Before Wolverine, before The Maxx, Sam Kieth drew this beautiful comic penned by future Maxx cohort Bill Messner-Loebs. Epicurus is an aspiring philosophy teacher, coming to an Athens already chock full of his colleagues and befriending in the process Plat, Aristotle and his pupil, a kid named Alexander, a Macedonian prince. Ring any bells? What follows are tall tales that mix mythology and philosophy with flawless ease, poking fun at everything in the process and redeeming (and mocking, of course!) their very hero's teaching of moderation in the pursuit of the most basic and important of human needs: pleasure. From Pythagoreans to Sophists, to Alcibiades and most of all a paradoxically pompous and vain Socrates, none is spared but also none is betrayed. The mythological tales narrated are adapted to their authors parodistic needs bu still true to tradition: Persephone's abduction by Hades and the birth of the seasonal cycle; Phaeton's run on the Sun's Chariot (including a sort of detour with Homer and Cassandra and a lightning fast re-telling of the Trojan War); the many tales of Zeus' infidelities. The book is, as usual with Mr Kieth, brilliantly drawn, with lots of quirky and super deformed characters and layouts. Messner -Loebs weaves wonderful tales and almost as an afterthought teaches you classical mythology and philosophy. Most definitely recommended for all readers, whether you get all references or not: This book is simply too brilliant and fun to miss!
...Continua
