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Bacchus Omnibus - FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!

Started by Colin YNWA, 18 March, 2015, 09:50:13 PM

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sheridan

Quote from: Tordelback on 20 March, 2015, 11:01:03 AM
I've always enjoyed teasing out the real-world aspects of wild fiction, and visiting such locations as there are (see also Star Wars, Slaine, Ghostbusters...)

You've been to Tatooine!?

sheridan

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 20 March, 2015, 12:37:20 PM
and I wish deeply the outside world (outside our nerdsphere) would do the same and gave equal credit to the other quite brilliant works that were being done at and around the time of... well certain deified works (can you deify a comic? Well since when did I worry about the specifics and detail of language huh!?!). Fandom doesn't help itself by not being exposed to, or not really pushing the exposure to really significant works like this and so we go around in the same bubble thinking... a certain writer... is the only true great thing that happened to comics and people look in and see us saying that and don't bother to look any further.

Its a really short sighted view and really to the detriment of the medium as a whole.

Agreed - at the end of the day, Watchmen is a four-colour superhero comic.  We know it was produced by two great creators who graduated from 2000AD, but if you're one of those 'normal' people then you won't look much further than the surface.  Comics like Maus or Persepolis are much more accessible to the general public.  Not sure how the recent rash of superhero films (mostly Marvel) may have changed this, if at all...

TordelBack

Quote from: sheridan on 21 March, 2015, 11:53:40 AM.
My guess is that you met your future spouse  :)

And then abandoned her on Naxos..?

Not quite, but I did experience one of those rare moments of clarity where I realised that I wanted to have kids, a home, all that crap, with the woman I was with - or rather, I realised that I had, albeit briefly, achieved perfect contentment, knew that such a thing was actually possible and that it might never come again, and it was time to take the next steps. All thanks to Bacchus!

Not overselling it at all.

Incidentally, the unique and special place of Watchmen amongst comics is due to its extraordinary technical execution by both creators - if you don't appreciate that part of the medium it's a fairly standard conspiracy tale staring unpleasant people who achieve absolutely nothing. The third element, the deconstruction of superheroes, is now so passe I doubt anyone cares.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: sheridan on 21 March, 2015, 11:57:47 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 20 March, 2015, 12:37:20 PM
and I wish deeply the outside world (outside our nerdsphere) would do the same and gave equal credit to the other quite brilliant works that were being done at and around the time of... well certain deified works (can you deify a comic? Well since when did I worry about the specifics and detail of language huh!?!). Fandom doesn't help itself by not being exposed to, or not really pushing the exposure to really significant works like this and so we go around in the same bubble thinking... a certain writer... is the only true great thing that happened to comics and people look in and see us saying that and don't bother to look any further.

Its a really short sighted view and really to the detriment of the medium as a whole.

Agreed - at the end of the day, Watchmen is a four-colour superhero comic.  We know it was produced by two great creators who graduated from 2000AD, but if you're one of those 'normal' people then you won't look much further than the surface.  Comics like Maus or Persepolis are much more accessible to the general public.  Not sure how the recent rash of superhero films (mostly Marvel) may have changed this, if at all...
I think plenty of comics get that treatment, just not the ones we want. "Jimmy Corrigan" won a bunch of awards, for example. "Maus" and "Persepolis" even more.

Ultimately, we don't know what people who read "Watchmen" went on to read. We should be pleased that something so completely and utterly brilliant has gotten out there to the extent it has; ultimately, it'd be wonderful if more people read "Bacchus" (or whatever), but it shouldn't affect our enjoyment of either. When was the last genuinely brilliant prose novel to really become a public hit, anyway?




Apestrife

#19
GREAT! Thanks for posting this! I'll definitely pick this up this summer!

Btw Tordelback. Cool to hear! I have a similar thing with 100Bullets. Put simply/short, a story that'v made a better and better person each time I'v read it. Much thanks to the questions it made me ask myself. Same also with some of Haruki Murakami writing.

Hawkmumbler

I'm weeping, look at how big it's going to be! That's a lot of comic and not in expensive. Generally i'll only pay a pound for every 10 pages of comic (seem's fair, right?) and thanks to amazons price guarante it'll only be £25 for 600 pages, i'm super excited for this.

Hawkmumbler



Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 07 July, 2015, 05:22:41 PM
And Gosh! Comics will be stocking a special Book Plate edition, limited to 100 copies.

http://www.goshlondon.com/2015/06/gosh-exclusive-bookplate-edition-bacchus-omnibus-edition/
Nice one - I've ordered it (Gosh is chuffing awesome too, happy to give them some cash).

Colin YNWA

Well after years of waiting for it to come out and months for it to get to the top of my reading spreadsheet (I cheated and moved it up) I've finally done it and read Bacchus after, what almost 25 years. and though I was a very different back then - old Colin still thinks young Colin's taste rocks. I want to smear myself is butter and roll around with this comic, it is simply brilliant.

Okay so like so many great works you see the creator learning his trade on the page BUT by God does he learn it well. The book is really in three parts all of which have their unique charm.

Firstly we have the rambling epic a slightly incoherent story at the beginning that really tells the tale of Joe Theseus and is very much a story trying to find its feet. It seems to roll from idea to idea not quite knowing what its trying to do and become. Yet quite majestically by the end it has and managed to bring whats gone before kicking and screaming with it.

Second up we have the short stories that in many ways define the series in my mind. Its how I came to know and love the this masterpiece. They feel very different to the epic storytelling that surrounds it (spoilers for my next paragraph I'd say!) but fits so well with the character. I might be biase (well I am) but absolutely these stories exploring myth, booze and human nature and fear are just so right. They are superb and the dark turn they take as they progress is so reflective of the myths that inform them.

By the third section, as I've said we're back to the epic storytelling, this time more focused and defined. All the creators involved have honed their craft and are on the top of their game. But christ alive however fantastic the story is and it really, really is. However devinely clever the word play . However subtle and crafted the character work is. However good all that is Eddie Campbell's art in the last story Earth, Water, Air, Fire is the standout. Its so atypical, yet so expressive. So stylised yet so grounded. Its exquiste.

I love the way we return to the same tales time and again, just as you can imagine Bacchus would return to tales time and again. Yet equally fitting each time we get a different angle, new insight, fresh perspective. Or just a different truth. Genius.

So yeah I fear I could go on and on about how pleased I am that this book has lived up to my sky high expectations (and those of you who know me know I can do that, oh boy can I). Its a very curious relief and surprise. I didn't think it could be as good as I remembered. 

But it is and every fucker who claims to love comics should be made to read this.

In my top ten.

TordelBack

Passed up on this most desirable volume due to core funding liquidity issues.  Reasoning that I already all have the content. Reason is a poo-poo head.

Birthday in a few months. May have to lean heavily on the wife.  Ooo-err.

Totally agree with Colin about the art on Earth, Water, Air, Fire - some of the best work by anyone in the medium of comics, ever. 

Does anyone know if the second book includes The Face on the Barroom Floor (the Cerebus crossover)?  I think it's the only bit I don't have, so I could use it as self-justification...



Hawkmumbler

The second Omnibus do you mean, Tordels? Or the second TPB? I don't believe it was in the original printing but it might be in the second Omnibus but thats not out yet.

And i'll third the notion Bacchus is a masterpiece. Utterly fantastic comics.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 17 February, 2016, 07:48:32 AM
And i'll third the notion Bacchus is a masterpiece. Utterly fantastic comics.

Oh that's good to hear as I know you said it was taking you time to get into, so after all our gushing here its good to know it paid off in the end.

Oh and Edited to say I'm not sure about the exact content of Volume 2 but will report back as soon as its available or I find the info elsewhere. You certainly couldn't imagine Dave Sim blocking it being included could you?

Hawkmumbler

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 17 February, 2016, 08:27:51 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 17 February, 2016, 07:48:32 AM
And i'll third the notion Bacchus is a masterpiece. Utterly fantastic comics.

Oh that's good to hear as I know you said it was taking you time to get into, so after all our gushing here its good to know it paid off in the end.


I think it was around the beggining of Doing the Islands with Bacchus that the series just grew on me several fold. One of the most ingenious and nimbly used examples of an episodic adventure comic in the medium and utterly engrossing! By the time we got back to the gang war story line it was a refreshing return and everything seemed somewhat in line for a conclusion, which Omnibus 1 kind of does end on, so i'm curious to see how the second volume plays out.

TordelBack

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 17 February, 2016, 08:27:51 AM
You certainly couldn't imagine Dave Sim blocking it being included could you?

It's not his style, given his position on co-created works, but much depends on whether he's challenged Eddie to a boxing match over some imagined atheist-feminist axis sleight!  I love the way Eddie draws Dave, and I love the way Dave draws Eddie, so it's be shame to see them at odds.That said, I think Eddie may be one of the few folk Dave hasn't fallen out with, which is odd, considering they're both voluble opinionated old geezers.