Bacchus, Vol. 3: Doing the Islands With Bacchus

Bacchus #3

by Eddie Campbell

Doing the islands with Bacchus, the 4,000 year old Greek God of Wine gathering up the short stories of the wine god's wanderings about after the events above - introduces Hermes.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

Eddie Campbell is a British comics artist and cartoonist whose work has shaped the evolution of modern graphic storytelling. He is widely known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell, his long collaboration with Alan Moore that reimagines the Jack the Ripper case through an ambitious and meticulously researched narrative. Campbell is also the creator of the long-running semi-autobiographical Alec series, later collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and the satirical adventure cycle Bacchus, which follows a handful of Greek gods who have wandered into the contemporary world. His scratchy pen-and-ink technique draws on impressionist influences and early masters of expressive line art, while his writing blends humor, candor, and literary ambition in a manner that critics have compared to Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller.
Campbell began developing autobiographical comics in the late 1970s before expanding the Alec stories throughout the following decades, publishing early instalments through small press networks in London and later with major independent publishers. After moving to Australia in the mid-1980s, he continued to produce both Alec and Bacchus stories while contributing to a range of international anthologies. His partnership with Moore on From Hell, initially serialised in the anthology Taboo, became one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of its era and further cemented his reputation for grounded, character-driven illustration.
Across a varied career Campbell has worked as a creator, editor, publisher, and occasional court illustrator. His contributions to comics have earned him numerous industry awards, including the Eisner Award, the Harvey Award, the Ignatz Award, the Eagle Award, and the UK Comic Art Award. He continues to produce new work while maintaining a strong presence in both literary and comics circles.

Reviews

[Frank McGirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the volume I was waiting for.

I had come across Campbell's Bacchus in some old Dark Horse Presents issues I thrifted and was enamored, and then I found some of his Bacchus comics which finally compelled me to track down the complete set of graphic novels reprinting his Bacchus/Deadface stories.

I enjoyed the first volumes, but this was what I was looking for: thought provoking, entertaining, and at times chilling (his look at death in Hades and the reduction to everyone to twittering fools).

I "think" this predated Neil Gaiman's shift to this type of storytelling in the Sandman series, but whereas I now feel a little cheated when looking back at Gaiman (who I believe to have once honed the talent of looking wise through being vague), some of these pieces were powerful, and took the risks of actually saying something.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bacchus takes center stage again in this volume. Most of the stories consist of Bacchus drinking with his buddies while telling stories from Greek mythology with his twist on them or the histories of wine or the like. Hermes also makes his first appearance in the story. This is also when I started buying the book in single issues when I could find it at my LCS. Good stuff.

[Vincent Mollica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking amazing

[Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Campbell's Bacchus series is a bizarro world of Greek gods still at work today. It's amazingly ambitious, too "talky" at times, and rough around the edges. But it also open up your mind with a wry wit and drawings like no one else's.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in the Bacchus series. Overall I liked second-most in the series.
-m