Bacchus Omnibus Edition Volume 2

Bacchus: Omnibus Edition #2

by Eddie Campbell

Eddie Campbell’s Bacchus is a true epic, spanning a decade of work, over a thousand pages, and several millennia of alcohol consumption. In Bacchus , the visionary behind From Hell (with Alan Moore) and The Years Have Pants presents his version of "an American-style comic
book," filtered through his own brilliant, whimsical, and wide-ranging sensibility. With a fine blend of action, comedy, suspense, and an ear for a great story, Bacchus brings the gods and myths of ancient Greece to modern life, as if they had never left. Nearly 600 pages, this deluxe volume collects the second half of the Bacchus saga with new notes and commentary by the author.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

552 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2016

About the author

Eddie Campbell is a British comics artist and cartoonist whose work has shaped the evolution of modern graphic storytelling. He is widely known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell, his long collaboration with Alan Moore that reimagines the Jack the Ripper case through an ambitious and meticulously researched narrative. Campbell is also the creator of the long-running semi-autobiographical Alec series, later collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and the satirical adventure cycle Bacchus, which follows a handful of Greek gods who have wandered into the contemporary world. His scratchy pen-and-ink technique draws on impressionist influences and early masters of expressive line art, while his writing blends humor, candor, and literary ambition in a manner that critics have compared to Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller.
Campbell began developing autobiographical comics in the late 1970s before expanding the Alec stories throughout the following decades, publishing early instalments through small press networks in London and later with major independent publishers. After moving to Australia in the mid-1980s, he continued to produce both Alec and Bacchus stories while contributing to a range of international anthologies. His partnership with Moore on From Hell, initially serialised in the anthology Taboo, became one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of its era and further cemented his reputation for grounded, character-driven illustration.
Across a varied career Campbell has worked as a creator, editor, publisher, and occasional court illustrator. His contributions to comics have earned him numerous industry awards, including the Eisner Award, the Harvey Award, the Ignatz Award, the Eagle Award, and the UK Comic Art Award. He continues to produce new work while maintaining a strong presence in both literary and comics circles.

Reviews

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story: ****
It's a heady brew enough to keep you intently sipping this stout cask that consistently pours engaging reading with genuine UK exposure soaking the story entirely but ultimately tries too hard with the overboard meanderings. The weird situation motif is plied with zeal and plenty of intelligence within the foolishness but it gets overwhelming as the pages multiply.

Maybe if he didn't have the ideas of his various co-writers to constantly mix with his then it would be a much more stable solution but he obviously didn't have enough time/material to self-populate.

I appreciated his transposition of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore but he didn't stick with the prior for very long and only cameod the latter in bizarre circumstance. Totally funny though.

Art: **
Synchronisticly, Campbell seems often to write in the same tune as his drawing style which is highly imprecise, scratchy and hurried looking yet when he's really in tune with the subject matter you get top shelf quality on the international scale.

He renders atmosphere and emotion well ->especially intensity<- but is background weak and very clunky with movement. Spastic even, which serves to compliment the situations ideally at times.

It must be noted that he had a massive amount of assistance from other artists which puts a bit of polish on the raw Campbell output. He must have given himself dicey deadlines that needed so much teamwork to fulfill. Certain things will look blatantly sharper than others which adds to that tricky balance mentioned above but sometimes I really appreciated it- like when he had another dude draw every female for at least an entire book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I prefer Volume 2 of Bacchus over the first one. This is one with a little more experimentation from Campbell, rather than the narrative (which already was a little more than a deviation for the status quo).

Bacchus basically acts like the Greek gods are established fact, and that many of them are still alive. Well, mostly Bacchus--who is now an alcoholic who has seen most of his family die or be killed over the years. That being said this series is still quite capable of a laugh and Volume 2 is a little more fractured; it's got the 1,001 Tales style of storytelling then a Jack Kirby style crack-up.

In point, the series is about everything goes from order to chaos. How beauty cannot last. It's a nice series with a "Fine Artist" getting to explore a bit. It's not always perfect nor mean anything but its great to see someone flex their creative muscles over a duration.

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful storytelling. If Tom Waits was a Scottish cartoonist he'd be Eddie Campbell.

[Kyle Burley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eddie Campbell is one of the all-time greats and his Bacchus stories remain as fresh, unique, and singularly weird as ever. An essential work in the history of comics and, also, a personal favorite.