Comics
Review: “Odyssey” Volume 1
“Odyssey” follows one soldier’s grand disillusionment with the American war machine. It’s a story we’ve seen countless times before, a regular man turned super solider against his will, but small sadistic twists stand out amongst the heavy handed political message to create something more, albeit a little undercooked.
WRITTEN BY: Dave Elliot
ART BY: Garrie Gastonny & Toby Cypress
PUBLISHER: Titan Comics
PRICE: $19.99
RELEASE: August 6, 2014
There is something about this book that I find oddly alluring. It has a similar framework to Captain America but distinctly pursues an alternative route by channeling something more horrific for the origin of the super solider.
And sure – you’ve got a sequence where Blazing Glory rips out Hiter’s heart and makes a mural of his blood, but it’s too much. Don’t get me wrong, typically I’d be all for something like that, but in this story it feels incredibly tonally jarring.
See, “Odyessey” can’t make up it’s mind. It’s unsure of itself and finds a wavering protagonist in Blazing Glory. It’s a story we’ve seen a thousand times before, a super solider turned government tool. It’s got fantastic set pieces including a fantastic reveal that a mission to post 9-11 Iraq was actually to retrieve Dracula, but still it feels incredibly tonally jarring.
Even more still is the stellar work of artists Garrie Gastonny and Toby Cypress. I’m a huge fan of Cypress after his work on “The White Suits” but man oh man are his talents underused in his particular section of the book. He’s got a more surreal and animalistic style that was screaming for a showdown with Dracula. Instead he’s saddled with the most dialogue heavy part of the script, leaving his wild style at the most reserved I’ve ever seen it.
Garrie Gastonny has a beautifully detailed and clean approach that causes the rest of the book to shine. The panels are easily digestible and the character work is vivid and detailed. The above-mentioned scene with Hitler will haunt my mind for some time to come.
The final pages of this first volume come to define Blazing Glory in a brand new way that I found completely captivating but couldn’t help but feel a little shortchanged when it came right down to it, only because I wanted to know more about this huge change of status quo. I craved to know more about it, and just when everything was coming together the book ends.
It’s the tonal shifts that cause this book to falter. Dave Elliot can’t seem to make up his mind between the world of the supernatural and the political, and because of this the book feels lost somewhere in the middle. The supernatural elements complete shine and come to define the book against the whole cavalcade of stories like it, where the political elements feel far too undercooked and under researched to really make an impact.
So the whole experience is rather polarizing. If you’re a fan of either type of story you’ll probably leave a little disappointed, but if you’re looking for something truly unique that swings for the fences with ambition then this is the book for you. Yet, I caution that ultimately both stories fail to deliver on their premise. Proceed with caution.
Comics
‘Curse of the Where Wolf’ Bites Into August Release With Trio of Werewolf Theatrical Screenings [Exclusive Preview]
Larry Chaney‘s hairy misadventures are continuing in the sequel graphic novel Curse of the Where Wolf from creative team Rob Saucedo, Debora Lancianese, and Jack Morelli, and its author is celebrating with a trio of horror’s greatest werewolf films.
The Curse of the Where Wolf hits shelves on August 7 from Encyclopocalypse Publications.
That coincides with the launch of a theatrical screening event in Houston, Texas, featuring a trio of seminal werewolf flicks turning 45 this year: The Howling on August 7, Wolfen on August 14, and An American Werewolf in London on August 21.
Each screening features a “werewolf in film” presentation as well as a book signing from Where Wolf author and River Oaks Theatre artistic director Rob Saucedo.
In the new graphic novel, “Being a werewolf sucks. Reporter Larry Chaney wanted to be a hero. Instead, he became a werewolf. Now, caught between incredible new powers and a desire to eat everything (and everyone) in sight, Larry must find a cure for his curse. Or die trying.”
“With Where Wolf, I wanted to tell a whodunit set in a furry convention, so the story was pretty contained within a very specific setting and genre. With Curse of the Where Wolf, I wanted to celebrate everything I love about the possibility of comic books. Curse of the Where Wolf is a funny book, in every sense of the phrase, but it’s also an earnest look at a person’s struggle to become a better version of themselves, especially when the alternative is to become a literal monster,” Saucedo says of Curse.
The original graphic novel was previously serialized as the first webcomic hosted on Fangoria before being collected by Encyclopocalypse Publications in 2023 and has already been optioned for film, podcast, and television development ahead of launch by producers James Fino (“The Freak Brothers” for Tubi, “Rick and Morty” for Adult Swim) and Charles Horak (First Date for Magnolia Pictures).
Expect Larry to find himself in even weirder situations in the 362-page full color sequel; Saucedo has provided Bloody Disgusting with exclusive art pages from the upcoming graphic novel that showcase lupine humor.
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