View source for Rex Mundi (comics)

{{Short description|American comic book series}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| title      = Rex Mundi
| image      = Rex Mundi cover, issue 0.jpg
| caption    = Cover to ''Rex Mundi'' #0. Art by EricJ.
| ongoing    = y
| AltHistory = first
| Fantasy    = y
| Mystery    = y
| multigenre = y
| publisher  = {{ubl|[[Image Comics]] (2003–2006)|[[Dark Horse Comics]] (2006–2009)}}
| startmo    = August
| startyr    = 2003
| endmo      = August
| endyr      = 2009
| issues     = 38
| writers    = [[Arvid Nelson]]
| artists    = {{ubl|Eric J (2003–2005)|[[Jim di Bartolo]] (2005–2009)|[[Juan Ferreyra]] (2005–2009)}}
| letterers  = 
| colorists  = {{ubl|Jeremy Cox (2003–2005)|Jim di Bartolo (2005–2009)|Juan Ferreyra (2005–2009)}}
| editors    = 
| creators   = Arvid Nelson, Eric J
| TPB        = The Guardian of the Temple
| ISBN       = 978-1-58240-341-0
| ISBN_note  = (2004)<br />{{ISBN|978-1-59307-652-8}} (2006)
| TPB1       = The River Underground
| ISBN1      = 9781582404790
| ISBN1_note = (2005)<br />{{ISBN|978-1-59307-682-5}} (2007)
| TPB2       = The Lost Kings
| ISBN2      = 9781593076511
| ISBN2_note = (2006)
| TPB3       = Crown and Sword
| ISBN3      = 9781593078249
| ISBN3_note = (2007)
| TPB4       = The Valley at the End of the World
| ISBN4      = 9781595821928
| ISBN4_note = (2008)
| TPB5       = Gate of God
| ISBN5      = 9781595824035
| ISBN5_note = (2010)
| subcat     = Image Comics
| altcat     = 
| sort       = Rex Mundi
| addpubcat# = 
}}
'''''Rex Mundi''''' is an [[American comic book]] [[ongoing series|series]] published by [[Image Comics]] (2003–2006) and [[Dark Horse Comics]] (2006–2009), written by [[Arvid Nelson]] and drawn by EricJ (later issues were drawn by [[People of Argentina|Argentinian]] artist [[Juan Ferreyra]]). In all, 19 issues were published by Image before the series moved to Dark Horse, where a further 19 were published before the title ended.

The series is a quest for the [[Holy Grail]] told as a murder mystery. It is set in the year 1933, in an [[alternate history]] Europe, where magic is real, feudalism persisted, and the [[Protestant Reformation]] was crushed by a still politically powerful [[Catholic Church]]. All of this is woven together as "... a meditation on the prophecies surrounding the advent of the [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] era."<ref name="CBR 2008-07-18">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17297 Arvid Nelson talks ''Rex Mundi''], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', July 18, 2008</ref> The book takes its name from the [[Latin]] term meaning ''King of the World''. It is derived from the [[Catharism|Cathar]] [[heresy|heresies]] of the [[Middle Ages]], and taken up in works like ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]''. Within the Cathar context it seems to have been equated with the [[Demiurge]].

== Publication history ==
''Rex Mundi'' writer and co-creator Arvid Nelson came up with ''Rex Mundi'' while in [[Paris]] helping to film a documentary on ''[[The Paris Review]]'', a literary magazine founded by [[Ivy League]] [[expatriate|ex-pats]] in the 1950s<ref name="IROSF interview">[http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10103 Interview with Arvid Nelson], ''[http://www.irosf.com/ Internet Review of Science Fiction]'', December 2004 (login required)</ref><ref name="CBR 2008-09-17">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18089 Nelson talks ''Rex Mundi'' and religion], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', September 17, 2008</ref>

{{Blockquote | It was the first time I had been to Europe and it radically changed my view of the world", Nelson says of the period. "All the history that had seemed so dull and remote in high school became suddenly visceral and alive."<ref name="IROSF interview"/><ref name="CBR 2008-09-17"/>}}

Surrounded by the juxtaposition of being in an ancient city in otherwise modern times, Nelson says he had the idea, although very vague at the time, about a story set in a place that looked modern but was actually medieval.<ref name="IROSF interview"/> When speaking of his plans for the story, Nelson said that it would remain primarily set in Europe, but the very end will involve a [[Al-Andalus|Muslim Spain]].<ref name="IROSF interview"/>

''Rex Mundi'' artist, Juan Ferreyra, cites photographer [[Eugène Atget]], artist [[Alphonse Mucha]] and [[Coco Chanel]] among the many visual references for his work in ''Rex Mundi''.

Nelson described the impact his belief in the [[Baháʼí Faith]] had on the concept:

{{Blockquote | There's also an even deeper level, allegorically, in Baháʼí faith, which in a mystical sense goes back to [[Abraham]]. ... God said to Abraham, 'I will make prophets out of your descendants. That's plural. His sons were [[Ishmael]] and [[Isaac]], and from Isaac eventually down the years we get [[Jesus]] and the [[Nevi'im|Jewish prophets]]. From Ishmael, eventually we get [[Muhammad|Mohammed]]. Baháʼí represents the reconciliation of these prophetic traditions into one unified religion. So in ''Rex Mundi'', Julien represents Mohammed's line, Lorraine represents Christ, and Genevieve is the unity. ... [Though] it's not a direct correlation — Jesus wasn't evil.<ref name="CBR 2008-12-18">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19223 Arvid Nelson on ''Rex Mundi'''s final arc], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', December 18, 2008</ref>}}

''Rex Mundi'' was initially published by [[Image Comics]], starting in [[2003 in comics|2003]].  In August [[2006 in comics|2006]] it moved to [[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse]]. This came about after Nelson and Eric J split over creative differences.<ref name="CBR 2008-09-17"/> Eric J described the situation in a note to members of the Rex Mundi mailing list announcing his departure from the title:

{{Blockquote | Earlier tonight Arvid informed me that we would not be continuing to work on the book together. I wish that I could say that I am surprised by this, but I'm not unfortunately. ... I know that sounds like the old 'creative differences' line that gets thrown out so much, but now I can see why it get used so often. It is very literally the only 'clean' and accurate way to express something that is not 'clean,' but rather very complex.<ref name="CBR 2004-11-09">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=4221 ''Rex Mundi''’s Eric J leaves title, writer Arvid Nelson comments], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', November 9, 2004</ref>}}

Subsequently, Nelson sent the Image collections to Dark Horse editor Scott Allie.<ref name="NYXXU 2006-03-27">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyxxunderground.com/HOME/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1940 |title=''Rex Mundi'' moves from Image to Dark Horse |publisher=NYXX Underground.com |date=March 27, 2006 |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524003257/http://www.nyxxunderground.com/HOME/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1940 |archive-date=May 24, 2006 }}</ref> Dark Horse then expressed interest in taking over the publication of ''Rex Mundi'', and Nelson described it as "an incredible opportunity that he wanted to take full advantage of".<ref name="NYXXU 2006-03-27"/>

== Related comics ==
Rex Mundi devotes space in each issue to a fictitious newspaper, ''Le Journal de la Liberté'', which enables Nelson to embellish events elsewhere in the setting without writing them entirely in his storylines, thus giving readers some useful, but not always essential, background.

The official website for ''Rex Mundi'' initially carried a spin-off comic series called ''Brother Matthew''. Prior to the breakdown in the creative team of Nelson and Johnson, Nelson had commented that he was considering another comic series set in the same universe as ''Rex Mundi'' with different characters.<ref name="IROSF interview"/>

''[[The Dark Horse Book of...|The Dark Horse Book of Monsters]]'', which was the fourth book released in a series of books under ''[[The Dark Horse Book of...|The Dark Horse Book of]]'' banner, included a ''Rex Mundi'' story by Nelson and Ferreyra called 'To Weave a Lover'.

== Collected editions ==
''Rex Mundi'' has been collected in the following [[trade paperback (comics)|trade paperbacks]].

{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Vol
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Material collected
! scope="col" | Publisher
! scope="col" | ISBN
! scope="col" | Published
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1
| rowspan="2" | ''The Guardian of the Temple''
| rowspan="2" | ''Rex Mundi #0–5<br />"Brother Mathew, Bleesed Are The Meek'', ''[[Webcomic]]'' (Image Comics)
| [[Image Comics]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-58240-341-0}}
| February 18, 2004
|-
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59307-652-8}}
| November 1, 2006
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2
| rowspan="2" | ''The River Underground''
| rowspan="2" | ''Rex Mundi #6–11'' (Image Comics)
| [[Image Comics]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-58240-479-0}}
| June 1, 2005
|-
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59307-682-5}}
| January 31, 2007
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| ''The Lost Kings''
| ''Rex Mundi #12–17'' (Image Comics)
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59307-651-1}}
| September 20, 2006
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| ''Crown and Sword''
| ''Rex Mundi #18'' (Image Comics);<br />''Rex Mundi #1–5'' (Dark Horse Comics);<br />"To Weave a Lover", ''[[The Dark Horse Book of...|The Dark Horse Book of]] Monsters'' (Dark Horse Comics)
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59307-824-9}}
| December 12, 2007
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| ''The Valley at the End of the World''
| ''Rex Mundi #6–12'' (Dark Horse Comics);<br />"Frailty", ''[[Dark Horse Presents|MySpace Dark Horse Presents #7]]''
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59582-192-8}}
| December 3, 2008
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| ''Gate of God''
| ''Rex Mundi #13–19'' (Dark Horse Comics)
| [[Dark Horse Books]]
| {{ISBN|978-1-59582-403-5}}
| February 10, 2010
|}

== Film adaptation ==
There have been a number of rumours about a film version of ''Rex Mundi''. In 2006, [[Jim Uhls]] was hired to write a script for [[Johnny Depp]] to star in and produce.<ref name="LA Times Film">[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-scriptland20sep20,1,5179958.story?track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=1&cset=true King of the world of adaptation], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', September 20, 2006</ref> It is not known how much further production has progressed since then.
Arvid Nelson confirms the rumor of the movie, and working with Johnny Depp.<ref name="Housewife in Hollywood">[http://housewifeinhollywood.com/my-interview-with-arvid-nelson/ My Interview with Arvid Nelson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523225521/http://housewifeinhollywood.com/my-interview-with-arvid-nelson/ |date=2019-05-23 }}, ''Housewife in Hollywood'', June 11, 2008</ref> In December 2008, Nelson described that "the wheels of Hollywood grind slowly. ... We are at a second revision of the screenplay, so that's good. The way this works is there are periods of feverish activity, followed by lulls ... We're in one of the lulls now."<ref name="CBR 2008-12-18"/> An interview with [[MTV Networks|MTV]]'s ''Splash Page'' in March 2009 confirmed the film was still progressing and searching for a director.<ref name="MTV 2009-03-25">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327012702/http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/03/25/exclusive-rex-mundi-studio-wants-someone-not-unlike-zack-snyder-to-direct-johnny-depp/ Exclusive: ''Rex Mundi'' Studio Wants Someone 'Not Unlike Zack Snyder' To Direct Johnny Depp], [[MTV Networks|MTV]] ''Splash Page'', March 25, 2009</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.rexmundi.net}}
* [http://jefandart.blogspot.com/ Juan Ferreyra's blog]
* [http://www.arvidland.com Arvid Nelson's website]
* {{IMDb title|id=0871441|title=Rex Mundi}} (in-development)

=== Interviews ===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080421210121/http://www.comixology.com/podcasts/27/Rex-Mundi-with-Arvid-Nelson Podcast interview] with Arvid Nelson at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825025818/http://www.comixology.com/ comiXology]
* [http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=427 Americans in Paris: An interview with EricJ and Arvid Nelson], ''Ninth Art'', November 11, 2002
* [http://www.popimage.com/content/viewnews.cgi?newsid1027577583,41842, Interview with Rex Mundi Creators Arvid Nelson & Eric J], ''PopImage.com'', undated
* Interview: Rex Mundi Collected ([http://www.popimage.com/content/viewnews.cgi?newsid1073819552,24088, part 1], [http://www.popimage.com/content/viewnews.cgi?newsid1073819725,87717, part 2]), ''PopImage.com'', undated
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19223 Arvid Nelson on ''Rex Mundi'''s final arc], ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'', December 18, 2008

=== Reviews ===
* [http://thedailycrosshatch.com/2007/03/08/rex-mundi-book-iii-the-lost-kings-by-arvid-nelson/ Review of ''Rex Mundi Book III, The Lost Kings''], ''The Daily Cross Hatch'', March 8, 2007

[[Category:Dark Horse Comics titles]]
[[Category:Holy Grail in fiction]]