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kwhreads's review against another edition
Library rental expires but would love to revisit, cool premise and world building if a little slow.
marcusnyahoe's review against another edition
5.0
There was an old fanzine in the eighties called Arkensword, and on a trip back to Liverpool I entered a comic shop and picked up a copy. I was 15 and it had an Alan Moore interview inside, as well as Judge Dredd on the cover flanked by two ladies in suspenders. How could I resist. To be fair it turned out to be the most significant purchase I have ever made when it comes to comics. Not only did it have a very in depth and fascinating interview with the aforementioned Mr. Moore, it also had an interview with Howard Chaykin about something called American Flagg, an article on V for Vendetta (which also started with a Joy Division quote and thus sparked another passion) and interviews with Phil Elliot and Glen Dakin, and some stuff about an associated artist called Eddie Campbell. All of this served to open up the wide world of comics beyond the traditional British kids' stuff and the American super-hero stuff. After reading I later returned to that shop to grab a copy of Swamp Thing (issue 50 – the penultimate American Gothic story) and American Flagg. The Fast Fiction guys were nowhere to be seen though. In fact it would be another seven years before I managed to get hold of anything by them, when Dark Horse released their collection of The Eyeball Kid, which is featured in this collection.
The Eyeball Kid! This excited me, intrigued me and confused me. At once familiar in its tropes but strangely different I didn't fully understand it, but it was enough to make me fall want to seek out more. Coming back to it now, in the context of the stories that came before and with a greater appreciation of the comic tropes it parodies, it comes alive as the gem of work it truly is. We'll come back to The Kid, but the book this collection really pivots on, the point at which the artist seems to take a leap forward, is Book 3, “Doing the Islands with Bacchus”.
“Doing the Islands with Bacchus” is Eddie Campbell presenting the Greek myths in a modern vernacular, making the classics accessible to a more general audience. The fact that he seems to get to the core of the myths and communicate them so effectively is a testament to his understanding of them. There's a passion behind Doing the Islands… that speaks to the artist's enthusiasm for the subject, which if Alec is accurate he read whilst employed as a sheet metal worker. It seems wonderfully applicable that whilst smashing the stereotype of the typical manual worker he is also smashing the stereotypes of how the Greek myths are normally presented. As Bacchus says, “It makes me laugh the way you people picture the god Hermes...racing across the sky on his winged tippy-toes with a great poncey buncha flowers in his mitt.” all the while in a pose that would make Morrissey green with envy.
Doing the Islands… seems to be the point where this book really comes alive. Throughout the volume Campbell's art is strong, but from hereon in, where it is Eddie Campbell providing the art rather than Ed Hillyer (also good but slightly different) it seems to take on a more confidence. Layouts are clearer and the whole comic transforms into a superior experience. Not that the first two books are poor. Far from it, both Immortality Isn't Forever and The Gods of Business are better than the normal comic books, but they do take a leap forward. In Eddie Campbell though, we have an artist who clearly loves drawing, and not just comic book drawing. I would call his drawing style robust and it is that of somebody who loves art outside of the comic world. There is no copying of the way Jack Kirby or Jon Buscema drew, and I can't imagine he ever owned a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”. Where the Kirby influence is used it's normally an obvious parody, something to subvert the whole action comics form.
“I wanted to mock the improbability of a big sprawling adventure while still having one.” - Eddie Campbell (introduction to Immortality Isn't Forever).
With The Eyeball Kid we get back to the action comics parody. However this time, as we are told in the introduction, Campbell allowed Ed Hillyer to do his own layouts, and this freedom produces some magnificent work. From the first splash page showing a close up of the Kid, through Hermes spotting the Kid from the air (upside down in a pose anybody who has read super-hero comics would recognise) and Hermes Big Glove, it's a magnificent parody cum tribute. Of course a huge factor in this, and one not to be understated, is the contribution Woodrow Phoenix makes with his lettering. The letters really captures the feel of those old super-hero comics, with enough of a contemporary spin (witness the titles for “Seeing Straight” and “High Noon”).
The volume finishes with “Earth, Water, Air, Fire” with Eddie Campbell back doing the art, and it's a fantastically solid showing. The action comics storyline comes to its end with all the lose ends wrapped up. There's the seamless mixture of photographs and line art to enjoy, and a suitable Greek tragedy for Joe Theseus. It provides a sense of closure to finish this first volume.
All in all, this is not a book you read quickly, waiting for the next thrill. The best approach is to open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass and completely immerse yourself in it over a period of time. Maybe follow the suggested wine pairings for each book. It's a wonderful world in which to journey for a while, and Mr. Campbell (along with Messrs Hillyer and Phoenix) make it easy to escape to. Hopefully the next collection will not be too far off.
The Eyeball Kid! This excited me, intrigued me and confused me. At once familiar in its tropes but strangely different I didn't fully understand it, but it was enough to make me fall want to seek out more. Coming back to it now, in the context of the stories that came before and with a greater appreciation of the comic tropes it parodies, it comes alive as the gem of work it truly is. We'll come back to The Kid, but the book this collection really pivots on, the point at which the artist seems to take a leap forward, is Book 3, “Doing the Islands with Bacchus”.
“Doing the Islands with Bacchus” is Eddie Campbell presenting the Greek myths in a modern vernacular, making the classics accessible to a more general audience. The fact that he seems to get to the core of the myths and communicate them so effectively is a testament to his understanding of them. There's a passion behind Doing the Islands… that speaks to the artist's enthusiasm for the subject, which if Alec is accurate he read whilst employed as a sheet metal worker. It seems wonderfully applicable that whilst smashing the stereotype of the typical manual worker he is also smashing the stereotypes of how the Greek myths are normally presented. As Bacchus says, “It makes me laugh the way you people picture the god Hermes...racing across the sky on his winged tippy-toes with a great poncey buncha flowers in his mitt.” all the while in a pose that would make Morrissey green with envy.
Doing the Islands… seems to be the point where this book really comes alive. Throughout the volume Campbell's art is strong, but from hereon in, where it is Eddie Campbell providing the art rather than Ed Hillyer (also good but slightly different) it seems to take on a more confidence. Layouts are clearer and the whole comic transforms into a superior experience. Not that the first two books are poor. Far from it, both Immortality Isn't Forever and The Gods of Business are better than the normal comic books, but they do take a leap forward. In Eddie Campbell though, we have an artist who clearly loves drawing, and not just comic book drawing. I would call his drawing style robust and it is that of somebody who loves art outside of the comic world. There is no copying of the way Jack Kirby or Jon Buscema drew, and I can't imagine he ever owned a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”. Where the Kirby influence is used it's normally an obvious parody, something to subvert the whole action comics form.
“I wanted to mock the improbability of a big sprawling adventure while still having one.” - Eddie Campbell (introduction to Immortality Isn't Forever).
With The Eyeball Kid we get back to the action comics parody. However this time, as we are told in the introduction, Campbell allowed Ed Hillyer to do his own layouts, and this freedom produces some magnificent work. From the first splash page showing a close up of the Kid, through Hermes spotting the Kid from the air (upside down in a pose anybody who has read super-hero comics would recognise) and Hermes Big Glove, it's a magnificent parody cum tribute. Of course a huge factor in this, and one not to be understated, is the contribution Woodrow Phoenix makes with his lettering. The letters really captures the feel of those old super-hero comics, with enough of a contemporary spin (witness the titles for “Seeing Straight” and “High Noon”).
The volume finishes with “Earth, Water, Air, Fire” with Eddie Campbell back doing the art, and it's a fantastically solid showing. The action comics storyline comes to its end with all the lose ends wrapped up. There's the seamless mixture of photographs and line art to enjoy, and a suitable Greek tragedy for Joe Theseus. It provides a sense of closure to finish this first volume.
All in all, this is not a book you read quickly, waiting for the next thrill. The best approach is to open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass and completely immerse yourself in it over a period of time. Maybe follow the suggested wine pairings for each book. It's a wonderful world in which to journey for a while, and Mr. Campbell (along with Messrs Hillyer and Phoenix) make it easy to escape to. Hopefully the next collection will not be too far off.
akirathelemur's review against another edition
4.0
Minus one star for naked people riding dolphins. There's no excuse for that.
marcusnyahoe's review
5.0
There was an old fanzine in the eighties called Arkensword, and on a trip back to Liverpool I entered a comic shop and picked up a copy. I was 15 and it had an Alan Moore interview inside, as well as Judge Dredd on the cover flanked by two ladies in suspenders. How could I resist. To be fair it turned out to be the most significant purchase I have ever made when it comes to comics. Not only did it have a very in depth and fascinating interview with the aforementioned Mr. Moore, it also had an interview with Howard Chaykin about something called American Flagg, an article on V for Vendetta (which also started with a Joy Division quote and thus sparked another passion) and interviews with Phil Elliot and Glen Dakin, and some stuff about an associated artist called Eddie Campbell. All of this served to open up the wide world of comics beyond the traditional British kids' stuff and the American super-hero stuff. After reading I later returned to that shop to grab a copy of Swamp Thing (issue 50 – the penultimate American Gothic story) and American Flagg. The Fast Fiction guys were nowhere to be seen though. In fact it would be another seven years before I managed to get hold of anything by them, when Dark Horse released their collection of The Eyeball Kid, which is featured in this collection.
The Eyeball Kid! This excited me, intrigued me and confused me. At once familiar in its tropes but strangely different I didn't fully understand it, but it was enough to make me fall want to seek out more. Coming back to it now, in the context of the stories that came before and with a greater appreciation of the comic tropes it parodies, it comes alive as the gem of work it truly is. We'll come back to The Kid, but the book this collection really pivots on, the point at which the artist seems to take a leap forward, is Book 3, “Doing the Islands with Bacchus”.
“Doing the Islands with Bacchus” is Eddie Campbell presenting the Greek myths in a modern vernacular, making the classics accessible to a more general audience. The fact that he seems to get to the core of the myths and communicate them so effectively is a testament to his understanding of them. There's a passion behind Doing the Islands… that speaks to the artist's enthusiasm for the subject, which if Alec is accurate he read whilst employed as a sheet metal worker. It seems wonderfully applicable that whilst smashing the stereotype of the typical manual worker he is also smashing the stereotypes of how the Greek myths are normally presented. As Bacchus says, “It makes me laugh the way you people picture the god Hermes...racing across the sky on his winged tippy-toes with a great poncey buncha flowers in his mitt.” all the while in a pose that would make Morrissey green with envy.
Doing the Islands… seems to be the point where this book really comes alive. Throughout the volume Campbell's art is strong, but from hereon in, where it is Eddie Campbell providing the art rather than Ed Hillyer (also good but slightly different) it seems to take on a more confidence. Layouts are clearer and the whole comic transforms into a superior experience. Not that the first two books are poor. Far from it, both Immortality Isn't Forever and The Gods of Business are better than the normal comic books, but they do take a leap forward. In Eddie Campbell though, we have an artist who clearly loves drawing, and not just comic book drawing. I would call his drawing style robust and it is that of somebody who loves art outside of the comic world. There is no copying of the way Jack Kirby or Jon Buscema drew, and I can't imagine he ever owned a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”. Where the Kirby influence is used it's normally an obvious parody, something to subvert the whole action comics form.
“I wanted to mock the improbability of a big sprawling adventure while still having one.” - Eddie Campbell (introduction to Immortality Isn't Forever).
With The Eyeball Kid we get back to the action comics parody. However this time, as we are told in the introduction, Campbell allowed Ed Hillyer to do his own layouts, and this freedom produces some magnificent work. From the first splash page showing a close up of the Kid, through Hermes spotting the Kid from the air (upside down in a pose anybody who has read super-hero comics would recognise) and Hermes Big Glove, it's a magnificent parody cum tribute. Of course a huge factor in this, and one not to be understated, is the contribution Woodrow Phoenix makes with his lettering. The letters really captures the feel of those old super-hero comics, with enough of a contemporary spin (witness the titles for “Seeing Straight” and “High Noon”).
The volume finishes with “Earth, Water, Air, Fire” with Eddie Campbell back doing the art, and it's a fantastically solid showing. The action comics storyline comes to its end with all the lose ends wrapped up. There's the seamless mixture of photographs and line art to enjoy, and a suitable Greek tragedy for Joe Theseus. It provides a sense of closure to finish this first volume.
All in all, this is not a book you read quickly, waiting for the next thrill. The best approach is to open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass and completely immerse yourself in it over a period of time. Maybe follow the suggested wine pairings for each book. It's a wonderful world in which to journey for a while, and Mr. Campbell (along with Messrs Hillyer and Phoenix) make it easy to escape to. Hopefully the next collection will not be too far off.
The Eyeball Kid! This excited me, intrigued me and confused me. At once familiar in its tropes but strangely different I didn't fully understand it, but it was enough to make me fall want to seek out more. Coming back to it now, in the context of the stories that came before and with a greater appreciation of the comic tropes it parodies, it comes alive as the gem of work it truly is. We'll come back to The Kid, but the book this collection really pivots on, the point at which the artist seems to take a leap forward, is Book 3, “Doing the Islands with Bacchus”.
“Doing the Islands with Bacchus” is Eddie Campbell presenting the Greek myths in a modern vernacular, making the classics accessible to a more general audience. The fact that he seems to get to the core of the myths and communicate them so effectively is a testament to his understanding of them. There's a passion behind Doing the Islands… that speaks to the artist's enthusiasm for the subject, which if Alec is accurate he read whilst employed as a sheet metal worker. It seems wonderfully applicable that whilst smashing the stereotype of the typical manual worker he is also smashing the stereotypes of how the Greek myths are normally presented. As Bacchus says, “It makes me laugh the way you people picture the god Hermes...racing across the sky on his winged tippy-toes with a great poncey buncha flowers in his mitt.” all the while in a pose that would make Morrissey green with envy.
Doing the Islands… seems to be the point where this book really comes alive. Throughout the volume Campbell's art is strong, but from hereon in, where it is Eddie Campbell providing the art rather than Ed Hillyer (also good but slightly different) it seems to take on a more confidence. Layouts are clearer and the whole comic transforms into a superior experience. Not that the first two books are poor. Far from it, both Immortality Isn't Forever and The Gods of Business are better than the normal comic books, but they do take a leap forward. In Eddie Campbell though, we have an artist who clearly loves drawing, and not just comic book drawing. I would call his drawing style robust and it is that of somebody who loves art outside of the comic world. There is no copying of the way Jack Kirby or Jon Buscema drew, and I can't imagine he ever owned a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”. Where the Kirby influence is used it's normally an obvious parody, something to subvert the whole action comics form.
“I wanted to mock the improbability of a big sprawling adventure while still having one.” - Eddie Campbell (introduction to Immortality Isn't Forever).
With The Eyeball Kid we get back to the action comics parody. However this time, as we are told in the introduction, Campbell allowed Ed Hillyer to do his own layouts, and this freedom produces some magnificent work. From the first splash page showing a close up of the Kid, through Hermes spotting the Kid from the air (upside down in a pose anybody who has read super-hero comics would recognise) and Hermes Big Glove, it's a magnificent parody cum tribute. Of course a huge factor in this, and one not to be understated, is the contribution Woodrow Phoenix makes with his lettering. The letters really captures the feel of those old super-hero comics, with enough of a contemporary spin (witness the titles for “Seeing Straight” and “High Noon”).
The volume finishes with “Earth, Water, Air, Fire” with Eddie Campbell back doing the art, and it's a fantastically solid showing. The action comics storyline comes to its end with all the lose ends wrapped up. There's the seamless mixture of photographs and line art to enjoy, and a suitable Greek tragedy for Joe Theseus. It provides a sense of closure to finish this first volume.
All in all, this is not a book you read quickly, waiting for the next thrill. The best approach is to open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass and completely immerse yourself in it over a period of time. Maybe follow the suggested wine pairings for each book. It's a wonderful world in which to journey for a while, and Mr. Campbell (along with Messrs Hillyer and Phoenix) make it easy to escape to. Hopefully the next collection will not be too far off.
mattquann's review
2.0
When a graphic novel takes me a full year to get through, it says something about my interest level. I was really hoping for something akin to Gaiman's Sandman and was excited about something else from Eddie Campbell after really enjoying From Hell, his collaboration with Alan Moore. Instead, this book is really tonally inconsistent and never interested me in a way that made me feel compelled to return.
There's lots of positive things to be said about Campbell's unique, uneven, almost sketch-like line-work. Unfortunately, it is the only thing that remains interesting throughout the book. This was a take on Greek mythology that bored me to tears with some clunky dialogue about historical facts and a book that could never decide whether it was trying to be funny or serious.
I know a lot of people really love Campbell and this series in particular, but it did nothing for me. I'll be taking a hard pass on volume 2 with the God of Wine.
There's lots of positive things to be said about Campbell's unique, uneven, almost sketch-like line-work. Unfortunately, it is the only thing that remains interesting throughout the book. This was a take on Greek mythology that bored me to tears with some clunky dialogue about historical facts and a book that could never decide whether it was trying to be funny or serious.
I know a lot of people really love Campbell and this series in particular, but it did nothing for me. I'll be taking a hard pass on volume 2 with the God of Wine.
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