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ODY-C #1-2
ODY-C: Cycle One
ODY-C, modeled after Homer's Odyssey, is a psychedelic, gender-broke science-fiction epic that tells the story of three legendary warrior-queens returning home after a centuries-long battle. Odyssia, of fair Ithicaa, encounters everything that can get in her way and slow her homecoming -- and realizes with dawning horror that maybe she doesn't want to return. Queen Ene, she who rules the universe, reclaims her husband He of Troiia only to find herself trapped in a place where even the Goddesses cannot see -- a secret world of men gone mad. And as for Queen Gamem, she has a date with her lovelorn wife and a warm bath of her own blood...
Told in verse with a visual sensibility that redefines the very possibilities of the comics medium, this gloriously oversized hardcover collects issues #1-12 plus exclusive bonus materials including essays by classicist Dani Colman, teaching aids, and a massive ten-page fold-out only available in the sold-out first issue.
"Fraction and Ward are doing wildly imaginative work combining fantastic Greek mythology with futuristic science fiction, and the book has a visual sensibility unlike anything else on the stands." -- A.V. Club
Told in verse with a visual sensibility that redefines the very possibilities of the comics medium, this gloriously oversized hardcover collects issues #1-12 plus exclusive bonus materials including essays by classicist Dani Colman, teaching aids, and a massive ten-page fold-out only available in the sold-out first issue.
"Fraction and Ward are doing wildly imaginative work combining fantastic Greek mythology with futuristic science fiction, and the book has a visual sensibility unlike anything else on the stands." -- A.V. Club
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 29, 2016
10 people are currently reading
942 people want to read
About the author
Matt Fraction
1,228Ìýbooks1,830Ìýfollowers"How he got started in comics: In 1983, when Fraction was 7 years old and growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he became fascinated by the U.S. invasion of Grenada and created his own newspaper to explain the event. "I've always been story-driven, telling stories with pictures and words," he said.
Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.
"My mother was not happy about that," he said.
But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."
Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.
Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.
Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."
Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.
- 2009.
Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.
"My mother was not happy about that," he said.
But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."
Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.
Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.
Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."
Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.
- 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 11, 2019
ODY-C is an incredibly strange, but beautiful graphic novel that takes the classic story line of Homer's and flips it on its head.
"Here where so many great women died. Three ships leave Troiian space. Three adventures now start. Three great heroes begin their last odyssey."
The book begins with the warriors returning home from an epic war in space. Instead of Helen of Troy, the war was fought over one of the only males in the galaxy, a latex-covered man named "He."
Like in the old tale, the goddesses, children of Titans, overthrew their father, Kronos. In a twist in this world, they decided that all children grow up to throw down their parents and kill several generations of their own children. In order to ultimately control humanity, Zeus, a curvaceous, powerful woman, in an extraordinary display of power, destroys every male in existence. Eventually leading to the events I just described...
"Sing in us, Muse of Odyssia, witchjack and wanderer. Homeward bound. Warless at last.
Honestly, this book is hard to explain. I think "acid trip" might do it justice. The colors are vivid and the characters can be nightmarish, vulgar or gorgeous. The universe within this book is a science fiction-themed romp with monsters, goddesses, and all sorts of unbelievable settings � a world of bones wherein the child of a goddess forever seeks its prey, a type of space station fueled by a star in which a rare male child of a goddess endlessly mates with women and then kills them when they inevitably give birth to another female... and more.
"Down in the ruinous piles of viscera once her command and her crew, Odyssia recalibrates. Watching the Cyclops of Kylos make feast of the ODY-C's girls, they know for the first time since Troiia did fall just what fear really feels like inside."
It helps to be familiar with classic mythology because the authors don't take the time to explain how the two are related. Or, I suppose, you could just jump into it blind. I felt like I enjoyed it more knowing both sets of stories.
I was fortunate that the library's copy of this book included creator interviews in the back to give more context to this incredible work they've created.
"Between bearded-lady gods, gender-flipped heroines, gender-uncertain sebex and the odd character who keeps the same gender as their source, the ODY-C is less a gender-bent Odyssey than it is an Odyssey-flavored gender pretzel. Rather, ODY-C is an early next step into what comes after the gender flip: the unfurling of the gender spectrum both to comment on and to dismiss outright what we understand as gender roles and norms in classic literature."
There is certainly a lot to unpack in here. And it is such a good story.
"The act of telling a story � especially of telling one well � turns your audience's brain into a photocopy of your own, overriding any other stimuli that the listener is experiencing independently. When a story is so good you feel like you were actually there in the middle of it, it's because, at least as far as your brain is concerned, you actually were."
In addition to the Greek and Roman mythology, there's shades of Scheherazade in the unfolding of the fate of He. Readers are also treated to a new twist on the foundation of Rome myth. At least, I think that's what it is. With the level of creativity in here, it's honestly hard to tell.
Recommended for readers who are looking for a graphic novel that is completely different from anything you've ever seen before. This is that book.
"Here where so many great women died. Three ships leave Troiian space. Three adventures now start. Three great heroes begin their last odyssey."
The book begins with the warriors returning home from an epic war in space. Instead of Helen of Troy, the war was fought over one of the only males in the galaxy, a latex-covered man named "He."
Like in the old tale, the goddesses, children of Titans, overthrew their father, Kronos. In a twist in this world, they decided that all children grow up to throw down their parents and kill several generations of their own children. In order to ultimately control humanity, Zeus, a curvaceous, powerful woman, in an extraordinary display of power, destroys every male in existence. Eventually leading to the events I just described...
"Sing in us, Muse of Odyssia, witchjack and wanderer. Homeward bound. Warless at last.
Honestly, this book is hard to explain. I think "acid trip" might do it justice. The colors are vivid and the characters can be nightmarish, vulgar or gorgeous. The universe within this book is a science fiction-themed romp with monsters, goddesses, and all sorts of unbelievable settings � a world of bones wherein the child of a goddess forever seeks its prey, a type of space station fueled by a star in which a rare male child of a goddess endlessly mates with women and then kills them when they inevitably give birth to another female... and more.
"Down in the ruinous piles of viscera once her command and her crew, Odyssia recalibrates. Watching the Cyclops of Kylos make feast of the ODY-C's girls, they know for the first time since Troiia did fall just what fear really feels like inside."
It helps to be familiar with classic mythology because the authors don't take the time to explain how the two are related. Or, I suppose, you could just jump into it blind. I felt like I enjoyed it more knowing both sets of stories.
I was fortunate that the library's copy of this book included creator interviews in the back to give more context to this incredible work they've created.
"Between bearded-lady gods, gender-flipped heroines, gender-uncertain sebex and the odd character who keeps the same gender as their source, the ODY-C is less a gender-bent Odyssey than it is an Odyssey-flavored gender pretzel. Rather, ODY-C is an early next step into what comes after the gender flip: the unfurling of the gender spectrum both to comment on and to dismiss outright what we understand as gender roles and norms in classic literature."
There is certainly a lot to unpack in here. And it is such a good story.
"The act of telling a story � especially of telling one well � turns your audience's brain into a photocopy of your own, overriding any other stimuli that the listener is experiencing independently. When a story is so good you feel like you were actually there in the middle of it, it's because, at least as far as your brain is concerned, you actually were."
In addition to the Greek and Roman mythology, there's shades of Scheherazade in the unfolding of the fate of He. Readers are also treated to a new twist on the foundation of Rome myth. At least, I think that's what it is. With the level of creativity in here, it's honestly hard to tell.
Recommended for readers who are looking for a graphic novel that is completely different from anything you've ever seen before. This is that book.
December 30, 2016
I was stunned upon receiving this beautiful hardback book as a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ giveaway.
Ody-C is an incredibly illustrated graphic novel, full of psychedelic art both gruesome and gorgeous. It's a fever-dream vision of Homer's Odyssey, that is, if the classic epic starred a nearly all-female cast, was set in outer space, and occasionally dabbled in modern slang.
The bizarre imagery will stick with you long after you've closed the cover. The violence is gory and insane, and the sex is bizarre. It's the mind of a madman rendered in incredible art. This adaptation isn't for everyone, but those who understand and appreciate the wild depths in which the comics medium can take us won't want to miss it.
Ody-C is an incredibly illustrated graphic novel, full of psychedelic art both gruesome and gorgeous. It's a fever-dream vision of Homer's Odyssey, that is, if the classic epic starred a nearly all-female cast, was set in outer space, and occasionally dabbled in modern slang.
The bizarre imagery will stick with you long after you've closed the cover. The violence is gory and insane, and the sex is bizarre. It's the mind of a madman rendered in incredible art. This adaptation isn't for everyone, but those who understand and appreciate the wild depths in which the comics medium can take us won't want to miss it.
December 15, 2018
Review -
May 29, 2018
Flat out one of my favourite comics of all time. Dense, beautiful, smart - a true tome of creativity to dive into and become lost.
For everyone who wants more from comics - get into this. Perfection.
For everyone who wants more from comics - get into this. Perfection.
January 15, 2018
Beautiful, trippy art.The actual writing was awful.
January 1, 2018
The artwork is stunning. The panels, the deconstruction of linear motion to represent space and magic, the blood, the viscera, the unique design for every character. Gorgeous.
The concept is everything I love: Gender-bent classical epics set in farflung outer space is the space opera I've always wanted. The unique spaceships run through mindmelds, the sebex gender, the gritty quality of the war and romance. Great concept.
But the writing. The writing is where this failed me. The use of verse was clumsy and ham-fisted--it was a struggle to read and difficult to parse. The rhythm wasn't there and there were sections that were true to the style while others were awkward and rough. I would have preferred if the writing had been more naturalistic--it felt like the author was more comfortable in the moments where he broke away from the restrictions of the verse format. The rhyming in the House of Atreides section was horrific.
The placement of letter boxes was confusing and it made me have to re-read sections multiple times to figure out where they were supposed to be. That was a poor choice.
I also felt that the decision to genderbend got confusing in instances. The change in names for characters left me lost at moments. For me, many of the gender changes didn't feel impactful enough (nor the name changes--why was Cassandra now Casa but Penelope still Penelope if their genders weren't changed? Why not change their genders? Or were they Sebex?) and if there was a feminist point to the space opera, I wasn't getting it. It felt more like an excuse to draw boobs. More needed to be done with the concept of the sebex gender as well--I liked the idea but I didn't get it in practice.
The side story of Helen/He in Q'af with Boy was so confusing, I had no idea what it had to do with anything and then it felt like He had been given Scheherazade's story. What was the point of the story of Innana and Wolf with Hercules? When the story of He intertwined with that of Proteus and Menelaus/Ene, I was more confused than moved.
This was a hot, beautiful mess. The third star is solely because it was that beautiful.
The concept is everything I love: Gender-bent classical epics set in farflung outer space is the space opera I've always wanted. The unique spaceships run through mindmelds, the sebex gender, the gritty quality of the war and romance. Great concept.
But the writing. The writing is where this failed me. The use of verse was clumsy and ham-fisted--it was a struggle to read and difficult to parse. The rhythm wasn't there and there were sections that were true to the style while others were awkward and rough. I would have preferred if the writing had been more naturalistic--it felt like the author was more comfortable in the moments where he broke away from the restrictions of the verse format. The rhyming in the House of Atreides section was horrific.
The placement of letter boxes was confusing and it made me have to re-read sections multiple times to figure out where they were supposed to be. That was a poor choice.
I also felt that the decision to genderbend got confusing in instances. The change in names for characters left me lost at moments. For me, many of the gender changes didn't feel impactful enough (nor the name changes--why was Cassandra now Casa but Penelope still Penelope if their genders weren't changed? Why not change their genders? Or were they Sebex?) and if there was a feminist point to the space opera, I wasn't getting it. It felt more like an excuse to draw boobs. More needed to be done with the concept of the sebex gender as well--I liked the idea but I didn't get it in practice.
The side story of Helen/He in Q'af with Boy was so confusing, I had no idea what it had to do with anything and then it felt like He had been given Scheherazade's story. What was the point of the story of Innana and Wolf with Hercules? When the story of He intertwined with that of Proteus and Menelaus/Ene, I was more confused than moved.
This was a hot, beautiful mess. The third star is solely because it was that beautiful.
April 11, 2019
Where do I begin....
I bought this with the money my grandmother gave me for my birthday and it was money well spent in my book because this series has brought me such joy!
The little new prologue is AMAZING!
Since the pages are slightly larger than the single issue pages the art is a little bigger and its AMAZING!
The story in general is AMAZING!
I think I say this all the time but THE ART IS MAGNIFICENT! Christian Ward is an art god and we are not worthy!
THE BACK CHARACTER PAGES! THE PRIMORDIAL GODS!
THE ESSAYS! THE FUCKING ESSAYS!
JUST THE FUCKING BACK MATTER! IT'S GLORIOUS!
I pretty much consider this book to be one of my most prized possessions!
And I really and truly wish I could get everyone I know to read this but that'll never happen so I'll just continue to read and enjoy this series and ramble about how much I love it in reviews here on goodreads.
I bought this with the money my grandmother gave me for my birthday and it was money well spent in my book because this series has brought me such joy!
The little new prologue is AMAZING!
Since the pages are slightly larger than the single issue pages the art is a little bigger and its AMAZING!
The story in general is AMAZING!
I think I say this all the time but THE ART IS MAGNIFICENT! Christian Ward is an art god and we are not worthy!
THE BACK CHARACTER PAGES! THE PRIMORDIAL GODS!
THE ESSAYS! THE FUCKING ESSAYS!
JUST THE FUCKING BACK MATTER! IT'S GLORIOUS!
I pretty much consider this book to be one of my most prized possessions!
And I really and truly wish I could get everyone I know to read this but that'll never happen so I'll just continue to read and enjoy this series and ramble about how much I love it in reviews here on goodreads.
July 19, 2017
Wow. I delved into this graphic novel knowing very little about its background beforehand and I was enraptured in not only the design itself but with the artistry of taking a classical piece of literature and making it into something of a psychedelic future. While some scenes appear to be more risqué because they are represented visually, I found them to fully support the story they were depicting.
I gave this such a high rating because it touches on, highlights, and at times subverts so many issues prevalent in contemporary society-from rape culture and sexual assaults to gender identity/fluidity, and sexism.
And, I have to admit having one of the storylines end with "the stories are all that matter" really made me enjoy it even more.
I gave this such a high rating because it touches on, highlights, and at times subverts so many issues prevalent in contemporary society-from rape culture and sexual assaults to gender identity/fluidity, and sexism.
And, I have to admit having one of the storylines end with "the stories are all that matter" really made me enjoy it even more.
May 9, 2020
This comic series is a gender-bent science fiction retelling of "The Odyssey."
Positives: The art is AMAZING. Christian Ward creates big sweeping full-page illustrations and does not confine his art to little regular-sized boxes. Some of the gender-bending I found very creative and interesting.
Negatives: This is extremely violent and often mixes sexuality and brutality in a very graphic way. I also find that this isn't a "feminist" take on a classic as Matt Fraction would like you to believe. Supposedly he created it so his daughter could have a warrior queen to look up to, but the male gaze on the female form and female sexuality is evident throughout. Woman-woman sex is always about ruby red lips and gravity-defying tits. It reads more like a Fem Dom festishist fantasy than a "feminist" tale at times. One more downside: Fraction divides the narrative between three characters and there are many "stories within stories" so it's sometimes hard to follow
Another negative was my own fault - I read this as an e-book on my phone, and they tried to format it in a way that makes it readable, but I think I would have enjoyed this -- especially the full-page illustrations -- better if I'd read it as a print book.
Overall, I think this is worth a read, but I likely will NOT finish the series. I think a woman author would have approached sexuality in a different way than Matt Fraction did, and that detracted a bit from it for me.
Positives: The art is AMAZING. Christian Ward creates big sweeping full-page illustrations and does not confine his art to little regular-sized boxes. Some of the gender-bending I found very creative and interesting.
Negatives: This is extremely violent and often mixes sexuality and brutality in a very graphic way. I also find that this isn't a "feminist" take on a classic as Matt Fraction would like you to believe. Supposedly he created it so his daughter could have a warrior queen to look up to, but the male gaze on the female form and female sexuality is evident throughout. Woman-woman sex is always about ruby red lips and gravity-defying tits. It reads more like a Fem Dom festishist fantasy than a "feminist" tale at times. One more downside: Fraction divides the narrative between three characters and there are many "stories within stories" so it's sometimes hard to follow
Another negative was my own fault - I read this as an e-book on my phone, and they tried to format it in a way that makes it readable, but I think I would have enjoyed this -- especially the full-page illustrations -- better if I'd read it as a print book.
Overall, I think this is worth a read, but I likely will NOT finish the series. I think a woman author would have approached sexuality in a different way than Matt Fraction did, and that detracted a bit from it for me.
February 28, 2019
Weird, wonderful. A feast for the senses.
April 4, 2019
This graphic novel collection gets 5 stars for the beautiful illustrations and 2 for the writing. 3 overall about matches my general feelings.
I am not a graphic novel junkie, so take my review with a grain of salt. The only others I've read have been the Fables and Saga series (and I absolutely love both). ODY-C was lent to me by a friend who adored it--he was so excited for me to read it, and I feel bad that I didn't love it.
Pros:
The illustrations. Oh man, are they incredible! The worlds they created and the depictions of the goddesses especially are just fantastic!
There was obviously a LOT of thought and effort put into this. I applaud the authors for being so thorough. This was obviously a passion project, and one that was likely overwhelming to tackle, so kudos to them. This is another reason to take my review with a grain of salt--as underwhelmed as I was, I kept thinking about how much work and thought went into it. And I know they were trying to make this feminist, so...good for them.
Cons:
I think a lot of the struggle I had with this was from my familiarity with The Odyssey. It really, really threw me off that all the goddesses kept their names, but all the human characters didn't. Calling Odysseus "Odyssia" was fine, because it was obvious enough who she was meant to be. Even "He" was fine--I thought it was a great play on Helen as a male. But every time I saw Ene, I struggled to remember that she was supposed to be the Menelaus character, which then made it hard to figure out which story was hers. The same was true for a lot of the others. I just felt like that was a weird choice to make, especially since Paris was still "Paris" and Pelops was still "Pelops." There didn't seem to be any pattern or reason for which characters had their names changed and which ones didn't. I felt like I put more brainpower into figuring out who was supposed to be whom that I couldn't enjoy the story.
I also found it odd that in a gender-bent version (which I thought was such a great idea), I still ended up hating everyone. I thought maybe this would be a cool girl-power story, where we get to see how the characters behave differently because of their gender/sex, but no. They're exactly the same as their male counterparts in the original. Which, to me, defeats the purpose of gender-bending in the first place. I guess the statement is that women and men are the same? That women can be just as despicable as men? I mean, that's true, but I guess I was expecting them to be despicable in different ways from their male counterparts. I don't know. I don't really want to get into a discussion about feminism here. It just bugged me that the only characters I actually grew attached to and cared about at all were male characters (He and the boy). Again, maybe that's what they were going for--they wanted to make the women hard and (some of) the men soft?
On a similar note, there was so, SO much rape in this. SO MUCH. And a lot of it was the SAME rape told multiple times. I guess they really wanted to drive the point home that men LOVE to rape. It is JUST SOMETHING THEY DO. But it's okay, because women will get revenge. Sometimes. And sometimes women let themselves get raped to save others or prove a point. Once would have been enough. I think if they'd only shown it once and then referenced it instead it would have been okay. But as a previous victim of sexual assualt with a sister who was date raped, I really prefer NOT to see multiple visuals depicting such things. And yeah, I get how it played into the story, I just wish they hadn't beaten it to death. Oddly, even though Zeus is the rapiest mo-fo in the Pantheon, that was only nodded at. So I still don't fully understand why other rapes had to feature SO DANG MUCH.
And yeah, call me sensitive. I'm cool with that. "Just put the graphic novel down if it bothers you so much! What do you expect from a GRAPHIC novel??" Aight. It's fine. It's a personal preference not to have to look at such things. If I hadn't been reading it at my friend's recommendation, I likely WOULD have put it down. So there.
I wasn't a huge fan of the writing itself. It was a mix of sort-of Homeric rhyme, some rap (which, to me, was poorly done. The rhythms mostly didn't work. At least, not in my head.), and really hard-to-follow text boxes. I kept getting lost on the page, unsure which box I was supposed to go to next. Maybe I'm too old for these things. It was an interesting way of doing things, and I recognize the homage they were trying to pay to Homer, but the mix of archaic language and very modern language also threw me off. It felt like they were trying too hard, particularly when they got to the curse of Atreus.
Lastly--and again, I think this really only bothered me because I know the story of The Odyssey--I was REALLY thrown off by the fact that we actually follow He after the war. I didn't hate it--like I said, He and the boy are the only characters I liked--I just thought it was strange. I guess I really thought this was going to be a retelling of The Odyssey, not a sort-of retelling with a lot of extra stuff thrown in (this could be because of how my friend sold it to me, though). And while I thought it was kind of neat that they turned He's story into , it really took me out of the whole "Odyssey" thing. I mean, we stopped even talking about Odyssia for the second half of this. I get that graphic novels are supposed to last for a long time, so okay, but I still found that weird.
Based on this mini-novel I've written, it seems like I really hated this, but I didn't. It was a great idea, and I don't regret reading it, but I don't really plan to continue the series. I'm obviously in the minority, which is great--I'm glad so many others loved this! It just wasn't for me.
I am not a graphic novel junkie, so take my review with a grain of salt. The only others I've read have been the Fables and Saga series (and I absolutely love both). ODY-C was lent to me by a friend who adored it--he was so excited for me to read it, and I feel bad that I didn't love it.
Pros:
The illustrations. Oh man, are they incredible! The worlds they created and the depictions of the goddesses especially are just fantastic!
There was obviously a LOT of thought and effort put into this. I applaud the authors for being so thorough. This was obviously a passion project, and one that was likely overwhelming to tackle, so kudos to them. This is another reason to take my review with a grain of salt--as underwhelmed as I was, I kept thinking about how much work and thought went into it. And I know they were trying to make this feminist, so...good for them.
Cons:
I think a lot of the struggle I had with this was from my familiarity with The Odyssey. It really, really threw me off that all the goddesses kept their names, but all the human characters didn't. Calling Odysseus "Odyssia" was fine, because it was obvious enough who she was meant to be. Even "He" was fine--I thought it was a great play on Helen as a male. But every time I saw Ene, I struggled to remember that she was supposed to be the Menelaus character, which then made it hard to figure out which story was hers. The same was true for a lot of the others. I just felt like that was a weird choice to make, especially since Paris was still "Paris" and Pelops was still "Pelops." There didn't seem to be any pattern or reason for which characters had their names changed and which ones didn't. I felt like I put more brainpower into figuring out who was supposed to be whom that I couldn't enjoy the story.
I also found it odd that in a gender-bent version (which I thought was such a great idea), I still ended up hating everyone. I thought maybe this would be a cool girl-power story, where we get to see how the characters behave differently because of their gender/sex, but no. They're exactly the same as their male counterparts in the original. Which, to me, defeats the purpose of gender-bending in the first place. I guess the statement is that women and men are the same? That women can be just as despicable as men? I mean, that's true, but I guess I was expecting them to be despicable in different ways from their male counterparts. I don't know. I don't really want to get into a discussion about feminism here. It just bugged me that the only characters I actually grew attached to and cared about at all were male characters (He and the boy). Again, maybe that's what they were going for--they wanted to make the women hard and (some of) the men soft?
On a similar note, there was so, SO much rape in this. SO MUCH. And a lot of it was the SAME rape told multiple times. I guess they really wanted to drive the point home that men LOVE to rape. It is JUST SOMETHING THEY DO. But it's okay, because women will get revenge. Sometimes. And sometimes women let themselves get raped to save others or prove a point. Once would have been enough. I think if they'd only shown it once and then referenced it instead it would have been okay. But as a previous victim of sexual assualt with a sister who was date raped, I really prefer NOT to see multiple visuals depicting such things. And yeah, I get how it played into the story, I just wish they hadn't beaten it to death. Oddly, even though Zeus is the rapiest mo-fo in the Pantheon, that was only nodded at. So I still don't fully understand why other rapes had to feature SO DANG MUCH.
And yeah, call me sensitive. I'm cool with that. "Just put the graphic novel down if it bothers you so much! What do you expect from a GRAPHIC novel??" Aight. It's fine. It's a personal preference not to have to look at such things. If I hadn't been reading it at my friend's recommendation, I likely WOULD have put it down. So there.
I wasn't a huge fan of the writing itself. It was a mix of sort-of Homeric rhyme, some rap (which, to me, was poorly done. The rhythms mostly didn't work. At least, not in my head.), and really hard-to-follow text boxes. I kept getting lost on the page, unsure which box I was supposed to go to next. Maybe I'm too old for these things. It was an interesting way of doing things, and I recognize the homage they were trying to pay to Homer, but the mix of archaic language and very modern language also threw me off. It felt like they were trying too hard, particularly when they got to the curse of Atreus.
Lastly--and again, I think this really only bothered me because I know the story of The Odyssey--I was REALLY thrown off by the fact that we actually follow He after the war. I didn't hate it--like I said, He and the boy are the only characters I liked--I just thought it was strange. I guess I really thought this was going to be a retelling of The Odyssey, not a sort-of retelling with a lot of extra stuff thrown in (this could be because of how my friend sold it to me, though). And while I thought it was kind of neat that they turned He's story into , it really took me out of the whole "Odyssey" thing. I mean, we stopped even talking about Odyssia for the second half of this. I get that graphic novels are supposed to last for a long time, so okay, but I still found that weird.
Based on this mini-novel I've written, it seems like I really hated this, but I didn't. It was a great idea, and I don't regret reading it, but I don't really plan to continue the series. I'm obviously in the minority, which is great--I'm glad so many others loved this! It just wasn't for me.
February 27, 2017
HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!
February 10, 2018
Odyssey with LSD !!!
July 19, 2017
This was hard to follow, both at first and when jumping from narrative to narrative. But it was worth it!
The first five chapters deal with Odyssia's journey back to her home, after the end of the Troiian war, and with Zeus and Poseidons's anger with her for defeating Troiia. This narrative deals less with the character Odyssia and more with the Goddess (not God, you heard me right, Goddess) Zeus's situations and the whole premise of the fictional universe in which she destroyed all men because of the fear that new generations might overthrow her, just like her generation overthrew the previous. From here on, we are introduced to Promethea's story of defiance against her mother, but I'll stop here. The art was good, the overall story just as much, but it did not make me fall in love completely.
Yet, this changes with the next five chapters, dealing with Queen Ene and He, the last man in known universe. They however get stuck in a place populated with normal amounts of men, sealed of from the rest of the universe, along with a titanic beast. While Ene fights the beast trying to get out of her prison of cosmic turmoil, He of Troiia gets an existential crisis when faced no more with his uniqueness. This last part made me think of Ody-C as a great fictional universe, convincing me of its awesomeness. He, now a simple man and not a war prize, must cope with a world in which he is nothing to no one, and finds an escape in books telling tales unknown, about the origins of the twin kings of this part of the universe in special. For this new narrative, the art changed radically, becoming perfect for the stories told, and featuring whole pages of awesome that need no words.
The last two chapters come back to the obscure ways of the first ones, telling many stories in few words about the House of Atreus, its wickedness and its fall, and I found them hard to follow and hard to understand, but I managed to enjoy them as well. Considering the whole Ody-C, overall, it was an amazing ride and I'm looking forward to the next Cycle. These differences from narrative to narrative, dealing with different characters in different parts of the universe make Ody-C what it is. Which is just a great thing that revolutionises what comics are and can do. This is art.
The first five chapters deal with Odyssia's journey back to her home, after the end of the Troiian war, and with Zeus and Poseidons's anger with her for defeating Troiia. This narrative deals less with the character Odyssia and more with the Goddess (not God, you heard me right, Goddess) Zeus's situations and the whole premise of the fictional universe in which she destroyed all men because of the fear that new generations might overthrow her, just like her generation overthrew the previous. From here on, we are introduced to Promethea's story of defiance against her mother, but I'll stop here. The art was good, the overall story just as much, but it did not make me fall in love completely.
Yet, this changes with the next five chapters, dealing with Queen Ene and He, the last man in known universe. They however get stuck in a place populated with normal amounts of men, sealed of from the rest of the universe, along with a titanic beast. While Ene fights the beast trying to get out of her prison of cosmic turmoil, He of Troiia gets an existential crisis when faced no more with his uniqueness. This last part made me think of Ody-C as a great fictional universe, convincing me of its awesomeness. He, now a simple man and not a war prize, must cope with a world in which he is nothing to no one, and finds an escape in books telling tales unknown, about the origins of the twin kings of this part of the universe in special. For this new narrative, the art changed radically, becoming perfect for the stories told, and featuring whole pages of awesome that need no words.
The last two chapters come back to the obscure ways of the first ones, telling many stories in few words about the House of Atreus, its wickedness and its fall, and I found them hard to follow and hard to understand, but I managed to enjoy them as well. Considering the whole Ody-C, overall, it was an amazing ride and I'm looking forward to the next Cycle. These differences from narrative to narrative, dealing with different characters in different parts of the universe make Ody-C what it is. Which is just a great thing that revolutionises what comics are and can do. This is art.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2020
ODY-C is a fucking trip. Huge story short: It's a genderswapped sci-fi retelling of Homer's The Odyssey that turns into an amalgamation of The Odyssey, 1,001 Arabian nights and Moby Dick.
Like I said, it's a trip. That trip is also completed by Christian Ward's jaw dropping pieces. Though they may be a little hard to follow sometimes, it's usually cause I need to take a step back to fully get the scope of the picture he's painting.
I read the story in single issues, and after the 3rd issue most of them came with an essay discussing a theme or a story that was touched upon in the issue, and compare it to the original stories and their historical context. I'm a big fan of Homer's stories, and love all Greek mythology so these essay were incredibly insightful and a great way of learning while reading.
I obviously also have to mention Matt Fraction's incredible feats of poetry. While the lines don't always hit like they were meant to, he has taken on an incredible task with writing like the original stories are told, but his effort is fully worth it as I'm being dragged back into Ancient History class where we were reading the original Odyssey.
Unlike many comics I've read this story resonated with me, cause I felt like I was learning something while reading it. It would probably be a 5 star review from me, had Fraction been a little more consistent in his writing, and had the story been finished.
So far I'm happy to own all 12 single issues (though the oversized hardcover sounds like they'd do a better job of dog Ward's art justice) and it'd definitely a series I will be lending my friends and telling people about. Here's to hoping they will eventually finish it.
Like I said, it's a trip. That trip is also completed by Christian Ward's jaw dropping pieces. Though they may be a little hard to follow sometimes, it's usually cause I need to take a step back to fully get the scope of the picture he's painting.
I read the story in single issues, and after the 3rd issue most of them came with an essay discussing a theme or a story that was touched upon in the issue, and compare it to the original stories and their historical context. I'm a big fan of Homer's stories, and love all Greek mythology so these essay were incredibly insightful and a great way of learning while reading.
I obviously also have to mention Matt Fraction's incredible feats of poetry. While the lines don't always hit like they were meant to, he has taken on an incredible task with writing like the original stories are told, but his effort is fully worth it as I'm being dragged back into Ancient History class where we were reading the original Odyssey.
Unlike many comics I've read this story resonated with me, cause I felt like I was learning something while reading it. It would probably be a 5 star review from me, had Fraction been a little more consistent in his writing, and had the story been finished.
So far I'm happy to own all 12 single issues (though the oversized hardcover sounds like they'd do a better job of dog Ward's art justice) and it'd definitely a series I will be lending my friends and telling people about. Here's to hoping they will eventually finish it.
February 17, 2019
On the fence about this one. I really enjoyed it at first, but as it went on it started getting a little ponderous. ODY-C is a space operatic, gender-pureed retelling of the Odyssey with a few other myths thrown in for good measure - not just including the homeward journey of Odyssia from the Achaeans' war against the Troiians, but also what befalls the other two Achaean queens, Ene (née Menelaus) and Gamem (Agamemnon) and of course He, the beautiful male sex-slave version of Helen that the war was fought over.
The artwork is gorgeous throughout and the story of Odyssia is as riveting as it should be. The stories of Ene, Gamem, Zeus, Poseidon... not so much, since there's no reason to care about any of them. The story of He is suitably tragic and particularly blood-soaked. ODY-C is rampant with sex, violence, and sexual violence, and He's tale brings all of them together. However, it was during his part of the book that I concluded the whole enterprise had no sense of humor about itself. Until the last two chapters - which are told entirely in limericks.
A quick check of MyComicShop.com confirms that this edition contains all twelve issues that saw print from 2014-2016. I have to wonder if Fraction and Ward will ever get the chance to finish the story. It's got a lot of ambition, but maybe they should have stuck to the Odyssey and not tried to rope in so much other post-Trojan lore.
The artwork is gorgeous throughout and the story of Odyssia is as riveting as it should be. The stories of Ene, Gamem, Zeus, Poseidon... not so much, since there's no reason to care about any of them. The story of He is suitably tragic and particularly blood-soaked. ODY-C is rampant with sex, violence, and sexual violence, and He's tale brings all of them together. However, it was during his part of the book that I concluded the whole enterprise had no sense of humor about itself. Until the last two chapters - which are told entirely in limericks.
A quick check of MyComicShop.com confirms that this edition contains all twelve issues that saw print from 2014-2016. I have to wonder if Fraction and Ward will ever get the chance to finish the story. It's got a lot of ambition, but maybe they should have stuck to the Odyssey and not tried to rope in so much other post-Trojan lore.
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August 16, 2024Gender-swapped psychedelic sci-fi comic book version of Homer's Odyssey?
Sounds crazy. I'm into it.
The writing is odd. The choice to retain poetic-sounding language with rhymes is a bold one because speech bubbles and their placement prevents the reader from being able to read the lines in the precise manner required to fully appreciate the alliteration and the rhymes of the poetry.
The art is fantastic, it's psychedelic, wavy and colourful. It provides a solid lens through which to really see this sci-fi universe for what it is: one that is malleable, in flux and always being altered by the whims of the Olympian Gods.
The choice to interweave the Epic of Gilgamesh into the story as well is kind of wild. Especially framing the story as read by He, the gimp (Helen?) of Odysseus.
Sounds crazy. I'm into it.
The writing is odd. The choice to retain poetic-sounding language with rhymes is a bold one because speech bubbles and their placement prevents the reader from being able to read the lines in the precise manner required to fully appreciate the alliteration and the rhymes of the poetry.
The art is fantastic, it's psychedelic, wavy and colourful. It provides a solid lens through which to really see this sci-fi universe for what it is: one that is malleable, in flux and always being altered by the whims of the Olympian Gods.
The choice to interweave the Epic of Gilgamesh into the story as well is kind of wild. Especially framing the story as read by He, the gimp (Helen?) of Odysseus.
March 26, 2021
ODY-C is clearly a labor of great love made by people who really care about the characters and the story. This one was just not for me.
Credit where it's due: this is wildly imaginative and bold storytelling. It's indescribably weird in that way that only science fiction can accomplish. I think the people who are telling this story are making great art� and it is worthy of praise.
But for me? Surrealism is pretty much never my thing and this is surrealist AF. I had a really difficult time following the story (especially once it veered away from things I remembered from The Odyssey). On top of that this is incredibly graphic, violent, and dark, which made me want to speed past a lot of the pages instead of spending the time figuring out what was going on.
No shade to the people who made this or the people who love it, just not my cup of tea.
Credit where it's due: this is wildly imaginative and bold storytelling. It's indescribably weird in that way that only science fiction can accomplish. I think the people who are telling this story are making great art� and it is worthy of praise.
But for me? Surrealism is pretty much never my thing and this is surrealist AF. I had a really difficult time following the story (especially once it veered away from things I remembered from The Odyssey). On top of that this is incredibly graphic, violent, and dark, which made me want to speed past a lot of the pages instead of spending the time figuring out what was going on.
No shade to the people who made this or the people who love it, just not my cup of tea.
November 14, 2018
To be fair, I did just randomly get this because I thought the colors were pretty...
There was nothing particularly bad about this graphic novel. The art was stunning and, initially, the story was compelling. Who doesn't want to read about a gender-flipped retelling of the Odyssey? Too bad that the further the story progressed, the more random and...well...uninteresting it became.
I know it's mainly just me because I can see the appeal behind this, I just simply can't continue reading something that has snippets of really fascinating myths and characters, just to never see them again and switch to another dull plot. I'm in too much of a reading rut to keep trying to find some motivation to simply open the book.
There was nothing particularly bad about this graphic novel. The art was stunning and, initially, the story was compelling. Who doesn't want to read about a gender-flipped retelling of the Odyssey? Too bad that the further the story progressed, the more random and...well...uninteresting it became.
I know it's mainly just me because I can see the appeal behind this, I just simply can't continue reading something that has snippets of really fascinating myths and characters, just to never see them again and switch to another dull plot. I'm in too much of a reading rut to keep trying to find some motivation to simply open the book.
December 2, 2019
Matt Fraction (words) and Christian Ward (art) provide a psychedelic and impressive gender-pretzelled retelling of the Odyssey that, through its changes from the original (in gender, in SF setting) all closer attention to its themes and commentary, as well as opening up new ones.
It's not entertaining, but it is engaging once one goes along for the ride. It is not an easy read, but it makes the case that not every hard read is a bad thing.
Would Homer have approved? Does he need to have?
Good stuff.
It's not entertaining, but it is engaging once one goes along for the ride. It is not an easy read, but it makes the case that not every hard read is a bad thing.
Would Homer have approved? Does he need to have?
Good stuff.
July 10, 2017
I thought this was an extremely interesting premise when I found out about it, assuming it would be done well. I'm a little mixed on some of my feelings - the art is exquisite but super trippy, and that is not something I normally like in my graphic novels. It was a little hard for me to see what was going on at times.
April 30, 2019
It wasn't my favorite graphic novel, but I do think that the artwork was beautiful, and I loved how they adapted some of the iconic moments of The Odyssey, One Thousand and One Nights, and The Oresteia. It was fun, but it didn't really add that much to the original stories in my opinion.
November 13, 2019
Basically a gender-flipped acid tested retelling of a few epics (primarily the Odyssey) with a lot of tips of the hat to Jodorowsky, Barbarella, Heavy Metal comics, Cirque du Soleil, burlesque, and fetish.
It's gorgeous and takes classics myth but makes it a bit sexy and dangerous, which it never was for me.
It's gorgeous and takes classics myth but makes it a bit sexy and dangerous, which it never was for me.
January 17, 2020
This one was hard to follow. It almost seems like they expect you to have just read the actually Odyssey before diving into this. That being said, the art is incredibly intricate and mind bending. I'm pretty sure I started to hallucinate at some point. Worth reading just for that, and definitely would be a good jump if you've recently digested the original.
August 12, 2018
This book. Christian Ward draws some of the most beautiful and stunning art I have ever seen, and Matt Fraction's story is top notch creative. Kennings! Verse! Cursing so over the top I laughed out loud! This is well worth the paper issues I have been buying.
November 3, 2018
Really great retelling of a lot of old greek myths. Gender-bending, trippy 60s European sci-fi comics, dactylic hexameter and limericks, plus Matt Fraction doing his best to keep it fun. Super good stuff.
December 23, 2018
The story is interesting and the art original, but the high amount of violence reminded me of East of West by Jonathan Hickman. A lot, and enough to make me wince. Apart from that, it is a page-turner.
January 1, 2020
I'm still not sure what I feel about this, so I'm giving this 3 stars for now. It's interesting. It's weird. (It's Matt Fraction).
That said, I'd read more--if more ever gets created. (It's overdue, but nothing I found said that it was actually canceled)
That said, I'd read more--if more ever gets created. (It's overdue, but nothing I found said that it was actually canceled)
September 12, 2020
Beautiful artwork, but at times made the story difficult to follow. Characters are hard to keep track of, and I feel like the addition of new characters and story elements not originally part of the traditional Homeric epic resulted in the creators losing track of the story near the end.
November 4, 2020
Zaczyna się jako przeniesienie Odysei w kosmiczną psychodelię plus queer, potem dochodzi jeszcze w retellingi innych eposów. Nie wiem czy mi się właściwie podoba, bardziej przeglądam patrząc na kolejne pomysły "jak można zrobić jeszcze dziwnie/ do czego nawiązać" niż jako jakąś spójna opowieść
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