Aug
13
2015
0

Ody-C #6 Review

Written by: Matt Fraction

Art by: Christian Ward

Publisher: Image

 

 

Ody-C #6 expands upon the universe of Ody-C introduced in the first story arc, a gender-flipped retelling of Homer’s Odyssey in a sci-fi setting. My review of the first volume that consists of the first five issues of the series can be found here.

Ody-C #6 shifts focus from Odyssia to Queen Ene, the gender-flipped King Menelaus, and He, the gender-flipped Helen of Troy. Once again, Ody-C only retains the themes of the Greek epics and uses the narrative as a vessel to carry these themes. Interestingly, Ody-C also borrows from Middle Eastern classic, 1001 Arabian Nights, while future issues are likely to borrow from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

While the story is completely new, this is undoubtedly an issue of Ody-C. Christian Ward’s psychedelic, surrealistic art is just as great as ever, and his shift to digital artwork is barely noticeable. Matt Fraction’s writing retains his signature wit and humor. His creative abilities appear to be endless as he effortlessly injects his voice into these completely new characters (in the Ody-C universe) and his treatment of characters continues to be his strength. His commentary, on the other hand, shifts focus from the politics of the Greek gods making it less impressive and impactful, but only ever so slightly.

The meat of Ody-C #6 is its storytelling and Fraction takes an unorthodox approach to it. The issue opens with He reading a story of Herakles and Wolf. Fraction implicitly comments about gender roles in the Greek society through his juxtaposition of He and Helen. This commentary is quite extensive as He’s ritual of beautification at the hands of the Sebex characterizes him as an object, a plaything for the women aboard the ten thousand swiftships. The adaptation of Helen’s character gives Fraction more room to play with ideas of gender and beauty than he ever had in Ody-C.

Herakles’s tale was disorienting to me, at first, as it seemingly omitted the rule of flipped genders in the Ody-C universe. I reasoned that this tale was a microcosm within the Ody-C universe and served as a tool for storytelling. Herakles rapes a she-wolf, who later narrates a cautionary tale about rape. The she-wolf’s story stems from Sumerian mythology about the goddess Inanna and Shukaletuda. This simple adaptation not only fits thematically with the story Fraction tells, but also expands the scope of Fraction storytelling. The pages with the she-wolf’s story have exquisite art and the panels, having no defined boundaries, flow into each other. The tale also has a message that the she-wolf wishes to convey to Herakles. I loved the pages with this tale and its uniqueness with respect to the rest of the comic book.

The tale continues but immediately shifts narrative styles. The wolf bears two children who grow up to become as strong as their demigod father. Their encounter with the djinn was very much in the vein of the Arabian Nights. He meets the brothers of the tale, who free him from slavery. Fraction tries to tackle slavery in the last part of this issue, but it falls short of the standard set by himself with his treatment of gender. The last few pages seemed shallow and dragged on just a little bit.

Overall, Ody-C #6 is more Ody-C; if Ody-C is too heavy and you prefer your comic books with levity, I would not recommend this issue. However, if you are an admirer of mythology and enjoy reading about social issues, Ody-C is right up your alley. Keep in mind that this issue serves as the perfect jumping on point as the first five issues are connected to this one only by theme and by setting. Fraction and Ward have once again created a literary masterpiece that increases in scope without losing any of its humor and intellect.