Customer Reviews

Greek Street Vol. 1: Blood Calls for Blood

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Milligan's new Vertigo title Greek Street is purportedly a modern retelling of classic Greek mythology. Purportedly is the salient word here as the association to those legendary fables primarily comes down to patent variations of characters' names more so than literal updating of celebrated storylines. Among the identifiable analogues on stage are Eddie (Oedipus), Sandy (Cassandra), Lord Menon (Agamemnon), and a family of Fureys (Furies) to name a few. Alas beyond that the correlation is dubious with much creative leeway being adopted, which isn't necessarily critical, but diminishes the key selling point of the entire series. Certainly there are recognizable plot elements on display fittingly prefaced via narration as in proper Greek tradition. The main protagonist Eddie indeed sleeps with his mother and Sandy plays the part of omniscient yet ignored oracle, but here she is Lord Menon's daughter, not lover, and the Fureys are a family of crime committing offenders instead of a unit of sin punishing avengers. With its' limited effectiveness in providing the reader with the literary stimulation of uncovering who is who in their respective roles, the responsibility falls on the intrinsic merits of the story itself to attain its' grand objective, and here is where the book is found wanting. Significant Greek themes like tragedy and betrayal will undoubtedly be explored, but without a closer and more faithful relation to the original myths, the loose and cluttered premise plus overall unremarkable writing in general may not be compelling enough to warrant continued commitment to the series.

It is very interesting that I agree with most of the points with the review of AeroRep, but none of them make me think it is a four star book. Actually, I could not find anything that is complimentary in his review, but hey, maybe it's just me. In my opinion, it would be something closer to 2 stars, mostly because of the excelent art of Davide Gianfelice, creating a very engaging atmosphere. There is a lot of name dropping, enough to call your atention and to make sure this is a greek tragedy. I thought there are a few loose ends, some actions of the characters seems without reason, and others seem without purpose. But since this is the first volume of an ongoing series, it may be too soon to make a final judgement.

This is why I read comics! Peter Milligan takes the classic Greek Tragedies and puts them in the present, in a noirish London street. Beyond the brilliant high-concept idea, the execution is nearly perfect. Whether you've studied the classic Greek dramas or not, this story will blow you away.

I had to re-read the first chapter because I was so astounded by what I should have seen coming. Only in the modern milieu of gritty urban life can we see how amazingly depraved the original greek stories were. Its a bit like reading Crumb's version of the Bible. Only in graphic form do you realize how twisted the stories are. Sure, some of the allusions are a bit too "on-the-nose" but Milligan is just hammering home his point for those that have never read Oedipus or Agamemnon.

The artwork pops in this volume as well, perfectly portraying a seedy, dark, sexy vision of the urban underworld. The use of colors- vibrant reds, purples and oranges create an ominous mood. I haven't been this excited and surprised by a book since "Fables" or "Last Man."

This book just sizzles!

West London, UK, The Present: Soho has, since time immemorial, been a cauldron of sex, secrets and barely suppressed violence; though it is, geographically speaking, barely more than a few streets in length, it has long been home to a parade of prostitutes, pornographers, dilettantes and gangsters and a notorious haunt of the lost, the lonely and the lecherous. It is a place of myth as much as reality. This mythic incarnation of Soho yields to the whims of the Fureys, a family of East London gangsters who rule over a semi-legitimate empire of sex shops, lap-dancing clubs and pubs from their eyrie on Greek Street. But soon the streets of Soho will again run red with blood, and at it's nexus, we are warned, will be the mysterious Eddie: a young ward of the state searching the streets of Soho for the mother that abandoned him as a child.

Peter Milligan's "Greek Street: Blood Calls For Blood" takes a concept that, on the surface, could have been horribly pretentious and executes it rather brilliantly; essentially, he takes the great tales of Greek Tragedy and transposes them onto the mean streets of a contemporary metropolis: Oedipus becomes Eddie; The Furies become the Fureys; Dedalus is now a put-upon police detective hunting a mysterious killer; and Cassandra becomes Sandy - the mentally deranged daughter of peer of the realm and notorious sybarite, Lord Menon (Agamemnon). But there are still more pieces to this puzzle, as we are made aware, courtesy of the words of Lord Menon and the omnipresent and all-seeing "Greek Chorus", who is personified in this story by a gorgeous stripper who works in one of the Furey's establishments (and who, in the tradition of the Greek chorus in ancient theatre, opens each issue/act with a recap of what has gone before), that the Greek myths with which we are familiar also exist in this universe, that the characters are aware of them, and that they seem to be hostage to the whims of implacable fate and that at least some of them are aware of this. Half of the fun with this first volume is trying to work out exactly whether these characters are reincarnated souls, cogs in some eternal machine or both.

Davide Gianfelice's artwork can best be described as "serviceable" in that it suits the story and those familiar with Hellblazer will recognize the familiar flourishes that have become aesthetic short-hand for distinguishing the streets of contemporary London from that of, say, New York. I must admit, as someone who has been out drinking on the streets of Soho on more occasions than I care to remember, I had to take issue with Gianfelice's depiction of Soho; largely because it's too clean (there is always rubbish lying around on the streets there); the streets themselves are too wide; none of Soho's more notorious establishments (such as the Raymond Revuebar) really make an appearance; and because there weren't nearly enough shaven-headed gay guys populating the frames (Soho, like most enclaves of naughtiness the world over, has been a hothouse of metropolitan gay culture for years).

"Blood Calls For Blood" makes a promising start with a fascinating premise and I look forward to seeing where Peter Milligan will take us on this journey. And if there aren't program commissioners at the BBC, HBO and Channel 4 looking to spin this comic book off into an adult drama series as we speak, then maybe we really are at the mercy of those cruel, unsparing fates, after all.