Rex Mundi

Rex Mundi is a comicbook, from Image, its homepage can be found here. Check it out, the gallery has some very cool wallpapers - that is, if your screen resolution is 1024x800 or under.

Rex Mundi is latin. Apparently it translates into "King of the World". When I opened the first issue - or the zero issue, as it is - I thought Rex Mundi was the name of the character. Indeed, when I heard the name, I had the impression -- dont ask me why -- that this was DC-title, and that the maincharacter was so named and adventurer.

Could I be more wrong?

Julien Sauniére is a doctor. Year is 1933, and the location is Paris. This Paris is capital of Kingdom of France. It is one of the Great Powers, along with United Kingdom, Prussia (read: Imperial Germany), Holy Roman Empire (read: Austria-Hungary) and Ottoman Empire. The Great Experiment of United States didn't work. What was once United States, rising continental power with dreams of greatness, is now divided into Federal Republic of America, Confederate States of America, the lawless Nebraska Corridor and City-State of New York. FRA and CSA are locked into never ending border skirmishes, and the nations can barely keep themselves together. Only New York fares well. And so, Europe is still ruled by the feodal system, as adjusted to the modern world.

In the world of Rex Mundi, the old magics really work. A man who has studied hebrew or armenics can well cast spell of great power. And while Pope, the undivided ruler of Christian World (Luther got killed before reformation got really rolling), dislikes sorcery, it isin't exactly forbidden. The nations are policed by the Inqvisition and they arent happy punch.

Anyway, Doctor Sauniére is a doctor, who late one night is called by his friend, Father Marin. An manuscript has been stolen from secret library he takes care for the Church. If Church finds out that the manuscript has been stolen, Marin is sure to lose his head. And so he begs that Sauniére, whom he knows to be a resourceful man, would look into the matter. But things aren't that easy, and soon bodies start to pile and what looked like simple theft starts to be ever more complicated. It involves Knights Templars, and secrets they left behind, after King had dispanded them, so many years ago.

The story is limited series; in three years, 16 numbers have been written and gone out. I have no idea how many issues for this is planned. Two TPB's have been published, the second came out on the second half of 2005; they are both 176 pages thick, and very reasonable priced; Amazon says about $14, and Suomalainen kirjakauppa €15,70. I am going to order them come Saturday (tomorrow, Friday, shops are closed thanks to some holiday, but bugger me if I know why the day is holy).

To my eyes, the book seems very nicely written and the art is quite beatiful. But dont take my word on it; the official webpage has the Rex Mundi #0 in PDF form, to be downloaded for your use. Also, spin-off comicbook (which, I admid, I have not read) of Brother Mathew can also be found on the page. Apparently, the whole story (as long as the story is) can be found on the wetpage. I frown to the fact that it is in PDF, but you don't look gift horse into the mouth...

Go on, browse the netpage. If I should whine about something, it is the map of Europe. Why is it, that everytime alternative version of European map is drawn, the east border of Finland is all wrong? In the Red Alert game from Westwood Studios, the European map was that of 90s, even thought the game was about World War II (in alternative history); in Rex Mundi, Lapland belongs wholly to Sweden, and I have nothing against it; its part of the story. But why does Finland's east border go where it is today? It is set so thanks to reasons going back to World War II; the borders of both pre-WW2 and Grand Duchy of Finland, as well as Eastern Sweden before that were somewhat more to the east from those shown in this map.