fajrdrako | The Furies...

I read the graphic novel The Furies by Mike Carey and John Bolton.

It's loosely in the same continuity as the comic Sandman by Neil Gaiman, but it was written after Gaiman's series. It's the story of Lyta, who in semi-homicidal depression after the death of her baby, joins a travelling theatre troupe (in hopes of drama-therapy) and is caught up in the battles between the gods and Titans, particularly Chronos and Hermes.

I found myself wishing it was by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman could, with varying degrees of success, suck me in and leave me wishing for more. Mike Carey... tells a story, and not so deftly. Confusing? A little. The problem was more that it didn't make me feel much. He doesn't have the Gaiman touch for style, structure, or words. Two passages stand out for me:

After encountering Charron and various Stygian monsters (including the Furies), back in our world, Lyta thinks: "I went to hell. I went to hell and back." It gives me an urge to introduce her to John Constantine.

And I liked Chronos saying, "Who dares? Who dares come between the Changer and his wrath?" Now, I partly liked it for its ridiculous corniness - the comic should really have been better than that, and I'll swear that if Neil Gaiman had ever used such a line, he'd have pulled it off. Carey makes it sound no better than it is. I do like his Gaimanesque name for Chronos, "Changer". Rather like "Lord Shaper" for Dream.

I also likee the protagonist's name, Hippolyta. She is at first called Lyta and we are fooled by her modern, mundane ordinariness. But as the story unfolds, it seems appropriate that someone named Hippolyta should take on the gods - fight them and win.

My reaction to John Bolton's art is a little like my reaction to Mike Carey's writing. It isn't bad, but I can't help thinking how much I loved Bolton's art in Classic X-Men, which was remarkable and unique. The art here looks like John Bolton trying to be Dave McKean, surrealistic artist on any number of Sandman covers - an uninspired copy. I liked some details like his visual concept of Hermes (Enagonios) - but the moments where the true Bolton inspiration shone through were too rare.

Besides, the monsters were to my mind a little too much like the worst of EC, Jack Kirby, or Lovecraft... trite and ugly.

Too bad.