ODY-C [Amazon | The Book Depository | comiXology] is Matt Fraction and Christian Ward’s reimagining of THE ODYSSEY—in space, with a predominantly female cast of characters. Odyssia, trickster-general, has spent a hundred years waging war against Troiia-VII and is now anxious to return home to her wife and child; however, her actions have drawn unfavourable attention. Zeus would be just as happy if Odyssia never made it home, so she erects barrier after barrier in the hero’s path.
It's your standard Odyssey setup. A war’s end; a hero on her way home; a slew of problems that lengthen her journey and threaten her life. What makes ODY-C different from every other Odyssey retelling you’ve ever read is its blend of science fiction with divine magic, and its strong focus on women. In this universe, Zeus eradicates manhood, certain sons cannot help but rise against their fathers as she rose against hers. She expects this to be the end of all non-godly people1, but women respond by engineering a third sex, the sebex, which can incubate ovum and thus bear children without masculine input.
This pisses Zeus off, but she can’t actually do anything about it because her decree only banned men and a sebex is not a man. Awkward.
And that’s where we’re at when ODY-C begins. The universe is full of women. Zeus is angry. Odyssia wants to go home. The reader enters the fray.
Let me be straight with you: I did not enjoy ODY-C. I loved the art. I admire the attempt. But the story itself left me cold, cold, cold.
In the normal course of things, I’d decline to write about a book that didn’t work for me, but in this case I want to unpack my response. I do honestly admire the scope of Fraction and Ward’s work, and I strongly suspect the comic will be absolutely the best thing ever in the right reader’s hands.
I’m not that reader, but you might be. Read on to find out.
