Set Description:
All issues graded 9.8 and signed by Frank Miller.
In 480 BC, King Leonidas of Sparta gathers 300 of his best men to fight the upcoming Persian invasion. In what is likely a suicide mission, they and their allies plan to stop King Xerxes' invasion of Greece at the narrow cliffs of the "Hot Gates" (Thermopylae). The terrain prevents the Greeks from being overwhelmed by Xerxes' superior numbers (a military tactic usually called "defeat in detail").
Before the battle starts, Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan, begs Leonidas to let him fight but is rejected due to his hunchbacked form, which prevents him from lifting his shield high enough to be of use for the phalanx. Ephilates gets so desperate by Leonidas' refusal that he throws himself off a cliff.
The Spartans and their allies successfully hold off the Persians for two days and nights. During a break in the fighting, Xerxes meets with Leonidas and offers wealth and power in exchange for his surrender. Leonidas declines, and battle continues. Meanwhile Ephialtes awakes from his failed suicide attempt and decides to betray the Greeks by telling the Persians about the existence of a small pass that allows Xerxes to attack them from behind.
Learning of the Persian maneuvers, the Greeks realize their position is indefensible, but the Spartans and a few others refuse to retreat. Before engaging the Persians for the last time, Leonidas orders one Spartan (Dilios) to leave, so that he might survive to tell their story.
On the third day Xerxes has the Spartans surrounded, their remaining allies (Thespians) already dead. He gives Leonidas one final chance to surrender and kneel to him. After some hesitation, Leonidas finally complies and throws down his arms. This, however, is a trick by Leonidas, and signals the Spartans to fight. Leonidas throws his spear at Xerxes, intending to make the "God-King" bleed, and succeeds. The Spartans are killed to the last man by a storm of arrows.
The story then shifts about a year later and ends as now-Captain Dilios relates the heroic sacrifice of Leonidas and his Spartan comrades to his troops before the historic Battle of Plataea.
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