Keeping an eye out for ‘300’

The story of the stand at Thermopylae, where 300 Spartan warriors led a small band of Greeks and held back a million Persians for three days, is one of the most amazing tales ever told.

Frank Miller, creator of “Sin City,” retold the story in his limited series “300,” and now Zack Snyder is bringing it to the big screen.

The story begins when Spartan king Leonidas is warned not to go to war with the invading Persian army. He didn’t, and that led to one of the most tragic and strategically brilliant battles in history.

The Persians had conquered all the nations they came across in the Mediterranean. Having heard of the Spartans and their battle prowess, they sent an ambassador.

In order for the million-strong Persian army to attack Greece, then just a loosely associated grouping of kingdoms, they would have to pass through Sparta.

King Leonidas, having been told not to take the Spartan army to face the Persians, took only his personal bodyguard. That decision meant that 300 Spartans would stand against the Persian army.

And that group held one million battle-hardened warriors at bay for three days, until treachery cost the 300 their lives.

The outcome of the battle was that the Greeks had time to marshal an army, and, inspired by the Spartans’ example, they defeated the Persian army.

This was the first step in the creation of a unified Greece, but the Spartans never truly recovered.

Frank Miller retold this tale beautifully in his book. Most pages were full-page images and words were kept to a minimum. Like most of Miller’s works, it had a great deal of violence. But he uses violence to tell the story, steeping the tale so deeply in blood that the quiet moments ring louder.

The cinematic retelling was done in front of green screens in much the same way as the “Sin City” movie.

Miller is masterful at creating an image with lasting impact and Snyder worked hard to reproduce some of the panels of Miller’s comic.

Miller has done some amazing comics and will likely continue to do so. He’s currently working on “All-Star Batman and Robin” to mixed reviews.

Snyder will likely remain on the minds of comic fans as well. The director is signed to bring “The Watchmen” to the big screen.

I’ll remain guarded on whether he can do a good job of it, but the man obviously had a nose for good comics.

Shawn Munguia does graphics and layout for the Valley Morning Star. He can be reached at 956-421-9870 or you can e-mail him at shawnm@valleystar.com.