Pifitos- Unknown Lost Poem Of Homer

by Igor Baranko

When a blind boxer and an old man visit the estate of Pifitos, little does Pifitos realize that they will send him on a journey to become the new hero of Greece. Facing drunken centaurs, music-loving monsters, and puzzling counsel from Dionysus himself, Pifitos and the lovely Amitis sail to a nameless island to face Hecate and the gates of Hades. Can Pifitos survive an unexpected turn of events to become the Greatest of all Heroes? Find out in the English-language debut of the staggeringly gifted Ukrainian artist, Igor Baranko. The story of Pifitos is both a tale told in epic style - purporting to be an “unknown lost poem of Homer” - and a rollicking send-up of Greek mythology in all its bawdy glory.

Genres: Comics

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Igor Baranko is a French, American and Ukrainian comics books writer.

Baranko's contribution to French-Belgian/French language comics legacy includes «L'Empereur-Ocean» (2003 - 2004), «Exterminateur 17: La Trilogie Ellis» (2003 - 2008,), «La Danse Du Temps» (2005 - 2006), «Maxym Osa» (2008 - 2009) and «Les Princesses Égyptiennes» (2010 - 2011).

Baranko's contribution to American/English language comics legacy includes «Pifitos: A Newly Found Unknown Poem of Homer» (2001) and «Skaggy the Lost» (2002 - 2003).

Baranko's contribution to Ukrainian language comics legacy includes «Повернення Мамая» (Povernennia Mamaya, 1993), «Святослав і вікінг» (Svyatoslav i vikinh, 1993), and «Мамай-змієборець. Кіква» (Mamay-zmiyeborets. Kikva, 1993)

Since 2013 Baranko lives and works in Asia, in Thailand working in collaboration with Russian Hindu thought leader Swami Avadhut (Georgi Aistov) and Ukrainian comics-writer Oleksiy Chebykin on a graphic novel series about Mahabharata called "Mahabharata Gods & Heroes". In 2021 Baranko and Chebykin plan on publishing the entire graphic novel "Mahabharata Gods & Heroes" in 3 volumes.

For Ukrainian-language profile see Ігор Баранько

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The subtitle on this book is Newly Found Unknown Poem of Homer, so between that and the genre-bending spiritual extentialism of Baranko's Humanoids book Jihad, I was completely unsure of what to expect from this book, and after reading it, I'm still not sure what I got from it.

Baranko's cartoonish style (itself an interesting change from the more rendered style of Jihad) seemed to lend itself to a more humorous tale, and honestly, I got the impression that I was supposed to find several parts amusing, but I didn't. The story was fast-paced, but never seemed to find a real rhythm. It just skipped from event to event, with a few aside about the gods thrown in. Baranko's art was much looser and significantly less clear than in the previous book of his that I'd read.

Ultimately, I don't really see any reason to recommend this book. If, however, you're big on Greek myths and epic quests, this might be more up your alley than it is up mine. I got the continual feeling that the book was either not hitting the over-the-top humorous marks that it was aiming for, or perhaps that I simply missed the point of the barb that Baranko was forming.