Greek Street (Issues 1–2)

DC/Vertigo

Aug 07, 2009 DC Comics By Jeremy Nisen

Peter Milligan pulls no punches in his latest series from Vertigo, Greek Street. The concept: classic stories based on Greek myths, reinterpreted and intertwining in modern-day London. DC/Vertigo’s decision to charge a mere dollar for the first issue essentially means “no harm, no foul” for anybody looking to take a chance on it. But Milligan’s proven throughout his career that his stories aren’t for everyone, and they must each be taken individually. Human Target, X-Statix, The Extremist, and Shade, for instance, all push completely different buttons and enjoy varying levels of success.

Greek Street brings us the girls of strip club “Olimpia” serving as a sort of Greek chorus; The Furies re-imagined as an organized crime family (“the Fureys”); psychic Cassandra morphs into mentally unbalanced “Sandy,” and when loner and wanderer “Eddie,” the stand-in for Oedipus, does his nasty deed with mommy, you may wish the modern version merely plucked out his eyes. Cringe moment. In fact, despite the gritty, crime-driven atmosphere down on Greek Street, some of the crudity seems gratuitous. The juxtaposition of that street-level grit and the apparent supernatural elements is disjointed. But that’s only so far.

Does Greek Street pay homage to the classics, or is it a slave to them? Does knowledge of the Greek stories merely inform the enjoyment of the book, or is a good education in classics a necessity? Remains to be seen; it’s hard to make definitive judgments on a series after a mere two issues. Milligan’s story is ambitious, well paced, and definitely grabs a reader straight out of the gate. Even more impressive is the work of interior artist Davide Gianfelice and cover artist Kako; both demand more attention from the industry at large. (www.dccomics.com/vertigo)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 9/10

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Justin Voigtschild
August 28th 2009
6:58pm

This high of a review score makes me question how you call yourself a journalist. I read the initial issue and it was utter trash with no redeeming value whatsoever. This title could have done for Greek mythology what Fables did for children’s stories and fictional characters. Instead the writer decided to go for the disgusting, unimaginative stories. I agree that Peter Milligan can be hit and miss in what he writes but this 1st issue made me want to throw up and regret spending $1.00 to give it a try. I have read Vertigo comics for about 10 years and this comic is truly the worst executed idea with no redeeming value I have ever had the misfortune to read.

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