Werewolf of Marines: Patria Lycanus

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Werewolf of Marines: Patria Lycanus

Nice try. However.

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L.
L.
8 years ago

Say hello to my little friend.

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  L.

“I came here to chew Wolf Treats and kick ass. And I’m all outta Wolf Treats.”

axolotl
axolotl
8 years ago

Well, surely it’s not that bad. I mean, if the artist was given the brief of drawing a wolf-person with a gun wearing combat clothing and five naked wolf-people salivating, I’d say it was acceptable, if stylistically a bit dated. The lettering is shit and does nothing to complement the illustration, though.

Matt Nelson
8 years ago
Reply to  axolotl

I was thinking that it seemed like an old sci-fi/fantasy book cover. I think you could even make this art work for the cover with the right treatment; a better typeface, maybe a filter or some judicious cropping. Though the snarling wolf’s right-hand eye is a little goofy looking. Probably could fix it in Photoshop.

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago

No nom de plume tag? Surely “Lycanus” is a reference to “lycanthropes”, i.e., werewolves.

Griz
Griz
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

We actually made the same mistake! I also thought this was an author’s name (and that the bottom byline was a second author), but then I glanced up and saw the post title- it’s part of the title. So not only is the title font underwhelming, it makes for a lot of confusion.

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

I think “Patria Lycanus” is supposed to be a Latin-esque subtitle possibly intended as Country of Wolves, but Google Translate Latin-to-English Country Lycanos. It is one thing to make up one’s own werewolf lore, but made-up Latin phrases … indie small press needs professional standards. I can’t find any USMC + Patria matches this could be modeled on.

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago
Reply to  Naaman Brown

Yeah, I realized that (eventually). The literal translation is just “Fatherland Werewolves.” (Patria refers specifically to one’s own country, not just a general term for nation, and werewolves is not possessive here.)

I thought it said Patricia at first and totally skipped over the actual byline. I guess I need to go back to reading school.

Kris
Kris
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

Nope. This book was written by Patricia Lycanus. That’s how it reads.

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  Kris

“Jonathan P. Brazee” is just the most confusing book cover tag line ever. Is that a series? A blurb?

Sirona
8 years ago

That Lycanus bit seems to be a subtitle. The author’s name is Jonathan Brazee.

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago
Reply to  Sirona

Oh. Yeah. Derp.

I can has reading comprehension?

Hitch
8 years ago

Patria Lycanus: roughly, assuming that the author is attempting to Harry-Potter his/her way into Latin, would be “father of wolves,” give or take. Or, s/he may think with the “a” that it’s Mother of Wolves.

Either way…{sigh}. Why is it that everyone thinks that werewolves have KNEES? I don’t know a single dog or wolf with rear KNEES. Stifle, yes. Knees? No.

And, why oh why would a WEREWOLF, or any wolf, need camo? Wouldn’t you be more likely to see a wolf in camo, than…naked? If werewolves can be construed as naked? Or is that just a way around having to deal with werewolf goolies? URGH.

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago
Reply to  Hitch

Yeah…the genitive (possessive) form of pater is patri. Patria is a noun, meaning “fatherland.” “Lycan” is derived from the Greek lykos, not Latin, in which the word for wolf is lupus. (I took two semesters of Latin; granted, we never studied the word for “werewolf.”) So assuming that “lycanus” IS the Latin word for “werewolf,” it appears here in the nominative, not the genitive. Depending on what declension “lycanus” is, if it were genitive, it would be either “lycani” or “lycanu.” So, this is actually Latin for “Fatherland Wolves,” where Fatherland is not an adjective, but both words are nouns. Granted, fantasy writers use things in different ways, so it could be whatever the author wants it to be…

I can’t believe I saw the subtitle and thought it was the author name – I actually scanned it and saw “Patricia Lycanus” and then didn’t even register the byline at the bottom of the page…

I iz smrt.

john e. . .
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

You is zmrt, but you gave me a flashback to good old Father Bayhi, SJ.

If you want a taste of Fr. Bayhi – without the gentle restraint exhibited by the Roman guard – refer to this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8&quot;ROMANES EUNT DOMUS

john e. . .
8 years ago
Reply to  john e. . .

Dammit!! PREVIEW, Please!

ROMANES EUNT DOMUS

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago
Reply to  john e. . .

You win the internets tonight.

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

Latin to English Google Translate does not recognize Lycanus as proper Latin or Greek. (Oh, it’s only been 52 years since my last Latin class and I never tried Greek, so I have to rely on Google Translate.)
English to Latin:
Fatherland of the Wolves = Patria vestra lupis
Homeland of the Wolves = Patria cum lupis
English to Greek:
Fatherland (Homeland) of the wolves = Patrída ton lykonol

I suspect “Lycan” was shortened from Lycanthrope for the Underworld series and Lycanus may excused as a made-up word related to Lycan for fanfic based in the Underworld universe. But still, mixing Latin and Greek to make up a Marine motto is enough to make me wanna call out the USMC.

Someone could come along and post that we are all up the wrong creek or tree: Patria Lycanus could actually be from a subdialect of Klingon.

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  Naaman Brown

Google translate Eng.-Lat.:
For the Fatherland of Wolves = Pro patria luporum
For the Fatherland of Werewolves = Pro patria lycanthroporum

ASwan
ASwan
8 years ago
Reply to  Naaman Brown

“Cum” means “with,” though…sooo…fail, Google translate.

red
red
8 years ago
Reply to  ASwan

> Patria is a noun, meaning “fatherland.” “Lycan” is derived from the Greek lykos, not Latin, in which the word for wolf is lupus.

“Land of Lupus” has a nice ring to it.

Waffles
Waffles
8 years ago
Reply to  Hitch

A werewolf in hybrid form is half man, half wolf. So honestly, as they stand up on two legs, knees may make more sense given the context. However, wolf legs may make sense as well.

To really get a grasp on their internal anatomy we would need to x-ray one.

A werewolf is a human that turns into a wolf. If that human was into camo and assault rifles… then so would the wolf.

Sorry Hitch. I needed to defend this one. It is probably the best art I have seen on here.

Hitch
8 years ago
Reply to  Waffles

Waffs, mon sweetie, I’ll give you the knees. And I’ll agree with everyone else that “Lycanus” is a faux-Latinate ripoff of “Underword” combined with Harry-Potter-esque “Latin,” Deux help us. Fine.

BUT, I refuse to believe that human changes into a wolf that’s wearing camo. That’s just one old chestnut too far.

I further agree that in general terms of artwork, yes…this one is high on the list of LBC’ers.

Viergacht
Viergacht
8 years ago
Reply to  Hitch

But wolves do have knees! It’s just confusing because they basically walk on the tips of their feet. Re: http://viergacht.deviantart.com/art/Werewolves-don-t-work-that-way-439367892

Naaman Brown
Naaman Brown
8 years ago
Reply to  Hitch

The werewolf was already wearing camo before he transitioned from man to werewolf. He’s the “Werewolf of Marines” and his battle dress uniform is issued fitted to his werewolf form.

With better fonts and verbiage this would be a better cover: the artwork is not really lousy.

L-Plate Pen
L-Plate Pen
8 years ago

I actually don’t mind the cover – but I’m confused by the title. ‘Werewolf of Marines’ ??? What that do mean?

Waffles
Waffles
8 years ago
Reply to  L-Plate Pen

A Marine, or naval infantry. The elite soldiers that work on land and sea. The werewolf looks dressed in marine gear, so it would be a Werewolf Marine.
… This probably should be called Werewolf of the Marines, or Werewolf Marine though.

James F. Brown
James F. Brown
8 years ago

Plus, he’s got human hands (good for handling the assault rifle) but wolfish feet. Actually, the feet look like they came from a theropod.

Synthetic Paper
Synthetic Paper
8 years ago

That gun is way tiny … I’d have totally read a book with that cover when I was in 7th grade though. 😛