All-Action Classics: The Odyssey

by Tim Mucci, Ben Caldwell

An exciting approach to the classics: vibrant, appealing graphic novels that bring beloved stories to a new generation of kids.

Shipwrecks, angry gods, magical lands, beautiful nymphs, and siren songs: this vivid retelling of Homer’s legendary Greek epic follows Odysseus on his long, arduous journey home from Ithaca after the fall of Troy. Done in comic-book style, it features the highest-energy kid-grabbing details and plot twists, all dramatized in brilliant, action-packed images. It’s the perfect way to introduce kids and fans of graphic novels to one of literature’s great works.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Young Adult, Adventure, Mythology

128 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2020

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very condensed story, but they did good conveying the parts of the story they told. The hit the high points of the Odyssey and the end did ok. It's not bloody really and there is minimal violence.

It's a great way to get into this classic. Myths really were action packed and they are still good story. They were told over and over again so that they really work. Just think of all the authors and re-writers of this story before it even got to Homer and he put his stamp on it.

This works in graphic novel form. There seem to be some skips in the story, but I still enjoyed it. It's perfect story for a comic book. I think that superheroes are like Greek myths brought back into our culture.

[alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do we think I could get through this Classics unit only ever reading graphic novelisations of classical texts? (/j, ofc... mostly)

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you don't already know The Odyssey, its plot and its characters, this graphic novel will completely baffle you. The action moves too quickly to make sense to those unfamiliar with Homer's epic tale. At best, this is an esoteric pleasure for those who are well-read (and recently refreshed on their Homer).

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: This was a Cybils '10 nominee and I hadn't read it by the time judging was due as it was not a contender by that time and I'm just now getting to it.

I really don't have a lot to say about this adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. I did not enjoy it, and in fact found it confusing and rather boring. Let me preface that statement by saying I am a great fan of Greek mythology and have read *many* retellings of The Odyssey and will continue to do so as I love the story. However, this adaptation jumped around from scene to scene, flashback to present, with no segues between leaving out a lot of the *why* we are suddenly in a certain situation. Knowing the story well, I knew what was missing but I can't imagine this being someone's first exposure to Homer's Odyssey. The art also was certainly not appealing to me. I found it very busy with a lot of stuff going on in each individual panel that took away from the basic action it was meant to depict and I'm just not a fan of the square-jawed angular type of art. Of course this is just aesthetic and will vary with ones personal tastes in art. Overall, not recommended.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up more for my middle school students than for me. And for them, I think this will be great. It covers the basics of The Odyssey, from the Lotus-Eaters to Calypso and back home to Ithaca. I can totally see my 7th graders reading this and, I can only hope, remembering this when they read this in high school.

But as for myself as I reader, I liked it, but it had issues. Like many other story adaptations turned into graphic comics, it feels really choppy. Calypso comes out of nowhere with little explanation as to why she's suddenly there. (For those who have read The Odyssey, it may be a little more obvious that Odysseus is telling her his story. For nonreaders, I fear it is a confusing jump.) So I wish the story had a bit more unity.

Also, sometimes the writing is hard to read and characters are hard to distinguish. Maybe that's just my perception, since I don't normally read graphic comics.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Distracting errors, inconsistent use of a framing device, similar-looking characters, and of course, THOSE NAMES detract from a not-bad retelling of some of the classic episodes out of The Odyssey. There's no getting around the names, of course, but they should at least be spelled the same throughout the book.

[Mia Barrenechea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read The Odyssey before and now I want to read it!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first introduction to The Odyssey by Homer was from excerpts we read in high school. I took a Greco-Roman classic literature course in college and got a chance to read the epic in its entirety. Thus began my love affair with Homer. I've lost track now of how many times I've re-read The Odyssey or how many retellings I've either seen or read.

I can of course name a few favorite retellings: The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson #2) by Rick Riordan, Ulysses by James Joyce and the Coen brothers' film Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

For the 2010 Cybils, there were two graphic novel versions of The Odyssey that made it to the long list. I chose to read Tim Mucci's adaptation for All-Action Classics because I liked the cover. I am still planning to read Gareth Hinds's adaptation.

For tweens looking to dip their toes into the classics, the All-Action Classics version is colorful and dynamic. The different characters with the potentially difficult names are drawn distinctly, often times with separate color themes to keep them apart.

Odysseus's long journey home with misadventures with monsters, gods, warriors and suitors lends itself to the graphic novel format. I hope it will get them interested in reading the original. At least it will help give them a foundation of some basic knowledge when reading or watching other adaptations.

[Fayrouz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, well, well... Está chachi y te echas unas risas, pero hay un error en la historia (que, por cierto, la cuentan a tres mil por hora, así que, si no te has leído la Odisea antes, quizás sea un poco caótico). La cuestión es que cuando Odiseo llega a Ítaca lo hace disfrazado de mendigo y primero se encuentra con Eumeo (el pastor que le dijo Atenea que buscase), luego ve a su perro (el único que lo reconoce) y después a Euríclea (quien, mientras lo baña, le reconoce por una cicatriz en la rodilla). Después se va a luchar contra los pretendientes y a la última que ve es a Penélope.

Weeelllll, pues en esta historia (y por la cara absolutamente) se encuentra primero con Penélope, que no lo reconoce, y, para más inri, presencia la escena en la que el perro sí lo reconoce. Ella no sospecha nada en absoluto, oye... ¡Qué cosa más absurda!

Que el cómic me ha gustau eh, pero esa escenita madau corahe!

#FilólogaEnfurecida

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, the illustrative style and the lettering of this comic book adaptation put me off. Too weird and busy. Like listening to a stranger's voice where tone and accent take some effort to get past, though, once I got into it, the 'All-Action Classic' started working for me. Eventually, I completely forgot I had thought the presentation hard to decipher, and the story began to carry me along.

Tim Mucci does a skilled turn here at collapsing many events into minimal space, touching on almost all the major episodes of Odysseus's long journey back to Ithaca. An ideal way to introduce young readers to Homer, if they can accept the idiosyncratic graphics.

Recommended for fifth graders up, who might be seeking some context for Percy Jackson and his cohorts.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting storytelling with the images and choosing to have Odysseus tell his tale mostly through to Calypso. Sometimes the exaggerations made it hard to tell which character was which. And being that I've read The Odyssey book (along with The Iliad), I feel like a lot was toned down in this or edited. Moments like the stealing of a god's cattle, the meeting of more shades in the underworld, Odysseus in disguise meeting with his father, and the actual detailed slaughter of the greedy suitors. I guess because it is targeted at kids, some things had to be edited out or softened. Still, I did appreciate the mutual friendship and responsibility Odysseus had with his friends (despite dreaded fate); and felt for them when they were lost in a disaster.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Odyssey isn't one of my favorite stories (Homer's classic is more episodic than I like), but if I'm going to read it, Ben Caldwell's All-Action Classics version is how I want it.

The All-Action series is excellent. It emphasizes the best parts of any book, but in a way that flows beautifully as a story and retains the spirit of the original work. There have been many attempts to adapt classic literature for kids - or just for people who don't think they like classic literature - but All-Action Classics is the best. Caldwell's art is exciting and fun to look at and he's working with writers like Tim Mucci who deeply understand the source material and what makes it great.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was kind of hoping that this would be an easy way into familiarising myself with such a epic classic but although I found the story quite riveting and engrossing I did find that there wasn't a whole lot of explanation or background, which meant there were times when I was a little confused by who was who. Don't get me wrong though, this is a good adaptation from what I can see but I think it would probably help if you knew a bit about the Odyssey beforehand. The story-telling itself and the illustrations are really enjoyable and once you get past worrying about the whos, whys and wherefores the story does just take you along. Overall not a bad read.

[Lotuslulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this well enough despite its tendency to jump around in the storyline. The illustrations are done in a very interesting style and very enjoyable to look at. Where this fails though is in it background information. Without a working knowledge of the story, a reader would have little hope of understanding all that goes on in this plot line, and those that do know what should happened will saddened by the loss of large chunks of the story. That being said, this is a quick read and would serve as a decent refresher to a student who needed to cram a reminder back into her brain before a test =)

[Beth Huddleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting with the artwork (because I happen to be a sucker for artwork), I liked the style. It was weird and strange in the best possible way.

That being said, it helps to know the longer version of the Odyssey first. This story chops it up beginning with a mere reference to the Trojan horse. If I were to use this in my classroom, I think I would need to either provide some context to the different adventures or pair it something my students would recognize like Percy Jackson.

The overall theme of paying respect to the Olympian gods and honoring the ancient laws of hospitality, however, plays out again and again through each adventure.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our local library is doing an adult summer reading program. They are trying to mix things up a bit and encourage adults to try new things. As a part of that they asked adults to read a graphic novel. So I found this graphic novel adaptation of The Odessey. It was, predictably, a very easy read. Since I already know the plot of The Odessey it wasn't too hard to follow along with the graphic novel. But if that had been my first exposure to the epic I'm sure I would have been completely lost!

[Dmitry · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's been a while since I've read the original, but I seem to recall most of the plot points, and I think that memory is what allowed me not to be completely lost in this adaptation.
The graphic novel kinda jumps around between the major events in the story, but loses a lot in the process.
It was akin to reading "cliff notes" as opposed to the full story.
There are a lot of characters in the story and they are not introduced very clearly.
The angular, almost sketch like style of illustration was a bit confusing (so was the chosen font to be honest)

[Patty Getsla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book hoping to make it part of a short study unit (high school SpEd) using graphic novels. The reading level seemed appropriate, but I just didn’t like much about it. The illustrations seemed to be a mismatch between cartoonish, anime, and super hero-esque. It was hard to follow characters, especially because it was done in such dark colors you couldn’t really make out what you were seeing. Finally, the story is short and choppy. If kids have no background on this story, they’d just be confused.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. I would like to say that Tim Mucci’s ability to convert such an epic text into a cogent, seamless, entertaining flow of graphic novel gold is nothing short of amazing—but to be honest, that’s what I have come to expect from him. The man is scary-good, and with Ben Caldwell’s superb art, The Odyssey deserves premium real estate on the bookshelf.

[Joseph Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

A comic adaptation of one of my favourite epics. However, it cuts off too much, glosses over many of the lessons that you would learn from the original epic, particularly the major theme of life after the glory of war, and substitutes it's own less powerful parables. Artwork: not really a fan of this style nor the text style.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Odyssey graphic novel edition is a nice way for reluctant readers to get the essence of this epic tale. The illustrations are done very well and other than maybe a bit of backward story telling at one point, that caused a bit of confusion with this otherwise linear retelling, it is a good read.

[Candice M (tinylibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book - fun tale, fun dialogue, and fantastic art! Especially recommended for fans of Disney-style art, and fans of the Percy Jackson series who want another engaging way to learn about Greek mythology.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really love this art style, which completely made the graphic novel for me. The plot followed The Odyssey well, but was a bit rushed because of the short length. An excellent intro to this epic for kids.

[JR Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little warm up to reading the Odyssey. An overall good job was done of condensing the real thing into a graphic novel, however I would have excluded far less even if it made the book longer.

[Kristin Fletcher-spear · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's sort of annoying that the reviews bring up all the odyssey versions and not just this gn version of the classic.

reviewing for lmc.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars---the illustrations, which resemble late-era Disney cartoons--are a highlight.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mucci’s telling is a zippy condensing of The Odyssey into a graphic novel format. It primarily focuses on Odysseus’ voyage back to Penelope.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad rendering of the epic poem. Enjoyable reading and eye-catching art. When in doubt, re-read the classics in a new format.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great little book and the artwork was super cool

[Ham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Painless adaptation of a book I never wanted to read. Loved the art. Plot was pretty weird. Glad we’ve come a long way in the story telling department.