Bacchus, Vol. 10: Banged Up

Bacchus #10

by Eddie Campbell

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

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

[Jerry]

This makes a lot more sense if you have the previous collection, King Bacchus (or the comics it collects). Bacchus is part of Eddie Campbell’s modern Greek mythology that includes The Eyeball Kid (how I was introduced to it) and Joe Theseus. This collection covers his time in prison for the bar antics of the previous collection. The weirdness and weird magic is kept at a minimum here; the only real magic was short-circuited by a wanker who preferred Kylie Minogue to Art flashers named after their oeuvre (Collage).

I made that up about Collage’s work, I have no idea what she does. Except that she does seem to speak in collage.

Because it’s in prison, it’s filled with murderers, thieves, and Irishmen, who all speak their own language, some of which even need interpreters.

The biggest surprise of this collection is, at the very end on the outside last page, how incredibly normal Eddie Campbell looks compared to his characters.

It’s hard to describe Bacchus, and this collection makes it even harder since, being in prison, there’s little if any wine (while alcohol may be available, it’s not wine) which is of course Bacchus’s lifeblood.

I won’t see you out. Be sure and close the door. Eternity whips up a nasty draft sometimes.