Author: Dan Whitehead
Publisher: Kalyani Navyug Media Pvt. Ltd.
Rating: WORTHY!
Illustrated by Sanka Banerjee.
Everyone knows the story of Jason, his argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece - or if they don't, they really should! It was the topic of a 1963 movie with animation supplied by none other than Ray Harryhausen. It's very dated now, but it was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. The story was re-told on TV in 2000 in a mini-series, which was a lot closer to the original myth than was the movie.
I was quite excited to see it in a graphic novel which is well-written, colorfully illustrated, and tells a faithful story as far as is possible in this format. Jason recklessly goes to demand his birthright, which is the kingship of Iolcus (but you can call it LOLcus if you like!). Jason's father was deposed and Pelias took over. Pelias was warned that a man with one shoe would show up who would be a real and present danger as they say, and Jason lost one of his sandals when he swam across the river with an old woman in tow. Not that old women ever really are old women in these kinds of stories.
Pelias doesn't kill Jason, oddly enough. Instead, he sends him on an impossible quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece from Colchis, upon delivery of which Pelias will step down in Jason's favor - despite the fact that he has a son and heir, Acastus. Jason accepts this offer. He starts recruiting a sailing crew, and he hires a master ship-builder, Argus, to create the fastest and strongest ship. Pelias evidently pays for all of this. Zeus's long-suffering wife Hera decides to back Jason's gambit and aids him along the way.
Jason manages to engage a host of famous names (at least famous in Greece back then). Not all of these are mentioned in the novel: Atalanta the virgin huntress, Calais and Zetes who are the sons of Boreas - the North Wind - and who are known as the Boreads, and who can fly, Castor and Pollux, who were actually not twins but stepbrothers (they had different fathers) and were known as the Dioskouri, Euphemus, who could walk on water long before anyone from Galilee ever did, Heracles more commonly know as Hercules, Orpheus the legendary musician, Peleus, aka Telemon, and not to be confused with Pelias, who was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, where I've actually vacationed, and Philoctetes, the famed archer. We're told in the book that Polydeuces the Olympic champion volunteered, but Polydeuces is just another name for Pollux. What Jason stupidly doesn't know is that Acastus, Pelias's son, is on board with a plan to sabotage the quest every chance he gets.
The crew sets sail for Salmydessus to learn from the blind man Phineaus the route to the fleece, but they run short of food and are forced to find land to refill their bread baskets. They come across an island populated only by women. No, it's not Themyscira, it's Lemnos, where the women (we learn) killed off all the men in an act of savagery born of unfaithfulness on the part of said men. The argonauts quickly fall under the spell of the women and do not want to leave. It's only Herakles who finally kicks butts and stirs them to get away from their enchantment.
Finally, they reach Salmydessus and discover Phineus (in the movie played by Patrick Troughton who you may know better as the second Doctor Who), but he's plagued by Harpies which prevent him from getting a decent meal. After the Harpies are subdued, Phineus feels moved to given the directions, which are not very good since they lead straight through the clashing rocks. Fortunately, a gift from Hipsipyle (of Lemnos infamy), helps them overcome this obstacle, and they eventually make it to Colchis - where yet more obstacles await them.
The story doesn't have a happy ending. It's a Greek myth remember, not a children's fairy tale! But as to exactly how Jason gets his fleece, and what becomes of him and the Argonauts afterwards, I'll leave that for you to discover. Don't think you know what's going to happen if you've only ever seen the 1963 movie! Note also that there are several graphic novels out there which tell this story. I've read only one of them; others may tell if differently and may be better or worse than this one. This one, however, I did read. It's a fast read and I really liked it, but it's a bit gory and rampant, so understand that it's not a tale for young children.
