ODY-C is like nothing on comic shelves today. With its crazy take on classic literature and ass-kicking art, you know you’re always in for a ride. Issue #3 drops today; is it good?
ODY-C #3 (Image Comics)
A lot of this issue deals with the inner workings of the gods responsible for determining Odyssia’s fate. Oh yeah, and we also get to see one of the most infamous characters in Homer’s mythos: the Cyclops, in all her grotesque, multi-boobed glory.
It’s a dense read, but very interesting and enjoyable both for fans of the original source material and readers going in blind alike. There are plenty of nods to Homer’s epic while managing to create something new entirely. And sometimes that something new gets downright weird, complemented by Christian Ward’s insanely awesome artwork.
Seriously, this comic could be bereft of a single written word and it would still be a completely fulfilling experience. Combining this powerful artwork with Matt Fraction makes for some truly compelling stuff.
That’s not to say I think the writing is perfect; it’s obvious the tone it’s going for and it accomplishes it in spades, but sometimes for a comic book, it can feel a bit haughty and hard to get through. Put it this way: People who consider any kind of long narrative in a comic an ‘exposition drop’ are going to have a hard time getting through this. For me it works, because it’s the goddamn Odyssey you’re recreating here, but I can see how some people might be turned off by this narrative style. Also, the dialogue runs the gamut from flowery to very modern and gritty, and at points downright anachronistic (I don’t think the Cyclops in the original said things like, “who the good fuck are these whores in my home?”—although maybe he did, to be perfectly honest I haven’t read the Odyssey in upwards of a decade), but I seriously doubt complete historical accuracy was something Fraction was shooting for.
Alas, it’s the marriage of the classical, the surreal and the badass that make ODY-C truly special. And that’s without even mentioning the status-quo challenging feminist slant this all-female take presents. There are many layers at work here, and they mesh wonderfully.
Is It Good?
What more can I say? If you like amazing, distinct, surreal artwork, and an all-time classic story retold as a crazy space opera, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to skip ODY-C.
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