Marquis (comics)

The Marquis
Publication information
Publisher	Oni Press Dark Horse Comics
Format	Limited series
Genre	, dark fantasy, historical fantasy
Publication date	May 2000 - February 2001 2002 2003
Creative team
Writer(s)	Guy Davis
Artist(s)	Guy Davis
Creator(s)	Guy Davis
Collected editions
Danse Macabre	ISBN 1929998155
Intermezzo	ISBN 1929998740

The Marquis is an independent comic book series written and illustrated by Guy Davis, released by Oni Press and Dark Horse Comics.

Publication history

The Marquis was originally published by Caliber Comics where the Les Prelude issue appeared in 1997, followed by the rest of the Danse Macabre series from Oni Comics in 2000. This was followed by a one-shot and a two-issue mini-series in 2002-2003. However, Davis will be finishing the story he started at Dark Horse Comics, where he has been working on Hellboy. He said "When they expressed interest in The Marquis, I immediately knew Dark Horse was a perfect fit with the types of books they publish. They have a great horror lineup and I couldn't be happier with having the series completed with them."^[1][2]

The ultimate plan is to make the Marquis a five volume series. The first volume, Inferno will collect the trade paperbacks Danse Macabre and Intermezzo. Davis then plans to release the rest as graphic novels, starting with The Marquis and the Midwife and then two more that finish the Marquis' story, followed by a final prequel volume.^[1]

Plot

The Marquis takes place in Venisalle, a fictional land resembling France during the mid-18th century, complete with stratified society and Church dominance of everyday affairs. The story revolves around Vol de Galle, a former Inquisitor of The Faith who has the ability to see demons, many of which have infiltrated society disguised in human form. De Galle combats these entities with his sabre and a pair of specially built, anachronistic machine guns.

Reception

While ostensibly a horror-action comic, The Marquis analyses personal and religious issues through the conflicted character of de Galle, and has been received well by critics and comics professionals including Mike Mignola and Stan Sakai for both its content and Davis's detailed and disturbing artwork.^[3]

Collected editions

To date, two trade paperbacks of collected specials and mini-series have been released and one volume collecting the contents of them both.

• Inferno (336 pages, Dark Horse, August 2009, ISBN 1595823689):
  • Danse Macabre (collects Danse Macbre, 5-issue limited series and issue #0, 1997 and 2000, 176 pages, 2001, Oni Press, ISBN 1929998155)
  • Intermezzo (112 pages, 2003, Oni Press, ISBN 1929998740) collects:
    • "Hell's Courtesan" (2-issue mini-series, 2002)
    • "A Sin of One" (one-shot, 2003)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} CCI: Guy Davis Talks "The Marquis", Comic Book Resources, July 24, 2008
2. ^ Guy Davis - Talking About The Marquis and More, Newsarama, August 21, 2008
3. ^ Untitled Document

References

• Danse Macabre at the Comic Book DB
• Intermezzo at the Comic Book DB

External links

• The Marquis series on the Oni Press site
• Guy Davis' page on the series
• The Marquis Inferno, Guy Davis' Marquis blog