(Titan)

THERE is a brilliant simplicity to transposing the twisted and visceral tragedies of ancient Greece to the crime-ridden streets of contemporary London, with the themes and characters of myth working remarkably well in today’s society.

The main protagonist is mother-killer Eddie (Oedipus), who is caught up in his own odyssey of sex and slaughter, but other characters include the detective Dedalus (Daedalus) and aristo visionary Sandy (Cassandra), all of whom are caught up in the blood and brutality of London’s seedy underbelly.

Artist Davide Gianfelice brings a noirish flair to his work, with writer Peter Milligan plundering classic tales with ruthless abandon, never holding back on showing the bloody violence and warped relationships which characterised his source material.

Typically, the average comics buying public failed to appreciate what they had here until it was too late, and the ongoing Greek Street series was cancelled after just 16 issues. This second of three volumes proves just how much potential there was in the concept, and how the biggest tragedy of all is Western audiences’ reluctance to buy comics which don’t feature spandex-clad superheroes.