Partly because Aric defied King Alaric, and continued the fighting, the Visigoths suffer heavy losses. Aric's father Rolf dies, and his mother and wife are taken prisoner by the Romans. Aric and his friend Gafti lead a party of surviving Visigoths to attack the prisoner transports. Amid the fighting, Aric pries the helmet from a fallen foe. Instead of a Roman, the face beneath the helmet resembles something out of a nightmare.
Blades and ferocity prove insufficient to win the battle, due to the strange and powerful weapons their opponents wield. Aric, his friend Gafti, and the remaining Visigoths are taken aboard the transports.
Meanwhile, disguised figures sneak into the Visigoth camp. They replace Human children with their own. They change the alien children's appearance to match those of the Human children they will replace.
Having never had children, I can only imagine how a parent would feel reading this story. This must surely strike at the core of a parent's fears. How often have we seen a parent separated from their children--for whatever reason--in a TV show? The loss traumatizes the parents, and makes them willing to do anything to get their children back.
How often have we read a story about children being swapped--either accidentally or intentionally--at birth? What happens to the relationship between parents and children when hospital records uncover that the child you raised is not your own? What happens to a family when a DNA test reveals a son or daughter's true parentage?
Robert Venditti is delving into a primal Human fear. The alien equipment may look high-tech and futuristic, but the theme he's playing with is very old. You can trace it back through the centuries, to the earliest oral traditions that scribes wrote down.
Imagine raising a child, imbuing it with all your love, instructing him or her in all that you believe and find most precious. And, all the while, the child is not yours. He or she is not even Human.
Obviously, the aliens are playing a long game here. These are not adults the aliens have trained and indoctrinated to become subversive agents. These are children who will be influenced by everything and everyone around them. How can they trust the children to work toward their ends when they gave them away as children?
Oh, and by the way, what happens to all the Human children?
This is just a short moment in this long first issue. With so much going on, the casual reader may pay little attention to this interlude. But it's an element of Aric's journey that will grow important as Robert Venditti's series continues.
Dragon Dave
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