Broken Frontier

In Diamond's Previews for May '09, Image Comics' Gem of the Month pick was Olympus #1, a book with a killer premise and a distinct art style. BF got writer Nathan Edmondson to comment on a key part of the issue.

The solicitation for Olympus #1 reads:

In ancient Greece, Zeus granted eternal life to two brothers, and bound them to his service.  3,000 years later, they are hunting an exiled god, only in their hunt they release onto earth one of Hades' most dangerous prisoners.  With a fresh, compelling visual style and original storytelling, OLYMPUS #1 is a rebirth of classical mythology into action and intrigue.

The following 5-page sequence drops you into the middle of some furious action and intense imagery going on in Olympus.  We have our protagonists, Castor and Pollux, chasing this mysterious, and obviously powerful character they refer to as "The Grigori." 

With Christian's frenetic auras casting around the pages, we begin to see that this creature is more than the monster he appears to be, swaddled in street trash and an overcoat.  So the question most immediate is: who is he and what, exactly, is he keeping hidden beneath the folds of cloth? They call him Grigori, which is a Greek word that was applied to Judeo-Christian beliefs and described in Biblical texts.  As one reviewer asked, I'll be clear: this is not a crossing of "mythologies" but rather, a way of identifying who this character is.  The grigori are fallen messengers from heaven.  That's who this is...

Now, on with the show!

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We see that the Gemini have the chain--the anchor--and are prepared to use it.  "Hades holds the other end..." Pol yells across the alley.  And indeed, he does: invisibly, the end of the chain is grounded in the underworld, and when the hook penetrates it's target.  Basically, it's a tool to exile people down to Hades: people who don't just die. 

We find this Grigori also clutching the glowing Caduceus, his staff.  It belongs to Zeus, and this is the main crime that the Gemini are sent to correct. 

Christian's work here is some of his earliest on the series, and he hit the ground running.  These panels are so dynamic you feel like they're jerking you across the page and into the alley with these characters.  The action moves quickly and some of the elements are abstracted, making the central and defined shapes--the Grigori's hand, the staff which materializes and glows, for example--jump out all the more.

My favorite little detail in this page has got to be the blue hand in panel two.  The poise of the fingers shows real tension, power, and preparedness, and it glows against the rest of the page with these lines of energy coming into it, as if it itself is being charged.  The Caduceus is powerful, and he is its wielder. 

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When the Gemini try to tell the Grigori what to do, well, he gets pissed.  He mentions the "Rules of Olympus"--the new laws (which will be discussed more as the series continues) are a central aspect to the whole idea of our book.  And this glowing, winged creature has broken them.  We see something pained and frantic in his eyes though: he knows what he's done.  He knows perhaps that his fate is inescapable.  Or the fates are. 

And he's cornered now, like a rabid dog in an alley.  Before, restricted to the ground by either fear or a respect he maintains for Olympus, now he pops open his powerful wings, jerks up Pollux and proclaims, he's had "enough of this Hubris."  The word, if one isn't familiar, means pride before the Gods--a lack of respect.  We mean that literally.  So, he's a god.  And the implications are that Olympus isn't operating now as it has in eras past.  Something is different.  The gods are coming to earth, at least one of them is, against the laws of their own Golden Halls.  And there is fear in his movements, fear in his disguise, fear in his voice. 

Fear of Castor and Pollux, in this case.  It must be fear, for why else try and separate them?  Why run like he is in this page? 

One thing we learn, and we see it in Castor's half-face when he grins and says, "Mortal? Not exactly,": These brothers, over 3,00 years, have become formidable.  They have become legendary, even among the Olympians.

They know how to kick ass. 

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I like the explosion of movement as Castor catches the chain here, which Pol drops after being jerked into the sky.  The color choice is simply lovely. 

And I like (this was Christian's doing, not my writing) that Pol is unafraid, even when being carried away.  He's seen worse.  So has Castor.  It will take more than this to bring fear into their faces. 

Initially, the jumping-into-traffic-onto-another-guy's-motorcycle sequence was a little more prominent and drawn out, but Christian showed me how it distracted from what's more important: the brothers have been separated, and there is nothing worse to them.  So their main concern is getting back together--for it is together that they have power.  Together they live and die, together they are reborn, together they are immortal, and together that they can bring down someone like the Grigori.  And apart, they can suffer a terrible fate.  So Castor is coming for his brother not just because he's concerned for his safety,

But Castor has also caught the anchor, and he's clearly intending to finish this.  We see that he hasn't much patience anymore.  ("We've been chasing you two weeks...")  Probably because this is taking away from his drinking and womanizing time.

And interesting thing about the anchor: it was my own creation, one of the elements I developed that simply isn't in the mythology.  I needed a way for the brothers to cast down those that couldn't be killed.  This seemed like an interesting method, something that works when guns don't and stands out as a weapon.  But I never intended it to be a big part of the series.  Then Tommy Lee Edwards put it on his variant, our pinup artists put it on their pages, everyone started talking about it--I realized, it was part of the series now.  More than that, part of the Gemini.  So I wrote it back into the story in a more prominent way (see issue 4).  And I'm glad everyone "showed" me to do that--it's a great visual hook (no pun intended). 

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Here is this great shot of the bike, with it's original rider being thrown off.  Nothing is more important to Castor than his brother right now.  And he's on an all out flight to prove that. 

The juxtaposition of direction between the panels gives you a nice ride across the page.  The reader certainly gets the sense that Castor is chasing the sky by the streets, and in just a few panels. 

The conversation here is important, too.  Much is implied in a few words.  Again, there is a reference to the laws of Olympus, but we see The Grigori now in amore godlike state, and he's no longer as frantic as before.  He's regaining glory with his open wings, "his" glowing staff.  And carrying Pol, with the Thames reflecting the setting sun beneath him, We get a few minutes or interplay that show the distance between the God and the Gemini, those granted immortality but not born of it.  And while it's not central to this part of the story, we get a very brief indication as to the why, The Grigori's motive--he left Olympus for the love of a mortal, or a once mortal, maybe. 

The progression of color, the blur of the motorbike tail, the wheel spokes, and the fading blue of the cast-off rider are subtle but beautiful corners of the page.  Christian achieves illustrating both threads of this story beautifully.

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And now, a middle-of-the-issue pay off.  The brothers reunited.  The action sequence fulfilled.  The colors richest yet. 

Pollux, in the first panel tries to reason with his captor.  But not surprisingly, the Grigori is unwilling to simply give up his place, even if he understands that ultimately, he cannot escape the consequences of his actions, as Pol, again, has pointed out. 

So here just as  as the Grigori is about to separate the brothers--either by killing Pol or simply by sending them apart to buy him enough time to do what he might (once again, read on!). 

The first time around I didn't notice the constellations Christian had etched into the purple sky behind; look closely for more of this. 

Our design on the first issue was to introduce characters, plot, universe and setting by way of intense action.  We didn't ease into the story.  We lit a roman candle and we run forward with the colored lights that shot out.  The consequence of this is that there are plenty of places where one may ask, "Okay, but what about..." or "Wait! They didn't explain..."  But trust us: we have a design and a plan, all the way to a last page.  That said, as creators we absolutely want discussion. 

What is most readily apparent, I hope, is the relationship.  These brother care for each other above all else and will stop at nothing to protect each other. 

After all, the key to their immortality was this selfless love: one proclaimed he would rather be damned forever than live a single lifetime without the other.