his bath water, and due to the coloring it really is eye catching. The Unknown Artist did the interior art once more and its great stuff as it again looks just like the cartoon, and it’s a shame that many of these old Gold Key Comics do not have credits on who wrote, drew or inked the issues. Over all another good issue that I would say is slightly not as good as the first issue, but does make me want to read issue three and also does show that Hanna-Barbera really was trying to push The Roman Holidays as their next big hit.

The Roman Holidays # 3 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 3 of 4

“Switch Is Which?” Gus Holiday stays up all night working on blueprints for Mr. Almalgamated the biggest client the company he works for has, but cause he stayed up all night he is fast asleep by the early morning and his family can not wake him up! So his wife Laurie and their young daughter Precocia head to the construction site and hand over the blueprints, but soon find that if Gus does not make it to work soon he will be fired! While at home Gus is so tired that he is half asleep when his landlord does an inspection, and even takes the phone off the hook in order to get more sleep and this blocks the call from Laurie who is trying to call him to go to work. So Laurie thinks fast and cuts some of her hair to glue to her face and acts as Gus for Mr. Almalgamated and does such a good job that she gets her husband a raise and gets his blueprints passed. When Gus finally wakes up he rushes to work in a panic only to get the good news and later that night The Holiday family have a big party. “Lost But Not Leashed” Brutus is being chased around by the tiny dog of Snobbia who acts as if the lion is a bully and has to go, and Mr. Evictus agrees with his daughter and tells Gus that either they get ride of Brutus or the whole family is being thrown out of the apartment! Gus is thinking of ideas for Brutus with one being sold to the coliseum in order to be a fighter and this causes the lion to run away from home, unknown that Gus is really going to fight this threat and being forced to get ride of his pet. Brutus has an idea to sneak on a ship headed to Africa so that he can return to his birthplace, but he is quickly ran off by a mouse and finds himself by accident in the coliseum were he by accident beats a Bull that is a championing! And once back home Mr. Evictus welcomes him back with open arms as he is a champion and even charges the public to enter the building of a champion….but then also ups the rent for the Holidays cause they live with a champion!

This issue is based on episode 7 of the cartoon series and also has a second story that is short and is all about Brutus The Lion, with the first being about Gus’s wife having to save the family and his job by acting like a contractor when he is to worn out to get to work. And with the first story the true hero really is Laurie Holiday as she is the one who gets the blueprints to his job on time, and then even cuts her own hair to make a mustache so that she can act like her husband around a top client from his job…plus she does such a good job that she gets him a raise and the plans he drew up are now in motion! While Gus who stays up all night to draw up the blueprints is dead to the world with sleep and it takes him almost all day to wake up and realize he might have just made a terrible mistake by sleeping in! The second story poor Brutus can not catch a break as once more they family’s landlord is on their case and is hating their pet lion, and this causes Brutus to try and run away but ends up finding himself a champion when by accident he wins a match in the fighting coliseum making the landlord finally find respect for him. And with this issue we also see that while Brutus is a lion he is very goofy and also scared of all types of things like even small mice. The humor of these two stories work very well as like before it’s that classic Hanna-Barbera style and the stuff with Gus being so sleepy that he misses work and sleepwalks through interaction with people is the kind of silliness us kids of the 70’s and 80’s laughed at. The cover for this issue is good and eye catching as it shows Brutus hiding as a painting in order to avoid The Holidays landlord who is telling Gus that he is making a new rule no pets allowed! And like with the past issues the Unknown Artist did a fantastic job on the interior art. And with two stories instead of one this issue is entertaining and leads us to the fourth and final issue in the series, so let’s see what it has in store for us.

The Roman Holidays # 4 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 4 of 4

“The Man-Tamer” the morning scroll is delivered to The Holiday Family and Gus is happy to see that his old school friend Hammus Terrificus the world famous lion-tamer is in town with the circus and while Gus and his family are exited to see his act, Brutus gets scared as he does not like the idea of a lion-tamer and stays home. While at the carnival Gus and Hammus talk about the old times, but their old club house handshake goes wrong and Hammus throws out his back, and this forces Gus to have to take his place for the lion-tamer act. So they rush home and get Brutus to be the lion for the act and soon while in the center of the ring Gus and Brutus get into it and the lion ends up using the whip and Gus does the tricks and the fans love it! After the show Hammus wants to take Brutus on the road with him and call him the Human-Tamer…but Brutus rejects this once he finds out it will be hard work with poor food to eat. “Father Of The Year” Gus gets home from a hard day’s work and finds that his kids have nominated him for the Father Of The Year award and his only competition is Mr. Evictus who threatens that if Gus beats him for the award he will throw the Holiday Family out of their apartment! Happius, Precocia and Groovia are campaign for Gus as he is worried about winning and loosing his home, so he tries his best to throw the election. In the end Gus and Evictus both win via a tie and both are now Fathers Of The Year!

This comic’s first story is based off episode 8 of the cartoon that is called “That’s Show Biz” with the second story being episode 13 that used the same name, and its fitting that the final issue in the series also featured the final episode. The Man-Tamer is a very silly story that has Gus hurting his friend with a handshake and this causes him to have to make a fool of himself in front of a live audience, all with the help of his pet lion Brutus who hams it up for the people. We get to also meet Hammus Terrificus, the old school friend of Gus who has made it as a big time circus performer, he also seems a little annoyed by Gus who is clearly trying to impress his family by knowing him and speaking of their past adventures as kids. I do also like how this story allows Brutus to show that when pushed with threats of having to sleep outside he will fight back in anger, showing he is not always a scaredy cat. The second story is all about Gus and Mr. Evictus both going for the Father Of The Year award and having to try to win it with of course Evictus threatening to toss the Holiday Family out of the home if Gus one ups him…but in the end they both win the award in a tie. In this one it is great to see just how loved and respected Gus by his family. Both of these stories in this final issue are about Gus Holiday and that is fitting as he really is the main character of the cartoon series, and it is also cool that this comic series was released a year after the cartoon had been canceled showing that Hanna-Barbera was still trying to push this series, or I guess it could also be that Gold Key Comics was just that far behind. I would say that throughout this comic series I would say that Gus Holiday and Brutus The Lion are my two favorite characters as they really did remind me of a off brand version of Fred Flintstone and Dino. While the humor in these comics is very dated in spots, it still does kind of have that classic silly kid kind of humor that is timeless making for a very odd read when it comes to comedy. The cover for this final issue is pretty cool and showcases Brutus making Gus to silly circus tricks and you guessed it the Unknown Artist once more did the interior art and did a fantastic job with it as they really did capture the look of the cartoon. Over all this really was a pretty fun kids comic series that should make the fans of the cartoon happy. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Unknown Artist for this comic series.

I am not going to lie when first doing this update I barely remembered The Roman Holidays but during the writing of this update I found myself really enjoying it as it really is a bizarre cartoon that I am not sure why Hanna-Barbera would think it would become their next mega hit. But for me I could see Gus Holiday sitting at a bar having a drink with Fred Flintstone and George Jetson as they talk about sports, family and work. But with that its time for use to leave Rome and head to the world of cinema, as it will be my best of 2025 films I saw in the theater. So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Also make sure to spend a little time this Holiday Season with your family, friends, pets and planets! See you next update as we talk the cinema of 2025!

Will The Real Spartacus Please Stand Up!

Posted on June 3, 2022 by bloodlinematt

The Rotten Ink Coliseum is crowded today, as all of you readers and friends have showed up to see the one and only Spartacus as he enters the arena and shows why he is the most iconic Gladiator in history…and not just in cinema as Spartacus was indeed a real man who led slaves and fellow fighters in an uprising in 71bc! And while it is said he was murdered in a battle in the Third Servile War, many said his body was never found and that he might have lived out his life a free man and away from the horrors of war. But we of course will not be looking at the real life deeds of Spartacus as we will be focusing on the 1960 film staring Kirk Douglas and the amazing comic adaptation of it! So grab your gladiator gear as we are heading to the coliseum and we are watching the legend of combat death sport Spartacus in action.

Spartacus was a Thracian who was forced into slavery by the Romans but when he fights back against his attackers he is sold and is forced to be trained as a Gladiator and while at first he fights it, his skill comes out and he becomes one of the best gladiators that ever entered the arena. Spartacus has heart and his personality helps bring the gladiators in his camp as well as slaves to come together and rise up against those who are oppressing them and keeping them down as well as treating their lives lower then slime all for those in powers amusement. And the thing with Spartacus is that he is not only a skilled fighter he is a symbol of freedom and rising up for the down, beaten, poor and is a person that has the respect of the people that they would die for him to show that his name and movement means something to them all. And this is just a very small bio on a real life person who inspired one of the greatest Gladiator films of all time…and before you ask yes this bio is based on the movie version of Spartacus.

So now lets take a few moments and talk about the amazing 1960 film Spartacus that was a middle of career film for director icon Stanley Kubrick and starred Kirk Douglas. The films plot is taken from our pals at IMDB and then I will write about the films production as well as my thoughts and such on the film. So if you are ready lets step into the Gladiator Arena and see Spartacus in action.

Spartacus (1960)

“In 73 B.C., a Thracian slave leads a revolt at a gladiatorial school run by Lentulus Batiatus. The uprising soon spreads across the Italian Peninsula involving thousand of slaves. The plan is to acquire sufficient funds to acquire ships from Silesian pirates who could then transport them to other lands from Brandisium in the south. The Roman Senator Gracchus schemes to have Marcus Publius Glabrus, Commander of the garrison of Rome, lead an army against the slaves who are living on Vesuvius. When Glabrus is defeated his mentor, Senator and General Marcus Licinius Crassus is greatly embarrassed and leads his own army against the slaves. Spartacus and the thousands of freed slaves successfully make their way to Brandisium only to find that the Silesians have abandoned them. They then turn north and must face the might of Rome.”

The film idea of Spartacus was sparked by the film Ben-Hur that was released in theaters in 1959 as actor Kirk Douglas tried out for the lead role of that film but lost out to Charlton Heston and after reading the novel Spartacus Kirk bought the film right options from writer Howard Fast and quickly got Universal Studios to finance the film after locking in actors Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier and Peter Ustinov in big rolls for the film if made. While the film was in the early stages another actor Yul Brynner was working on a Spartacus film of his own that would have been released by United Artists, but in the end Douglas’s version would win out and be the one to be released and to be made in general. The script was originally being done by Howard Fast who was having issues with formatting the screenplay and then one tome blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo was brought in who originally was going to use a fake name “Sam Jackson” but it was Douglas who demanded that Trumbo get credit for his work and this helped break the blacklist that was on his name and helped get him back to work in Hollywood as he even was able to show up on set when filming. Other actors brought into the cast was the lovely Jean Simmons as well as names like Tony Curtis, Nina Foch, Herbert Lom, Woody Strode and Joanna Barnes. And the film would be directed by Stanley Kubrick and was given a budget of $12 million and was an epic filming experience with parts being filmed in Spain and even cheers of the crowd being recorded at a collage football game! Once the film was done they had Alex North score the film and it was released in theaters in America starting in October 1960 and was a huge hit with critics and fans and would bring in $60 million at the box office and would even win Academy as well as Golden Globe Awards! And in 1960 it was the highest grossing film of the year and beat out such other films as Psycho, The Alamo, Ocean’s 11, Magnificent Seven, Time Machine, GI Blues and Butterfield 8 to name a few.

The first time I saw Spartacus it aired on network TV when I was a kid living in Waynesville and by brother Bryan had already seen the film thanks to school and he talked about the film a lot and when we watched it that night on TV he kept telling me that parts coming up that he thought was great, and when it aired I also remember that the whole family gathered in the living room with bowls of popcorn and we watched it. And he was right as this film became one of my favorites in The Gladiator genre and my brother and I would quote the film all the time and we would even do the “I’m Spartacus” from time to time and our all time favorite “No Talking In The Kitchen Slave”. There is just something about the character Spartacus that makes you cheer for him throughout the film and he really does give you the feeling that no matter how much the odds are against you as long as you stay true to who you are and stand up for what is right you can be like Spartacus as well. The scenes of the Gladiator fights and training are great and I really like the character Drada played by Woody Strode who is a badass and could have killed Spartacus in a arena fight but instead spares his life and tries to kill those who are watching waiting for death to be dealt and while he pays with his life and his body is hung up for his follow gladiators to see as a message to not cross those in power he as well showed true heart. Actress Jean Simmons is beautiful and plays Varinia the love interest of Spartacus and after seeing the film it made me want to see more of her films. The film is also one that I made sure to own on VHS and later on DVD and is one I watch at least once every few years. And while I am sure some of you readers only know Spartacus from the 2010 Starz TV Series, I really want to say do yourself a favor and get Spartacus on DVD or Blu-Ray and have some of your family and friends over, order a pizza and have a movie night and sit back and enjoy this amazing film that blends so many genres together from Drama, Romance all the way to Action and enjoy a true classic Hollywood film.

I want to take a very brief moment to talk about Kirk Douglas the iconic actor who played Spartacus in the film and who really was on of Hollywood’s biggest leading men in his time. Many people worldwide also say that Kirk Douglas was their favorite actor as he starred in many amazing films over his long career like The Juggler, 20, 000 Leagues Under The Sea, Ulysses, Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, The Vikings, The Final Countdown and The Man From Snowy River to name a very few. And I know many people who were heartbroken when on February 5, 2020 when Kirk passed away at the age of 103 as he really was a respected actor who brought so much entertainment to fans. And while over his career he had some controversies namely the allegations from actress Natalie Wood, he is still very much remembered fondly and was a truly loved actor. And I for one will always be a big fan of his mostly due to his roll as Spartacus! So this update is dedicated to you Kirk Douglas and thank you for being in some amazing films.

So now that we have talked about the film Spartacus as well as actor Kirk Douglas I think that it’s time that we take a look at the Dell Comic based on it. The comic was apart of Dell’s Four Color series that was comics based on films, cartoons, TV shows and folklore icons like Santa Claus. And I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So let’s give the Gladiator Salute and see what the comic version of Spartacus is like.

Spartacus # 1 ***
Released in 1960 Cover Price .10 Dell Comics # 1139 of 1354

Batiatus is the owner of a gladiator school and buys a new batch of slaves with one being Spartacus who has a fire and is doing well in training that is being conducted by Marcellus, and during training in the food line Spartacus meets Varinia and he falls in love with her. And later during fight training he also meets Draba a skilled African warrior that he feels a friendship bond with. Time passes and Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus arrives at the school of Batiatus and pays a big fee to watch some gladiator fights to the death and he also buts Varinia to now come work at his home. The final match has Spartacus fighting Draba and the two men fight hard and its Draba with his net and trident that gets the upper hand, but he does not kill Spartacus and instead he charges at senator Crassus and pays with his life. As Spartacus watches as Varinia is taken away to Rome the next morning he has had enough and fights back and kills Marcellus with boiling food and this causes his fellow gladiators as well as the slave women to join his cause and this spreads as slaves from all over joins Spartacus’s new growing army. As they make camp Spartacus on a raid run sees and is reunited with Varinia and the two are clearly in love and happy to be back together. Over the months Spartacus and Varinia get married, have a child together and the slave army grows and defeats many of Rome’s armies. But things go bad for Spartacus when the ships that was to take his army out of Italy do not arrive its all out war, and this time Rome wins the battle and many of the slaves are killed and Spartacus and many of his warriors are taken prisoner and Varinia and her child are taken back to senator Marcus Licinius Crassus home as he still favors her even though she ran away and married an enemy of Rome, she is latter given freedom thanks to another senator who hates Crassus. In the end Spartacus is found out and is sent to death, but before he dies he finds peace as he knows that his wife and son have been given their freedom.

First thing I do have to point out is that I really enjoyed this comic adaptation of the classic 1960 film Spartacus, but I do have to point out that Dell Comics did cut out lots of moments and violence to fit into these pages and some moments are missed like the murder of Draba is not as impactful in this comic as it is in the film. The plot follows pretty well the film and has a gladiator slave named Spartacus who has had enough and fights back and leads an army of slaves against Rome. And that is why Spartacus is such a great hero as besides him wanting to do the right things he is became a symbol of hope for those who were oppressed! He was a skilled fighter, a thinker, a loving husband and father who would die for his morals and those he cares about. Varinia is a slave woman who falls in love with a gladiator and is torn between sides as her heart is with the rebel gladiators but she is bought and paid for by the Romains who are playing games within their own ranks. Our main villain is senator Marcus Licinius Crassus who is an ego driven man who rules with an iron first and leads an army to slaughter and kill Spartacus and the rebel army, and sadly is able to do so! A very terrible person is Crassus who also uses his money to buy what he wants and that includes private gladiator fights to the death, and yes he has zero issues killing. And I have to stress while for the most part the comic follows the movie, it does rush and cut scenes out that fans of the film will notice. The cover is really cool and is eye catching as it shows Kirk Douglas as Spartacus and the interior art is done by John Buscema and its good classic Dell style, but they characters do not look like the actors who play them. Over all this Spartacus comic is a great read and a fun comic for fans of the film. Check out the artwork below to see the style of Buscema.

Spartacus is one of my favorite gladiator films of all time as it has a classic hero story, a tragic ending and is so well casted. And I do also need to point out that the films score by Alex North is really good and is one you should find on vinyl or CD and give a listen to! And I can not stress enough if you have not seen the film make sure to have a movie night with family and friends and give it a watch. Also a few years ago on social media I asked my friends a question “Who would win in a gladiator arena to the death?” and it was Spartacus or Maximus from the 2000 film Gladiator that was played by Russell Crowe…I myself did not answer who would win as I still will not, but my friends ended up voting Maximus as they said his army training would help him, but I do feel that they downplayed the skill and heart of Spartacus. Now lets leave this Gladiator Arena and for our next update we will be heading to the Rotten Ink Stadium and for another MLB Mascot countdown and this time around it’s for Retired Mascots! So until next time read a Dell Comic or three, watch a Gladiator movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for some baseball fun via the mascots of the sports past!