Billy Payne has been sending me artwork for a couple years now. He really likes the Oath of Empire books, and he has some time on his hands to draw. He's done sketches of most of the characters in the Oath series ... and now he's sent me nine nearly-finished comic book pages. The scene depicted is a conversation between prince Maxian and a shepherd boy named Paiawon. They are sitting on the crown of the hill of Troy, which stands above the plain of Scamander.

Paiawon is Leto's son; his father is the Olympian lord of thunder Zeus. In later days, and in a different form, Pai would be called Apollo. He is the divine patron of healers and doctors, and so the most appropriate of the Olympians to appear before our poor prince Maxian.

Billy is getting better and better, page by page, picture by picture. He wants to have his own comic book company and I think he will. Thanks, man!

(click on each thumbnail on the left to see the page)

~ Thomas