An Evening With The Gods Comics!

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Hey there visitor, so fortunate of you to drop by my rabbit hole! If you're in here by accident, please, have a seat, make yourself comfortable and let me offer you a drink - we have the best selection of carrot juice there is, containing just a little bit of alcohol.

This is the first time in here that i write both in English and my native language, Greek, and the reason is my wish to share my work with people everywhere. You see, the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, one of the biggest museums in Britain (i've been there, i know!) is helding an exhibition called "An Evening With The Gods". To celebrate the occasion, i was given the opportunity to create a story for the museum in comic book form, and now this story is presented to you in all its ancient glory!

Άντε, ας γράψω δυο λόγια και στα ελληνικά! Εδώ λοιπόν παρουσιάζω το τελευταίο μου δημιουργικό πόνημα, το οποίο και έστειλα στο αρχαιολογικό μουσείο της Οξφόρδης, στα πλαίσια μιας μεγάλης έκθεσης με θέμα τους αρχαίους θεούς. Πάνε πάνω από δύο χρόνια από την τελευταία φορά που έφτιαξα κόμικς, και έχω να πω δυο πράγματα: Πρώτον, το χάρηκα απίστευτα, ό,τι και να λέμε η πώρωση του να φτιάχνεις ένα κόμικ είναι ατελείωτη, τα κείμενα, οι διάλογοι, τα πλάνα, οι χαρακτήρες που μιλάνε, το ότι σχεδίασα ξανά μετά από καιρό ανθρώπους και ρεαλιστικά backgrounds (ειδικά όσα περιλαμβάνουν φυσικά περιβάλλοντα, πχ δάσος, θάλασσα, κλπ) ήταν κάτι που με χαροποίησε ιδιαίτερα.

Κατά δεύτερον όμως έπρεπε αυτό το κόμικ να το έχω ολοκληρώσει σε διάστημα περίπου 15 ημερών, και όπως καταλαβαίνετε ξελιγώθηκα στη δουλειά. Ήταν γενικά μια ζόρικη, ιδιαίτερα αγχωτική και πιεστική περίοδος ο μήνας που πέρασε, ευτυχώς όμως τέλος καλό όλα καλά.

Πάμε πάλι στα αγγλικά μας τώρα (λέω διαφορετικά πράγματα στα αγγλικά και διαφορετικά στα ελληνικά, για να παρουσιάζουν ενδιαφέρον και τα μεν και τα δε για τον αναγνώστη :P)

The Ashmolean Museum

The hero (aka yourself) travels back in time and space and meets with various gods of antiquity, while seeking Zeus' symbol of power, his stolen lightning bolt. The comic pattern follows that of the museum and a certain "treasure hunt" that has been planned - the visitors start their tour with ancient Greece, on to the room containing artifacts from Knossos, then to the ancient Middle East etc. They end up in the room containg coinage from various ages - aka, the "treasure". All god figures are in fact museum exhibits, and each and every one of them has lost something precious. I've added some kind of "games" into the comic, big pannels where i've hidden the lost artifacts and you, the reader, has to find them.

The museum treasure hunt starts with ancient Greece, therefore this is where we begin our comic!

(in order to read, click and open in a new page)

Όπως γράφω πάνω λοιπόν, έχω συμπεριλάβει ορισμένα παιχνιδάκια στο κόμικ. Σκοπός είναι να βρεις τα κρυμμένα αντικείμενα μέσα στην εικόνα. Και εδώ προφανώς παίζει σημαντικό ρόλο να τα βρεις γρήγορα, όχι μετά από μία ώρα ξέρω γω! Ας πούμε πως ένα λεπτό το πολύ αρκεί. Περιττό να πω βέβαια πως οι συγκεκριμένες πανοραμικές εικόνες με τα παιχνίδια υπήρξαν και οι δυσκολότερες στον σχεδιασμό, νομίζω γίνεται κατανοητό βλέποντας τες.

Then on to the ancient Minoan civilization! One of the museum's most fabled exhibits is the minoan Mother Goddess, holding her snakes, therefore she's in the comic as well. As far as the snakes are concerned, i've hidden them somewhere within a vast forest - i think it turned out pretty well!

Next stop, the ancient Middle East and the bloodthirsty Assyrians! There's this carved relief panel in the museum, from the palace of Nimrud, capital of the assyrian empire, and it depicts a winged spirit. His role was to protect the king and the palace from dangerous forces. He looks kind of funny, therefore i've made him a bit comical in the story as well. He's an interesting character, if the comic was a longer one perhaps he could play a bigger role...

Then on to ancient Cyprus, around 1150 BC at Enkomi. There was a monumental sanctuary there where an ingot god was worshipped. There was probably a nude female statuette at Enkomi, depicting  the ingot god's consort. She was one of the many facets of the Goddess of Fertility, prevalent in ancient days.

Now here's the interesting part, concerning the artwork. Here you can see two versions of the Goddess' appearance. One with clothes on - and one totally nude! The nude version was the original one, the one that i made first. Afterall, the statuette was depicting a nude woman and the fertility goddesses of the time were often goddesses of sexuality and reproduction as well. Still, i can understand that the Museum would prefer something more modest - this is a comic that will be presented in public among various visitors, from different ages and places. Therefore i made another version, where the Goddess is wearing a mini skirt! I've also covered up her breasts. Here though, you can see both versions, the dressed one and the nude one!

Δε χρειάζεται να προσθέσω κάτι στα ελληνικά. Είναι γεγονός πως απολαμβάνω να σχεδιάζω γυμνές γυναίκες. Εδώ βλέπετε τόσο την ντυμένη, όσο και τη γυμνή εκδοχή!


Our journey goes on with ancient Egypt. You and the Goddess have a conversation with Min, a fertility God dating from the pre-dynastic Egyptian era. There are two colossal statues of Min in the museum, or what is left of him. In the original statue Min was holding his phallus with his left hand, therefore the story now concerns Min's missing manhood - and you the reader has to find it within the comic panel!

Once again, i present both the undressed and the dressed - formal - version of the Goddess in the page. In the first one you'll notice that Min's statue looks a bit different. I made him look more like a pharaoh from the dynastic times. I changed his look a bit in the second version, to be closer to the original.

On to page 10, where Min is whole once again! Two versions of the page once more. In the final version, Min is still a statue. In the first version though i'd made him turn into a man!


Αλλά και αντρικό γυμνό, ορίστε, για να μη μένει κανένας παραπονεμένος! Βέβαια στην τελική εκδοχή ο Μιν παρουσιάζεται ως άγαλμα, όχι ως μεταμορφωμένος άντρας όπως τον είχα σχεδιάσει αρχικά.

The egyptian almighty god Amun is also represented here - there is a relief on a king's shrine in the museum, where Amun is seen wearing his traditional ostrich plume headdress. He gives the lightning bolt back to the anonymous protagonist ("yourself"), and then we head on to the final page, where i've added some interesting monologue on the part of Zeus, concerning the gods, their fate and their relation to humans. All Gods, that is, both ancient and contemporary.

This is it then! If you are interested to find out more about my work, you can visit my deviantart page (link here), or you may contact me at alyxir81@gmail.com. Thanks for dropping by!


Χαιρετώ!!

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