I seldom get really really chatty and effusive (yeah right) about a comic that I review, but the trade collection of Olympia, from Image, is a really great book!
This 180-page collection of the 5 single issue run of this title is an ideal read for comic book fans. Its story and scriptwriters, Tony Pires and Curt Pires manage to combine a comic-reading boy, his comic book hero come to life, include the comic book creator himself, and tie it together in an amazing pastiche/parody/tribute. The sheer balancing act itself is so delicately performed that it tiptoes around distracting us from the narrative. We succeed as the book succeeds, in having our heart touched, our funny-bone tickled, our senses aroused (yeah, alright…) and our imagination prodded. Oh, and our comic book-loving vanity acknowledged, yay.
Olympia’s story is this: a young boy named Elon Andrews discovers his fictional comic book hero, a god named Olympia, has for real crashed from the skies in woods near Elon’s suburban home. In helping the stranded Olympia, Elon has to act secretly. But Olympia has been followed from the skies by his mortal foes, who want to kill Olympia and anyone else who gets in their way. Things get heavy and hard to handle in a hurry!
The richly illustrated (Alex Diotto, and Jason Copland for chapter 3) and coloured (Dee Cunniffe) epic is truly outstanding. The pacing, the sense of isolation that is experienced by Elon, the quiet and majorly huge moments, all handled with aplomb. The panels flow organically, without the feeling of being contrived. This book, as I mentioned earlier, manages to join, splice, and blend elements of Elon’s comic book fan worship, 1960s Jack Kirby Marvel comics, and modern-day ‘real alien invasion’.
You really should check out this one!
Image, Olympia Trade Paperback, $16.99 for 180 pages of content, Teen+
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