Laurence Alison’s Odysseus: In Defiance Of The Gods Launches On Kickstarter Today

A Twist On A Greek Myth

Hot on the heels of the successful Madness & Monsters comes Laurence Alison’s (Hedrek, Warfighter, Out There) version of the Odyssey, launching today on Kickstarter…

This ambitious project, boasting what will end up as 114 pages in total of sequential art across four issues starts with Issue One in April this year. Part Ray Harryhausen ‘Boys Own Adventure’ (think Sinbad, Clash of the Titans, Jason and The Argonauts) part The Godfather (backstabbing, psychological manipulation, a search for power) ‘In Defiance of the Gods’ will focus on Odysseus the man.

And a complex he is! Part villain, part hero, Odysseus is perhaps the only mortal in Greek mythology clever enough to outwit the Gods and determine his own fate – rather than be buffeted by Poseidon’s seas, Zeus’ storms and Athena’s War aims.

Battling the One-Eyed Cannibal Polyphemus as well as the drug induced Lotus Eaters, issue one begins with Odysseus’ masterful Trojan Horse attack and ends with Poseidon seeking revenge. As the tale progresses we will see which crew members survive and which will be crushed, stoned, eaten, cursed, beheaded or turned into animals. And – as we progress the tale will show how complex, multi-dimensional and human Odysseus is.

“Writing this was intimidating,” says Laurence. “I started very much with the idea in mind that Odysseus was a villain. He does truly terrible things to beat the Trojans. But the more I took him on the deeper we got into his psyche. By the end I found it hard to stop writing him and wanted to continue forever”.

All of Alison’s tales are laced with depth into the human psyche – Afterall he has spent 30 years examining war, conflict, critical incidents, decision making in crises. With the experiences of debriefing everything from the Boxing Day Tsunami to terrorist attacks, high profile critical incidents and major investigations, Alison brings a depth to Odysseus that makes us reflect on a man forced into war and then desperate to get back to his homeland.

Accompanied by rising star Vu Danh – truly a masterful artistic storyteller (think Berni Wrightson meets Neal Adams) this is a gritty, bloody and dirty version of the epic that we learn Christopher Nolan is taking on next year. Timely then that issue one will soon be available on Kickstarter for all to enjoy. But Laurence Alison and Vu Danh’s tale is likely to be grimmer, more horrifying and certainly leaning more into the depths of the human mind than Nolan’s.

Alternative cover is by Warwick Fraser Coombe and various other goodies will be available too – including T-shirts and even a limited number of ‘join the crew’ portraits where Vu Danh will draw backers as a crew member of Odysseus’ fleet.

Here’s a preview of it

You can register for the Kickstarter campaign here