ZEUS

An energetic graphic series on classical mythology debuts with the origin story of the Big Cheese Olympian, Zeus. Appropriately heightened, stately language narrates the joining of Gaea with Ouranos, the Titans’ rise to power and Kronos’s devouring of all his children but one—Zeus (pictured with lots of muscles and, oddly enough, Nordic blond good looks). In contrast (and in the same spirit as G. Brian Karas’s rendition of the King of the Gods’s story for younger readers, Young Zeus, also 2009), speech-balloon dialogue is decidedly colloquial: “Hey Metis. How about a kiss?” O’Connor pulls out the comic-book stops in his artwork, consciously echoing superteam portraits of yore in his line-up of angry Olympians and allowing the Clash of the Titans to extend over pages and pages of hugely satisfying sound effects, crumbled mountains and thrown lighting bolts. He plants clues in both text and images to stories to be developed as the series continues. Extensive backmatter includes an author’s note, full-page character profiles, “G[r]eek Notes,” discussion questions (“Has your dad ever tried to eat you?”) and a bibliography. Holy Cyclopes, here’s a keeper. (Graphic mythology. 8-14)