Archie has announced Vengeance Unchained: The Legend of Black Caesar, a five-issue series beginning on October 7. Created by former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal with writer Stephanie Williams, and artist Ray-Anthony Height with his team at Studio Skye-Tiger, the comic tells the story of the West African pirate known as Black Caesar, who was active in the Caribbean during the early 1700s.
The official synopsis elaborates, “In this powerful first issue, Black Caesar (originally known as Musa) rules as king in West Africa. He is a giant of a man, nearly seven feet tall with a warrior-athlete’s build. His exceptional size, charisma, and strategic brilliance have made him legendary among West African kingdoms; they’ve also made him a target for those who want to enslave him. When Captain Maynard, a slave ship captain, launches an assault during a festival and captures Musa’s betrothed, Princess Adanna, in the process, Musa must not only fight for his love, but for the freedom and safety of everyone in his kingdom.”
The comic marks the first from O’Neal, who said when the book was announced in June, “Growing up, I always loved stories about warriors who refused to quit. Black Caesar starts as a king, loses everything, and takes his freedom back on his own terms. That’s the kind of story I want to help tell. We built something that’s going to entertain you and make you think. I’m ready for the world to see what we created with Archie Comics, an iconic brand I have been a big fan of for many years. Archie has such an incredible legacy of storytelling, and being able to collaborate with a brand that has meant so much to generations of fans made this project even more exciting for me.”
Little is known about the historical Black Caesar, although his background as an enslaved war chief is a common element in the stories about him. What is known for certain is that he served under Blackbeard (real name Edward Teach, or Thatch) on the Queen Anne’s Revenge and was captured when the aforementioned Robert Maynard, a British Royal Navy officer, confronted and killed Blackbeard in 1718. Caesar was subsequently acquitted, and his final fate remains a mystery, while Maynard died in 1750.
Issue #1 will be released with a main cover by Height & Studio Skye Tiger, and variants by Matt Talbot and Francesco Francavilla, whose cover will connect to the ones for subsequent issues. Foil variants of those are also available to pre-order, along with a retailer incentive 1:10 foil variant by Jamal Igle, and a 1:20 B&W sketch variant of the main cover. The foil variants will retail at $7.99, while regular copies cost $4.99. You can check out Talbot and Igle’s covers below in the meantime.
