Comic Sans the Comic Ep. 1 - Asterion (2022)

Disclaimer: This is a paid review! However, I can assure you that all the opinions expressed in this review are authentically mine.

I was never much of a comic reader growing up. They always seemed to pass me by. When I was 5 years old, my parents were cleaning out the storage and they found a Spider-Man comic from the 80s, and gave it to me to try on for size. I read the first 20 pages or so and didn't understand what was going on, so I politely returned the comic to my parents and went back to, I dunno, playing Super Monkey Ball or something. Later at the age of 10, I was vaguely interested in the idea of getting into Fantastic Four comics, but was put off by just how many issues there were and went back to, I dunno, listening to Beatles For Sale or something.

All of this is to say that comics are an unfamiliar medium to me, but even in my old age (an obsolescent 23 years old), I welcome unfamiliarity with a warm embrace, so when I received a DM from a certain young gentleman on Twitter who wanted me to review their comics, my interest was piqued!

They sent me two comics to plunder over a few cans of grape soda, and the first one I clicked on was Asterion, being the first one to show up alphabetically. From the title alone I was intrigued. If you're as obsessed with mythology as me, you'll know that there are at least a half-dozen Asterions in Greece's mythological lexicon, and I was curious to see which one this comic made reference to, if any. Excitingly, I soon found out it was indeed referring to the Asterion, more famously known in modern pop culture as the Minotaur. I quickly heaved a sigh of relief, for a comic based on Asterion, Astraeus' assistant, would've been considerably more boring.

The comic, totaling to a gorgeous 16 pages, was apparently a two-person effort, with the story attributed to an elusive figure known simply as Nobody (not to be confused with the Japanese rock band from the 80's) and the art handled by Cecil G.

First, the story, which I will try not to spoil too much because I want to encourage anyone reading this to check out the comic for themselves and experience it firsthand. Especially because it is not simply a cut-and-dry retelling of the original Asterion story, and it seems to take place in a dystopian, cyberpunky setting in a town powered by the energy harnessed from stars. Without giving anything away, I will say the last two pages of the comic, both comprised of vivid drawings of the night sky, are incredibly powerful in the context of the story, and in my opinion a very bold choice.

And now onto the art! For the record, I can't draw. Never could. I couldn't draw a lemur if my wallet depended on it (the tail always trips me up). But even a novice (putting it generously) like myself can recognize that Cecil absolutely knocked it out of the park with this comic. I can only imagine what a Sisyphen undertaking (to use another Greek mythological reference!) it would've been to not only adapt an old folktale, but a modern retelling of it as envisioned by someone else (or no one else, as the Nobody moniker implies). And honestly, I think his art really helps to sell the story's new setting.

From the alluring darkness of the city to the festering griminess of the sewers to the saudade wonder of the aforementioned starry sky, in just sixteen pages Cecil paints a variety of different scenes all with their own distinct atmospheric qualities. My particular favorite bit though is a full-page rendering of the Minotaur encased in a gorgeous starry backdrop. I encourage you to read the comic for yourself to find out the context of this particular drawing, which has stuck with me so thoroughly since reading the comic.

If your curiosity has been properly whetted but not thoroughly satisfied, and you're now ready to bite the bullet and reach for your wallet (which hopefully was not stolen in any kind of lemur-related incident), then you can check out the gorgeous comic I've been rattling on about here!