Ulysses

Patrimoine Glénat

by Jacques Lob, Georges Pichard (Illustrator), Sean Kelly (Translator)

The Heavy Metal take on this classic tale.

Genres: Classics, Comics, Bande Dessinée, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Read For School, Classic Literature

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1974

About the author

Jacques Lob (1932 – 1990) was a French comic book creator, known for several comics creations, including Superdupont and Snowpiercer.

Reviews

[Joshlynn]

The stupidity of people on Goodreads never ceases to amaze. Make sure you're reviewing the correct edition of a given book, y'all, especially with established classics. Because this is not Homer's poem. This is a eurotrashy art comic adaptation put out by Metal Hurlant.

[Kevin K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun books with beautiful art, reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley, but with a 1970s sci-fi, eurotica twist. The premise is interesting — recasting the Greek gods and goddesses as members of a high-tech (and highly naked) advanced civilization. One flub: Homer's voice recorder is too big! Like a bulky 70s reel-to-reel tape machine instead of an ipod. All-in-all, the revamp of Odysseus' story didn't quite hit home, but I was a reader of Heavy Metal in the 70s-80s, and enjoyed the nostalgia.

Sampling of Pichard's art: Ulysses at the home of Calypso on Ogygia

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

To change up what I was reading a bit (lots of superhero books), I decided to get a handful of European comics from a sale that was hosted by Heavy Metal Magazine. Heavy Metal is known to be an "adult" comic company, and while this is not for children it isn't crass or filthy - it just has a bit on skin. I believe this comic was originally written in 1974, and I really enjoyed the artwork a LOT - very much Jack Kirby meets 70's drug chic. The plot is a "modernized" (1974) version of the classic Story by Homer. The Olympians and associated monsters are aliens, which are mistaken for gods by humans that cannot comprehend their technology. They enjoy putting humans in peril and watching their follies as some sort of twisted reality show.

The only downside is that this volume leaves the story incomplete, as Heavy Metal did not realese the second volume with this 2006 reprint.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is at times the worst you'll see out of a legendary Frenchman but it must've been A Suivre magazine's deadlines because this appeared in segments before it was "collected" by Glenat then translated to English by Michael Koch and lettered incredibly poorly by Monisha Sheth.

During the psychedelic scenes the art is absolutely wonderful.

This is by far the most fun Odyssey adaptation I've read with hysterical renditions of space-tech Gods and their ultra space-age machinery. Zeus, who I'm always disappointed by, is perfectly unique and the rest are the best versions as well AND what a brilliant idea to have Homer along and integral to the "success" of the whole journey!

[The Sporty Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adaptation BD du mythe d'Homère, Ulysses par Lob et Richard est une épopée cryptotechnopunk des années 80. Les dieux y sont représentés comme une génération plus évoluée qui utilisent la technologie pour faire des miracles et la biologie pour rester éternellement jeunes. Les dessins ne sont pas franchement beaux et le seul intérêt vraiment est le côté érotique de cette adaptation. Les déesses et autres créatures sont toutes en bikini, avec des proportions généreuses et d'une beauté irréelle. Les héros sont également tous torse nus. Cette BD est à l'origine une adaptation faite par le magasine Heavy Métal. Je suis trop jeune pour avoir lu ce fanzine mais cela m'a fait penser à Edika dans Fluide Glacial ou l'Echo des savanes. Il n'y a pas vraiment d'intérêt en dehors de cela. Si vous la trouvez sur un vide-grenier ou à Emmaüs, sachez que la version intégrale peut se revendre entre 15 et 20 Euros tout de même selon la côte.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacques Lob and Georges Pichard provide their take on Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Following the Sack of Troy, the King of Ithaca, Ulysses (Latin name of the Greek hero Odysseus), prepares to travel home with his men. But the pantheon of gods on Olympus, having thoroughly enjoyed the viewing experience that was the Trojan War, yearn for more action. Save Athena, the rest of the gods implore Zeus to provide a series of entertaining obstacles for Ulysses to overcome. Given that Homer's poem is considered a literary and mythic epic, the gods were definitely correct on the entertaining front.

The twist here is that the gods are depicted as a alien high tech society (very similar conceit to Gray Morrow's Edge of Chaos) that observe the events of Ulysses' life from a cozy viewing port. The challenges that Ulysses and his men face are technological in design, such as the cyclops Polyphemus being depicted as a goliath with a lighthouse face that blasts beams from it's face.



The story itself is pretty much a beat for beat reinvention of The Odysseus, but with this entertaining spin throughout. The artwork is sublime, and the individual character designs are genuinely hilarious (particularly Poseidon). Not the definitive alternate take on the story, but probably the most fun one I've read yet.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow the Trippy Metal Hurlant comic version is linked with the original text version. Needless to say, this one's got titties on the cover.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why my sixth grade teacher had us read the version of the Odyssey under the name Ulysses I will never know, because it confused me for years about the name of the hero, the etymology of the word "Odyssey" and the story in general. Nevertheless, the story fueled my love of Greek mythology in what has become a life-long interest in such myths.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this for school.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very, very long book, but I really enjoyed reading it.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legendary

[Jjab · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it when I was 11

[zoagli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating mix of ancient saga and science-fiction. What, you didn't expect that? Did you think the Greek Gods were real?