The Tale of the Draconarius is the latest offering by Spanish cartoon artist Fran Guil, known professionally as Francisco J. Guil Grund. This charming children's adventure story follows the journey of a young boy and his friends in their quest to join the Roman army and save the border provinces from rampaging tribes. Along the way Alair and his friends meet, through colourful full-page illustrations, various characters familiar to those in the late Roman re-enactment scene as well as settings that may be recognised by those who have studied later Roman artworks or historical Roman sites. Fran has reproduced several members of the Roman re-enactment community (ourselves included) to star in the book, helping (or hindering) our young hero on his journey to become the bearer of the Draco, the fearsome Roman battle standard shaped like a dragon (in this case, a little more life-like than most reproductions!).

This short story is packed with wit and delightful presentation, each page of text accompanied by illustrations of characters either from a historical source or representing a figure in the re-enactment community. A delightful short tale for children but certainly a joy for adults to behold as well, particularly those of us who can enjoy hunting for images of friends and colleagues within the pages, this is an easy recommend for anyone with an interest in the period or who enjoys the unique and characterful artwork (currently available in English from BoD Librera with shipping to the UK at the link here).

Over the years, Fran has mastered the art of producing characterful and distinctive works of both historical figures and re-enactment impressions, as well as several popular culture parody pieces. From informative pieces detailing the specifics of Roman soldier's kit to parodies of Lord of the Rings, Fran's artwork has delighted and entertained the re-enactment community (amongst others) particularly over the difficult lockdown period that kept us from taking part in the hobby we so love. We can highly recommend his charming look at the Late Roman Army in this book at the link here. 

Below you can see images of Fran's artwork for our group (the two parodies of King Arthur) and his representation of group friend and colleague Francis Hagan in his Barcarius guise.