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Bacchus: Immortality isn't Forever Mythology presents a rich vein for comic creators to tap, and in this series Eddie Campbell brings the Greek pantheon bang up to date. Bacchus is the Greek god of wine and song, still going strong 4,000 years after his birth. Trouble is, he's still got a bee in his bonnet about Theseus (now calling himself Joe Theseus), who abandoned Bacchus' wife Ariadne on a Greek island, thousands of years previously. Meanwhile, Theseus has other problems, needing to make an annual trip to a secret South American beach to drink brine from the eye socket of the skull of Poseidon. It is this pilgrimage that helps him maintain his youth so he can continue along his well-worn path of jilting the women who serve no further purpose in his extended life.
The research into Greek myth that this book is based around is solid and well extrapolated into the modern world. This volume features a lot of this back-story, almost as a secondary theme to the main Bacchus versus Theseus plot. Few of the other characters get much fleshing out at this stage, proving little more than sounding boards for Bacchus' revenge plot or Theseus' contempt for the everyday mortal.  The art is typical of Campbell - heavy black lines scratched around the page, usually surrounded by blinding white or deep inky black. The style is perfect for the wizened face of Bacchus, though those unused to Campbell's style may find the varying quality of drawing throughout the book a little off putting. Go with the flow, however, and we think you'll get over it.
The book is introductory in feel, but is just about enough to make you want to read more. A longer first volume might have served this purpose better, though this is one series you can't easily dip into. Start here, but get hold of a few volumes for the perfect introduction to the original world of Greek mythology today. |
Published by Eddie Campbell Comics First published 1995 ISBN 0-9585-7836-2 Links Official Comicography |
