Review: Ody-c, #1

[Joker]

Should be fixed now: https://twitter.com/mattfraction/sta...76034224439297

If the "not the last page" was also your last page, it sounds like you got the fucked up copy, but I can't say for certain. I haven't read this yet, myself.

[Curtley]

I read Meagan's excellent review before getting my copy of Ody-c and the comic didn't disappoint. I'll be looking out for Meagan's reviews in the future now.

This is a literary comic that is going to appeal most to those that have studied and enjoyed poetry and literature at university level. If you've read either the Greek tragedians or Homer, or can appreciate metered, rhythmic and lyrical verse of poetic verse, then there is much to enjoy in Ody-c. Meagan was absolutely correct about the rhythm of the drum beat of the narration intersecting with the dialogue. The great part of the enjoyment for me in the comic was figuring out how to read all the content and pay attention to those kinds of rhythm and this caused me to savor every page in getting it right; and it works. This isn't a case of my not seeing the emperor doesn't have clothes due to a pretension to High Art. I'll enjoy this comic for its uniqueness as much as I enjoy the uniqueness of Cassanova.

The gender-dominance reversal of the characters is intriguing and I wonder what can be made with it and whether it can work over the long-run, and explore something substantially or not. Great review Meagan and I agree with you. I don't care if the general comics community rejects but just that there will be enough Ody-c readers to sustain the book.

[eye of all]

Is it anywhere near as good? I thought that what makes Prophet work (and boy does it work) is the fine line Graham straddles between exposition and mystery. We hear a lot about the world from the narrator but we are never given quite enough info for it to become boring or stale. On the flipside we are never so in the dark or overwhelmed with made up words to lose sight of the character and world details. I have never read a better sci-fi comic and as much as I didn't like this preview, if Fraction can pull off something similar I would love to try it.

No, I wouldn't say so. Prophet had me from the first issue, this hasn't really offered a reason to keep coming back yet. If you're a Matt Fraction Ody-C might be worth reading, but it will disappoint if you want something anywhere near as good as Prophet.

[Agent John Bishop]

No, I wouldn't say so. Prophet had me from the first issue, this hasn't really offered a reason to keep coming back yet. If you're a Matt Fraction Ody-C might be worth reading, but it will disappoint if you want something anywhere near as good as Prophet.

I don't actually tend to care for fraction (I have tried Casanova, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, and Sex criminals with varying success, but nothing has stuck for me). I am willing to try original sci-fi from almost anyone though since I like it so much when it lands.

Also, can I just note, as I probably have before, your screen name is awesome. Prophet is severely underrated.

[TotalSnorefest]

This is a literary comic that is going to appeal most to those that have studied and enjoyed poetry and literature at university level. If you've read either the Greek tragedians or Homer, or can appreciate metered, rhythmic and lyrical verse of poetic verse, then there is much to enjoy in Ody-c. Meagan was absolutely correct about the rhythm of the drum beat of the narration intersecting with the dialogue. The great part of the enjoyment for me in the comic was figuring out how to read all the content and pay attention to those kinds of rhythm and this caused me to savor every page in getting it right; and it works. This isn't a case of my not seeing the emperor doesn't have clothes due to a pretension to High Art. I'll enjoy this comic for its uniqueness as much as I enjoy the uniqueness of Cassanova.

The gender-dominance reversal of the characters is intriguing and I wonder what can be made with it and whether it can work over the long-run, and explore something substantially or not. Great review Meagan and I agree with you. I don't care if the general comics community rejects but just that there will be enough Ody-c readers to sustain the book.

Yeah I get the feeling from some responses here that perhaps it's a plus to have at least a working knowledge of the Odyssey and Ilyad. In some ways that might be a negative against the book; if it doesn't hold up without knowing the story it is building on, then those unfamiliar will end up feeling left in the dark. Not saying they should be holding our hand every step of the way, but I just mean that it might feel jarring to newcomers. Haven't read it myself yet because my copy got delayed a week. >

What you mention about the gender reversal is interesting though, I wonder if it'll go beyond the fairly surface-level "emphasis on masculinity and machismo leads to tragedy and violence" observation. At the same however I would feel it's a huge step back if the series would argue that because they're largely women now, their actions would differ drastically? Don't get that impression and can't judge obviously because DANGIT where's my copy, but yeah. Secretly hoping there'll be a character or two who reject the gender binary altogether, I feel like that would make for an interesting discussion.

[El Sombrero]

This is a great example of a comic that I thought was amazing on a critical level but I just could not get in to.

Fraction and Ward deserve a lot of praise for their ambition and vision. The universe in this book is insane in the best possible way, wild and colorful and completely f***ing with fashion and concepts like military and sexuality in very exciting ways. The level of detail in this comic is monstrous and really sells the believability of the far-out world.

Fraction is a chameleon with his writing; it's impossible to tell that the same guy writes this, Sex Criminals, and Satellite Sam. Say what you will about Fraction but I think at this point he is without a doubt the most diverse writer in comics. I think he often struggles with the execution and delivery of his storylines (his plots tend to fall off and leave a lot to be desired after a few issues), but he is so adept at mastering completely different styles of writing and dialogue. It was very impressive the way he was able to write this script in classic epic Greek mythology fashion. I thought the comic was incredibly well executed in all respects.

The problem is that it demands an awful lot of attention and work on the part of the reader, and you have to be in to this kind of thing. I've always found Greek mythology interesting as a concept, but when I try to read the stuff (whether it's actual Greek mythology literature from olden days, or modern comic book interpretations) I get bored very quickly and it feels like it's just not my thing. The rhythm of the narration and dialogue is very choppy with constant transitions and stylistic changes from one idea to the next, and the way words are spoken feels inverted to how people naturally speak today. If you take your time you can make out what is going on and happening, but it's constant work. For how easy it is to lose yourself in the universe of this book, you have to fight to keep making out what the hell the words are trying to say. I DO NOT think this is bad writing because it is completely true to how real Greek mythology is written, it's just not my thing.

TL;DR, I thought this was a remarkable comic but it's not something I can really enjoy reading.

[America / Bucky / Russia]

My first attempt reading the book I got halfway through before questioning "why am I reading this?"

I then came back to it later, slowed by reading speed, and tried to appreciate that, yes, this is a female version of Odysseus, but it's not Ancient Greece. The sci-fi realm of the gods which I'd aliken to Asgard; the vessell which gives me flashbacks to 2001 with everyone in sleep; the submissive Sebex.

I didn't expect epic poem - or, I guess, illustrated epic poem? Epic comic? - going in, but once I realised it's not your traditional comic fare, I could appreciate it as something different. There's absolutely something of worth for lovers of the Classics and readers approaching this from a feminist perspective.

[Joker]

Fraction says the Image preview file was jacked up, too. 19 pages missing from the file. Should have been 50 pages in total.

Page counts, for referencing your file. But I guess if it was digital, it was fucked up no matter where it came from?
https://twitter.com/mattfraction/sta...47794240962560

[America / Bucky / Russia]

Fraction says the Image preview file was jacked up, too. 19 pages missing from the file. Should have been 50 pages in total.

Page counts, for referencing your file. But I guess if it was digital, it was fucked up no matter where it came from?
https://twitter.com/mattfraction/sta...47794240962560

50 pages but would be 36 files with the double page spreads.

[ishikabe]

I read Meagan's excellent review before getting my copy of Ody-c and the comic didn't disappoint. I'll be looking out for Meagan's reviews in the future now.

This is a literary comic that is going to appeal most to those that have studied and enjoyed poetry and literature at university level. If you've read either the Greek tragedians or Homer, or can appreciate metered, rhythmic and lyrical verse of poetic verse, then there is much to enjoy in Ody-c. Meagan was absolutely correct about the rhythm of the drum beat of the narration intersecting with the dialogue. The great part of the enjoyment for me in the comic was figuring out how to read all the content and pay attention to those kinds of rhythm and this caused me to savor every page in getting it right; and it works. This isn't a case of my not seeing the emperor doesn't have clothes due to a pretension to High Art. I'll enjoy this comic for its uniqueness as much as I enjoy the uniqueness of Cassanova.

The gender-dominance reversal of the characters is intriguing and I wonder what can be made with it and whether it can work over the long-run, and explore something substantially or not. Great review Meagan and I agree with you. I don't care if the general comics community rejects but just that there will be enough Ody-c readers to sustain the book.

I love way out there stuff like Grant Morrison, The Holy Mountain, etc. Regular goody-goody superheroes with clean lines and sharp edges get boring after awhile.

[Shyster]

Not being familiar with The Odyssey, I have to say I really liked this. It was so intriguing and interesting. Having little knowledge of Greek mythology/literature/ancient Greece, etc and seeing movies like 300 ( ha, I know ) I was still able to pick up on the tone of the book. Which I thought worked really good in a SciFi setting. The narrative, art, and colors were just spot on. It all flowed and was unique. This was a different read for me and I appreciated every minute of it. Well done.

[Prince Disarming]

*Spoilers*

I think I am somewhere in the middle. I didn't hate it, in fact I liked it, but it certainly has it flaws. I like how the tone of the book is very grand with the epic poetry style narration. I really like the psychedelic art. I think the biggest problem with this first issue is that it is confusing. It starts with a huge info dump at the beginning which may not be the best way to pull in readers. It throws a lot of info at you, and that can be difficult to remember while reading the actual meat of the story. While I enjoy the art, it can sometimes be difficult to try and piece together what I am being shown although usually I can figure it out. There is a lot of interesting machinery in this first issue that has interconnected people in jelly like substances, and it would have been great to get a little clearer picture of that. The gender swap is interesting, and I am curious to see where they take it in future issues, but right now the change seems superficial. It wasn't a perfect issue, but I am curious enough to try it once more next month.

[ishikabe]

After reading the comic today, I can see there is alot of symbolism with psychedelics/being reborn from using them. If you expected this comic to be "flow-y" and easy to read, after pulling out that crazy map in the beginning of the comic, I don't know what to say. Hell, the map could be a representation that you would have to put down the comic and think about certain themes/religions. What if that's a map of the brain on a psychedelic? We are so used to stories and time being on a straight purple line, like the one shown on the map. But then you see all these crazy orbits and chaos. That's not definitely not a straight edge brain.

[FriendRoss]

I decided I enjoyed it

I kinda vaguely remember the Iliad and oddessey from high school..... But as this book went a long I definitly picked up on the story beats


Definitly a fraction book

[Blacksun]

It's a little complicared to read, but I really liked Ody-C.

from reading Azzarello run on WW. I'm very interested on new takes on greek mythology