cover image ODY-C Vol.1

ODY-C Vol.1

Matt Fraction and Christian Ward. Image, $9.99 trade paper (136p) ISBN 978-1-63215-376-0

Homer's Odyssey is re-imagined in space, with genders reversed, in an amazing collaboration between Fraction (Sex Criminals) and Ward (Infinite Vacation) that features stunning visuals. Fraction's writing evokes the classic poem (complete with stanza notations), taking Odyssia and her crew across the space-sea ruled by Poseidon, whom Ward often shows shifting into the vastness of space. The manipulations (along with the bodies) mount as Odyssia strives to overcome the obstacles to her journey. Ward uses the sci-fi setting to evoke the strangeness and horror of the source material: thin-lined images are incredibly detailed, with a range of non-natural purple, pink, orange, and blue tones that bleed across each other to form a whole, similar to a more controlled Bill Sienkiewicz. Highlights are the full-bodied Zeus as a Renaissance beauty and a truly horrific Cyclops that will give readers nightmares. A remarkable comic that gets better with each turn of the page. (June)