In tackling a gender-bent, psychedelically sci-fi version of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, comic-book writer Matt Fraction wanted a fittingly epic beginning. That is, until he learned that a 10-page foldout spread would break the presses.
An eight-pager, though? Totally doable.
The more I read about ODY-C the more I become absolutely certain that I am going to fall deeply in love with this book!
At the risk of turning this into more of a Matt Fraction appreciation blog than it already is, I have to talk about ODY-C again. We recently got the new Image Comics preview book at our store, so of course I immediately flipped through it. When I got to the pages for ODY-C I was actually unable to verbally express how beautiful they were. All I could do was stand there and stare at the splash of colors, the incredible design, and the intricate layouts. These preview pages are so beautiful, I can barely stand them! Christian Ward is an insanely talented artist and after seeing his character sketches at Image Expo I was prepared for the art to be gorgeous.
I wasn’t prepared for how emotional I got when I read those first pages of clearly classically inspired, epic narration full of female pronouns. It was one of those moments of being hit really hard by the realization that I’ve been missing something and then finally finding it. I actually felt something similar when I first read Suzie’s preteen search for sex ed, but that was more my adult desire to see an experience being represented. What’s happening here is somehow deeper. This is hitting me hard in the parts of me that are still a little girl reading Greek mythology, in particular devouring stories about clever Odysseus who solves his problems with his wits, and wishing I could more easily find myself in them. As a child I desperately wanted to see the story about the brainy hero who gets through adventures on smarts with a protagonist who reminded me more of myself. And as I read the first panel, here it was:
Clever Odyssia and her clever plan to win the war with Troia that had stretched across an entire century.
I don’t know yet whether or not I’m going to relate strongly to Fraction and Ward’s Odyssia (and as an adult I have much less interest in being compared to Odysseus), but even before its release ODY-C has started to fulfill a childhood dream that I hadn’t realized I was still holding onto.
Look, just click through to that article and look at the preview pages. Or stop by your LCS and see if they can show you the preview book in person. You’ll see for yourself. Of course if our store is the one you stop by, I’m more likely to make an awkward growling noise than say any of this because UNF, that art! But yeah. This book.
November can’t come soon enough!
