Villordsutch reviews Odyssey: Vol. 1 – “History Lesson”…
A WORLD WAR II HERO, OUT OF PLACE AND TIME, ON A MISSION TO FIND GOD… LITERALLY! Neither Angel or Demon can stand upon the face of the Earth – but in the skin of Man, Heaven and Hell have fought an eternal war. Only one immortal man can protect humankind – and he’s losing his faith in them! From magical origins to the fall of Hitler’s Germany, to boots on the ground in Afghanistan and war-torn Iraq, from protests on Wall Street to dread secrets in the Oval Office – witness Blazing Glory’s history-changing first steps into a bigger world! This astounding volume collects the entire pulse-pounding first series, plus a brand-new strip and over 20 pages of all-new bonus content. See what it takes to be a super-soldier on the frontlines of a war between cosmic forces!
After getting a fleeting glimpse of Odyssey from Titan Comics last week here at Flickering Myth, I was rather interested to see what this “Captain America riff that quickly takes a left turn…” (Comic Spectrum) was. I’m not a big Captain America fan and the idea of a skewed view of the Captain appealed to me in a dark recess of my mind; the want to see him fail and go wrong really made me happy on the inside. However, I’m sorry to say my fellow Captain Haters this comic is not that.
Taking on writing duties here is Dave Elliott who has so many titles under his belt from 2000AD to The Bible (comic, not original); he has now penned his observations on the negative treatment of society over the past couple of decades with changes in politics and the removals of freedoms since the dawn of the new millennium. Not overly exciting as a comic book idea alone I agree, but inject into this a World War Two sergeant resurrected with either an Angel or a Demon inside of him by a U.S. sanctioned programme involving the occult, and superheroes being drafted in to no longer be independent but a force for the government to use as a weapon, whether against insurgents in Afghan caves, civilian protests in the streets of the U.S.A. or capturing Vlad the Impaler in Iraq. Now you’re interested, now you’re ready to read the social commentary.
Our hero Blazing Glory is the sergeant, who back during WWII put his name forward for the experiment from the Gary Oldman-esque Doctor, and for his sins was promptly killed and used as a vessel for either an Angel or a Demon. The problem Blazing Glory has (other than the voices and the ripping out of Hitler’s heart and drawing symbols on the wall with the dead Führer’s blood) is that his moral compass is stuck on “Morally Right”. Granted this isn’t really a problem but in a today’s world of politics and those that are “Morally Wrong (with power)” he is a thorn in their side and one they need to discredit and remove.
Volume 1 “History Lesson” is our 100 page introduction to Blazing Glory and it’s a damned good one too. The artwork from Garrie Gastonny and Toby Cypress and colouring from Sakti Yuwono is detailed and holds strong throughout the book, though my only gripe is the flashback to the George W. Bush inauguration as the artwork here doesn’t feel right for the rest of the comic. It’s not to say the artwork was bad at that point, it reminded me of Marshall Law (which I adored) but due to the style throughout the rest of the pages it just felt a little off.
If you’re treating yourself today, treat yourself to this.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published August 7, 2014. Updated January 18, 2020.
