Brath is an American Sword and Sorcery comicbook written by CrossGen and set in their Sigilverse. It ran for a total of fifteen issues (an "issue #0" prequel, and 14 issues proper) that were written by Chuck Dixon from February, 2003 to June, 2004 before the bankruptcy of Crossgen caused its premature demise.
Brath is set in a fantastical analogue to Iron Age Ireland, where Warchief Brath Mac Garen attempts to bring the fractious and quarrelsome clans of Ureland to unite against the invading forces of the Empire, a mighty nation based on Imperial Rome. In one final climatic battle, he is betrayed by a rival clan, the Mac Dools, and dragged off to the Empire in chains. Here, he becomes a gladiator, as the young Emperor Priscus Rex seeks to make an example of him. Back in Ureland, Brath's wife Taniella tries to hunt down the mad priestess C'inntra, who has kidnapped their son Bryllin as a Human Sacrifice.
Before the story was cancelled, Brath had escaped the gladiatorial arena with the help of another gladiator, the warrior-women Ule, and the two were returning to Ureland. Taniella had declared a blood vendetta on the Cruithi tribe, believing them to have killed her son, whilst the actually still-alive Bryllin had escaped the Cruithi and befriended an ogre named Thute.
These comics contain examples of:
- Action Girl: Ule, a female gladiator. Also, Taniella fights beside Brath.
- An Arm and a Leg: Brath cuts off the hand of Pricus' hired sword, Vulpus, in issue #13.
- Barbarian Tribe: The Urelanders are a collection of warlike and quarrelsome tribes who have held off the advance of the Empire through sheer ferocity and tenacity, and are viewed as barely human "wildmen" by their foes. Even among them, outlying tribes such as the forest-dwelling Hain and the cannibalistic Cruithi are viewed as primitive and dangerous savages.
- The Caligula: Priscus, the teenage emperor, is spoiled, cruel, impatient, and crude. He despises his subjects as boorish plebeians, but his own sense of humor tops out at watching people get eaten by lions, explosively loses his temper over small annoyances, and orders people murdered for bringing him bad news.
- Cliffhanger: Issue #14, the last one before the comic's cancellation due to its company's bankruptcy, ends with Brath's ship being barreled down upon by an Imperial warship.
- Gladiator Games: Like the historic Romans, the Imperials are immensely fond of circus games where gladiators and animals fight each other to the bloody death, and treat successful gladiators like beloved stars... until they die on the sands, at least.
- God-Emperor: The ruler of the Empire is titled god and emperor, and the power associated with this goes to its teenage incumbent's head very quickly.
- Historical Fantasy: While a few names are changed around —Urelanders instead of Gaels or Picts and unnamed "Imperials" instead of Romans, although the later issues drop this and call groups like Alemanni and Phoenicians by their historic names— the story is functionally set in the times of Imperial Rome, but with gods and magic as very real forces in the world.
- Human Sacrifice: The Urelanders practiced this once, but it has been banned for years as barbaric and unnatural. C'inntra, the mad priestess, wishes to bring this practice back.
- I'm a Humanitarian:
- The hated Cruithi tribe are believed to practice cannibalism as part of their worship of the Moon Goddess.
- Thute initially attempts to eat Bryllin when he meets him, before Bryllin talks him into helping instead.
- In the Hood: C'inntra, the evil priestess, wears long robes with a hood that obscures her face even in the day.
- Little People Are Surreal: Emperor Priscus considers dwarf gladiators the height of comedy, regardless of whether they're being used to kill a blinded warrior or getting chased around by animals, as a sign of his crude and lowbrow sense of humor.
- Made a Slave: After his defeat, Brath is hauled to the imperial capital and chains and forced to fight as a gladiator.
- The Marvelous Deer: Brath's god appears in his dreams as a red deer stag who leads him to visions of future perils and opportunities.
- The Night That Never Ends: C'inntra believes that, by sacrificing Brath's son Bryllin, she can bring about the end of the "usurper star" and usher in an endless night.
- Our Ogres Are Hungrier: In issue #14, Bryllin befriends a giant hulking near-human named Thute.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Emperor Galba, whilst he has Brath defeated, would rather make peace with Brath after he is brought to the Empire, arguing that with the sheer size of the Empire, it is more practical to build strong alliances than strong walls.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After the Mac Dools betray Brath and the Mac Garens, the Empire puts them in the most dangerous positions during their continued campaign into Ureland, privately noting that the Mac Dools have proven they cannot be trusted.
- Shoot the Messenger: When the undertaker comes to tell Priscus that Ule helped Brath live and escape, the emperor orders him strangled on the spot for bringing him bad news.
- Soldier vs. Warrior: This contrast is repeatedly made between the Urelanders and the Imperials. The Urelanders are a union of clans led by their chieftains, fight through berserk momentum, and pride themselves on their ferocity, courage, and strength. The Empire's legions are regimented, disciplined, and highly trained, and use specialist troops from tributary kingdoms and tribes for support roles. The Imperials' reliance on supply lines and positioning, alongside their disdain for their foes, leads them to struggle in the war of skirmishing and guerrilla that they end up fighting in the bogs and forests of Ureland, but the Urelanders in turn have issues with poor unity among their chieftains and poor discipline among their soldiers.
- Teens Are Monsters: Priscus, the teenage nephew of Emperor Galba, a sadistic little monster who revels in the bloodshed of the gladiatorial games and murders his own uncle to usurp power.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The Urelanders' greatest problem is that they cannot surmount their internal rivalries and rage to form a united front.
- Wicked Witch: C'inntra, the mad priestess of the Moon Goddess, is a withered old crone who yearns to bring back the banned practices of Human Sacrifice and to help her nocturnal goddess claim dominion over the world.