Dart: Roman Vigilante

A sped-up video of me drawing, inking, and coloring a marker version of this piece is on YouTube at youtu.be/fvuVEvzJhtE .

This is Caius Martius, or Dart. He'll be appearing in the next Challenger Confidential book, and he's one of my favorite characters. Michael A. DiBaggio writes him deadly serious and with sharp wit, but when that's contrasted with modern characters, you get some dark humor and outrageous situations. Dart is a wonderful addition to the Ascension Epoch, and is a re-imagining of the public domain hero Dart created by Louis Cazeneuve.

This was done with traditional inks, then colored on pc.

 _ _ _ _ _

Caius Martius was a plebian born in the late third century, BC, during the Roman Republic. He was a double descendant of Mars, and thus a Nephilim, though of late generation (probably about tenth generation), so he possessed no innate metahuman abilities.

At 24, he was inducted into the ranks of the Plumbatarii, a secret society of vigilantes dedicated to protecting the city and people of Rome against crime and the spread of immorality and impiety. The order was so named because of their frequent use of the Plumbata, a highly accurate, lead-weighted throwing dart. They most often patrolled singly at night, hunting burglars, arsonists, and escaped slaves, though they also fought in units against street gangs. In addition to battling common criminals, they also dealt harshly with magistrates and senators who violated the public trust.

Some of them did gain powers, becoming Incarnates by way of various spirits. Among these was Caius Martius. As an Incarnate of Civic Honor and Reprisal, he gained several talents, including superhuman speed, reflexes, dexterity, and balance, translating into, among other things, unerring accuracy with his plumbata. He also gained acute night vision, the ability to psychically commune with the spirits and egregore of the city, and amplified physical endurance and resistance to injury.

He was, however, ambushed and petrified by magical means by a sorcerous enemy.

Thousands of years later, famed geologist George "Geo" Templeton will unearth Caius Martius in his petrified state. But after the events of Copper Knights and Granite Men, Geo recognizes the faint glow in the statue's chest and alerts The Promethean. Our next Challenger Confidential book will address what happens next.
_ _ _ _ _

You can learn more about Copper Knights and Granite Men here:
www.ascensionepoch.com/wordpre…

Dart is a public domain hero created by Louis Cazeneuve, this re-imagining was created by Michael A. DiBaggio and Shell Presto DiBaggio.