Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

ODY-C #1ODY-C #1
Image Comics
Fraction & Ward

Fraction and Ward begin their retelling of Homer's "The Odyssey" but with a couple of twists. First, the book is set in space. Secondly, the genders of the lead characters are now female. This opens the book up to some possibilities that could make this comic book a wild ride. The first issue has some ups and downs and is definitely not for every reader. I enjoyed the visuals and some of the general setup but I'm not sure this is my cup of tea. I recommend checking this out because you just may fall in love with it.

The comic book is an ambitious one. Fraction manages to establish the lead character in this issue while setting up the longer plot. It's a tall task because he's got to sell the idea of the lead character's mentality while presenting the problem that launches into the next phases of the story. It appears he succeeded in this task. The book moves along at a great pace, which definitely helps. The visuals tend to overwhelm some of the story at times though. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing though.

Some of the positives in the comic book. First of all the comic contains an eight page, double-sided, gatefold at the front of the comic book. This lays out of the galaxy and provides a timeline of events. This is basically 16 extra pages in the book and I found myself reading and re-reading this. This is an excellent addition to this comic book.

The artwork is stunning. The style is decidedly psychedelic and it works on a number of levels. First of all, this isn't a "clean" looking space book. It's a used looking universe and the style shows it. Second, the characters drift into various states of emotions and this art captures moods in ways that are revolutionary. The visuals are something to marvel at and hopefully this type of quality won't create delays down the road.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe downside of this book is the source material is a must for this comic book. If you haven't read The Odyssey or are at least familiar with it then I believe you will be lost quickly. I also found the characters to be shallow. Perhaps this is the use of captions to tell virtually the entire story but the lack of dialogue, or at least coherent dialogue, made reading this comic book quite confusing. I could see some people getting lost after a couple of pages.

Ody-C is an epic tale. This is merely the first chapter. I have no doubt that if you pick this up and stick with it then you will be thrilled and entertained. The first issue provides some promise with fantastic visuals. Reading Homer's, "The Odyssey" may be essential for this, which is disappointing. All in all this is a comic book to pick up and try out.

3 out of 5 Geek Goggles