Celebrate and discover the amazing world of comic books on Free Comic Book Day! To celebrate here at FLY HIGH! comic book author, Cecilia Latella, presents her latest digital creation, In Absentia. Win a copy in the giveaway contest below this post!
When her
husband leaves for the Crusade, Lady Dionea remains alone to take care of her
castle and of her two children. Inexperienced in such a role, she feels
frightened by the task. Her children’s tutor, Giacomo, a cleric, seems at first
hostile to her. Dionea will have to gain the support of her husband’s council,
the trust of the population of her fief, as well as the friendship of Giacomo
in order to discover her own quiet strenght.
Set in an
imaginary fief in central Italy as the time of the Third Crusade (1189-1192),
In Absentia is a stand-alone comic that appeals to lover of intimate graphic
novels, Middle Ages and romances featuring members of the clergy. Drawn in 2102
with the support of an Indiegogo campaign, this new edition features also all
the sketches done for the campaign backers.
“The world that Cecilia Latella creates in this
comic is a Middle Ages that I recognise. Not only is it familiar to me as a
historian, but Lady Dionea and Brother Giacomo are characters in their own
right. They are not clichés of the desperate noble lady, or the vice ridden
monk. No, the characters are there to explore the more universal issues of
solitude, duty and the gulfs that this can create. Where masks are seen, but
never really removed. All of this is done using only the sparest dialogue to
communicate. This is not a story where things happen all at once, but it is a
full story nonetheless. The quiet and tension of absence lets change flourish,
not just for Lady Dionea, but also for the her land.” (From the introduction by
historian Anne Holloway.)