The Outlaw Prince, an epic medieval graphic novel based upon the pulp story The Outlaw of Torn, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs a century ago is scheduled to be released to stores on April 13, 2011. This exciting historical saga unfolds during the tumultuous reign of King Henry III as he struggles against his powerful brother-in-law Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester, in 13th century England in a time period that has become known as The Second Baron’s War.
This timeless tale opens up with a vehement argument between King Henry and De Montfort over a failed military campaign in the plush palace of Westminster with the king storming out in a full rage over the brash, in-your-face defiance of De Montfort. He walks into the armory and begins dueling with the legendary French Master-of-Fence, Jules de Vac to vent his anger and is quickly disarmed by the sword master with effortless ease. Henry then strides over to De Vac and violently slaps him across the face to the ground calling him a “French Dog!”; an utterly unjust and ultimately fateful slap that would alter the entire kingdom’s future for the next 20 years. And now, humiliated by an English King whom he absolutely despised and possessing a burning hatred and utter contempt for all Englishmen in general, De Vac schemes a most nefarious revenge upon Henry and the entire Royal House of Plantagenet.
After a month of ever-so-careful planning and during one bright sunny morning within the palace gardens of Westminster, De Vac seizes upon his chance by stealthily descending from his lofty tower to abduct young Prince Richard, the innocent 4-year old second-born son of King Henry. In the process, he mercilessly murders the beautiful Lady Maud--Prince Richard’s guardian--and her beau, before narrowly escaping detection from the palace guard with the prince firmly in his dark clutches.
Simon de Montfort leads a massive manhunt for the boy, but the ever elusive and sly De Vac slips past the king’s patrols late one night on a lonely Roman trail leading westward out of London to eventually come to the remote eerie Salisbury Plain on which sits the ancient megalith structure of Stonehenge. Here, isolated and alone, De Vac begins his ruthless and unrelenting training of the boy by teaching the lad the deadly art of swordsmanship, as only De Vac could, a seething hatred for Englishmen and brainwashes the boy’s innocent and impressionable mind to forget his very heritage, as he grows to believe that De Vac is his actual father and that King Henry was their mortal enemy. They stay for three years, training each and every day, until De Vac purchases an ancient Saxon castle that rests high up on a lonely mountain in the rugged and unexplored Peak District of Derbyshire.
Upon their arrival at the black stone Castle of Torn, De Vac continues the boy’s education for the next eight years until he matures into a tall, handsome and very strong teen, endowed with superb sword skills and battle techniques, able to stop a full thrust of his razor-sharp blade within a fraction of an inch of the spot he sought and possessing a frightening malevolence for all things English.
Soon, in the cool Fall of 1255 A.D., three wayward royal knights unintentionally find their way to the grassy downs before the great Castle of Torn and are reluctantly brought in for the night by the grim old De Vac, darkly clad in his hooded black robe like the Grim Reaper of Death himself. After the wine begins flowing freely, the unexpected subject of the little lost Prince Richard is brought up when the knights remark about the uncanny resemblance between Price Edward and De Vac’s unnamed and quiet 15-year old son and the fact that, “the Queen herself would be hard pressed telling them apart one from another.” This uncomfortable debate escalates into a strong dispute between these knights and the mysterious young teen whom does not seem to know his name nor age and soon erupts into a full fledged duel, three strong and seasoned kings of King Henry against one lone laconic lad and his shimmering blade...
The Outlaw Prince is in stores now!