Potently Poetic Adaptation: “ODC-Y #1”

In a visually arresting and potently poetic adaptation of one Western Literature’s oldest stories, the Odyssey, Matt Fraction and Christian Ward challenge readers to linger on the page and engage this epic on its own terms. Fraction’s writing, which dips in and out of epic verse with a casual mastery, demands a close attention to rhythm and meter, but retains his unique voice. Ward’s stunning visuals and brilliant page design demand that readers interpret almost every page as a whole, revealing whole visual sequences that should be read as poems, alongside the text, in their own right. ODY-C #1, Fraction and Ward’s first issue of a psychedelic, gender-swapped, space-opera reimagining of the Odyssey, promises a fresh take on this incredible tale.

Fraction and Ward’s fresh take, however, is neither that they are adapting the Odyssey to comics nor that their adaptation is gender-flipped. These are both excellent additions, which we’ll talk about in a minute, but more importantly this translation is one that got me thinking seriously about the modern tropes of strong female characters. What does it mean for a female character to be strong? Most of the time, the criticism is that, strong female characters tend to be: one dimensional; physically strong, but perhaps lacking depth; dressed in a sexy get-up; and most disconcerting, a narrative tool for the male protagonist.

Fraction’s Odyssia does not conform to these unfortunate tropes. Odyssia, in her fierce and clever splendor, is, in fact, the opposite. Physically strong, but brimming with substance, Odyssia kicks ass.  One particularly stunning page, laid out by Ward like a painting wrapped around bilingual amphora, Odyssia takes on a small army of Cicones and kicks on right through the panel walls. Nevertheless, as soon as her bloodlust is sated, Odyssia returns to her Sebex companion and contemplates her actions, “Traveling home should at least fill my soul / Yet distraction and battle still lure me away. Cicone barbarians hardly pose threats yet to kill them prolonged us another day.” Conscious of the long journey ahead, she reflects on her impulsivity; a trait that separates her from other, less fully realized, strong female characters. However, reading this then makes me curious, is Fraction’s gender-flipped Odyssia simply a mouthpiece for translating Homer’s Odysseus? I don’t think so.

Fraction presents to us, something unique here that, hopefully going forward, continues a trend I’ve seen in his work. Like any writer adapting or contending with mythological figures, Fraction butts up against the problem of the monomyth. The Campbellian Hero’s Journey shows up in most works of fantasy and quite a lot of fiction these days, so much so that I often find it insidiously creeping into many other genres. For instance, Dan Harmon, famed Community-creator, uses this structure to plot most episodes of his work and every video game I’ve played lately walks you through it– it is hard to escape. The monomyth, as Campbell describes it, is not a guide to writing stories, but a description of how stories work; however, his conception is framed in a male-dominated way that pushes out the differing experiences of female heroes. The Hero’s Journey, obviously can have female protagonists, but situates them in male frames of reference. The meeting with the Goddess and Woman as Temptress scenes are potentially problematic and complicate an exploration of female sexuality and desire that isn’t portrayed as threatening or alien. Fraction’s work with Odyssia in issue one, however, gives me hope that these issues will be dealt with with a subtle touch.

For instance, the way Odyssia’s spacecraft is powered is really cool and dominates most of this issue.  The “Star-Minded Witch-Hand Odyssia” is the captain of a ship powered by “womb-riding dire mechanica” that moves in response to their singularity of purpose and harmony of spirit. Rather than a bunch of dudes rowing in sync, their bodies and reflexes timing well, this ship is propelled by minds of the women aboard it. They think and yearn as one, and when that unity is disrupted, the ship slowly limps away.  This tells me that Fraction is thinking about how to tell this story in a universe of women, but also about a uniquely female mythological figure because it eschews using or even inverting strength as a traditional feature of masculinity.

Overall, Fraction and Ward present a stunning issue one in ODY-C. The art is superb, tremendous in its dream-like and highly symbolic style. The writing is clever, but also emotionally impactful. The layouts of each page require you to linger and contemplate. And last but not least we are treated to a powerful retelling of one of our oldest stories.  I can’t wait to read more.