Merry Christmas Eve! And welcome back to Rotten Ink, and man is it just me or did 2024 just seem to fly by as it’s crazy to think that tomorrow is Christmas and that Santa Claus is on his way! So you younger readers make sure to leave out some milk and cookies and get to bed early, oh and asked a loved one to read you The Night Before Christmas to help you drift off to slumber. And now to what this holiday update will be about and it will also be one that will be a fast and entertaining read as we will be talking about the Greek God Zeus! That’s right nothing says Christmas like Zeus the God Of Thunder, who was the King of the Gods when it comes to Greek Mythology…wait, you don’t think of Zeus around this time of the year? Well I do, as Christmas time is that time I think back to the stuff that I enjoyed when growing up and mythology was something I loved to read about. So with that, let’s grab some lightning bolt shaped cookies and a tall cold glass of milk and sit around the fireplace and chat about the one and only Zeus!

Zeus is The God Of Thunder and is one of the most powerful of the Gods in Greek mythology as he led his brothers and sisters into battle to bring down the Titans who had tormented them as well as mankind. He also was the first to survive his father Cronus’ hunger for eating his own offspring so that they could never challenge him for his throne, as he was a Titan who was cruel but Zeus is able to defeat him as well as free his brothers and sisters that had been eaten alive when they were just infants. And from that moment on, Zeus became the King Of The Gods and would rule both his fellow Gods and Mankind with an iron fist as he was truly one that demanded respect. Zeus and his fellow Gods would sit atop Mount Olympus in Greece and would watch over the people and as well would look for the tributes given to them from the mortals. And during this time when thunderstorms would come to the area they would think that it was Zeus who was doing this as he was angry with them or was in battle. As time would pass Zeus would start to lose his worshipers and other religions would enter the area and become the main source for mankind to follow with Christianity and Islam being the two big ones, and Zeus and his fellow Gods would find themselves being viewed as myths and legends and would fade away from minds and would become stories told around fires, heroes in books and later movies and shows and their statues and shrines would be art in museums. Even Mount Olympus is now a tourist attraction in Greece that thousands of tourist visit every year. But while it is a smaller group, now Zeus does have cults that still follow and worship him, and that is one thing about Zeus while his reign has long came to an end he still has those who follow him and his ways of ruling.

When I think of Zeus when it comes to movies and TV, a few names come to mind with the first being Anthony Quinn who played him in the hit TV Show “Hercules The Legendary Journeys” and the made for TV films that aired before it became a full series. He was sauvé, a prankster and a ladies man and for some reason I think he is my favorite version of Zeus in media. I remember being very disappointed when Toy Biz never released a Zeus figure in their action figure line based on the show. Some of my other favorites include Laurence Olivier who played Zeus in the 1981 film “Clash Of The Titans”. Rip Torn, who lent his voice to play Zeus in the 1997 Disney animated film “Hercules”. Claudio Cassinelli who played Zeus in the Lou Ferrigno films “Hercules” and it’s sequel “The Adventures Of Hercules”. And I also have to say I enjoyed Russell Crowe who played Zeus in the 2022 Marvel movie “Thor: Love And Thunder”. I will say that it’s odd that back in the day of the sword and sandal film boom of the 1950’s -1960’s that no film that stared Zeus as the main hero was made, and in fact I cannot think of one film or show that has Zeus as the main hero…odd. So if you are an indie filmmaker and are making films about Greek gods, make one about Zeus as I am sure I am not the only one in the world who would enjoy it.

Zeus has always been interesting to me as growing up I was a big fan of Greek mythology and can remember checking out books at the local library to read as well as would watch any classic film that featured the likes of Hercules, Zeus and all the others. And it makes you wonder what it was like in the time of his rule in Greece and just how people lived in the fear of his wrath or felt safe under his watch, and it would have been amazing to see all the shrines to all the different Gods in the villages all around…it must have been something to see. But as I said, I am going to make this update a fast one so I think we should get to the review part of our Christmas Eve Holiday update. First I would like to thank Amazon for having this graphic novel comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to the top of Mount Olympus and see what Zeus has in store for us.

Olympians: Zeus # 1   **1/2
Released in 2010     Cover Price $12.99     First Second     # 1 of 12

Mother Earth Gaia took Ouranos the sky as her lover and husband and together they birthed the Titans who would go to run the Earth and those who lived on it. Kronos, was the youngest of the Titans and is also the one to took down his own father, imprisoned his Cyclops brothers in the dark ground and truly became the King Of The Gods at his time. Kronos would take the Titan Rhea as his wife and they would have a total of six kids together with Kronos eating five of them whole and eating a stone wrapped as a baby for the sixth as his younger son Zeus was hidden away by Rhea and Gaia to live in a cave. You see Gaia was upset about Kronos for defeating his father, imprisoning his brothers and of course eating his own offspring as it is said that they would be the ones to bring Kronos’s rule to an end and he could not stand for this. Zeus grows up and has great powers including the ability to change into any animal and is given a plan by Gaia in order to free his brothers and sisters from the belly of his father by making him eat a special plant, and with the help of his lover Metis they pull this off! Now out of his stomach the Gods are Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia and they join Zeus in a war against the Titans in order to be the new rulers and Gods of Earth and even Gaia herself tries to still help Zeus in his war by sending him to free the Cyclops, but before he can do that, he has to kill the dragon Kampe. Zeus along with his brother, sisters and uncles the Cyclops have a final battle against the Titans where Zeus defeats them by using his new powers of Thunder and Lighting to take down Kronos for good. Once Zeus gets the power and the title King Of The Gods he marries his sister Hera, imprisons his uncles the Cyclops again and enjoys his Kingdom and the powers he now holds…but his grandmother Gaia is not happy with his actions.

So as you can see, this comic about Zeus features his birth to defeating his father in battle to claim the Earth as his own to rule over, and it’s done in a fast way that brings in elements of superhero comics as well as tries to do it’s best to make it more interesting for younger readers. Zeus from the start of the issue is showcased more as a hero who was tasked with being the offspring of Kronos that would end his cruel rule over the Earth as well as would be the one to free his bothers, sisters and uncles from the cruel imprisonment that was holding them. Zeus once grown up is a true ladies man and is learning how to use his new powers that changing into any animal, being indestructible and later learning how to use lightning bolts and thunder as weapons. We also see that Zeus is a great leader who takes control and is able to get his brother and sisters to work together, but we also see that once Zeus gets power he is no better than his father in some aspects as he continues to imprison his uncles and rules over mankind with an iron first and makes them fear him at times. It’s also clear that he was built to be The King by his Grandmother Gaia, only to disrespect her by killing off some of her children and as well treating other of her children with disrespect. The main villain of this comic is of course Kronos who was a Titan that was cruel and would not only treat his own offspring bad but also truly scared the hell of humans, and would eat them as well as offerings that were given to him in order not to be eaten! And even when the odds are against him and his fellow Titans Kronos still has a massive ego! The final fight between Zeus and Kronos really does feel like a battle in a superhero comic from DC or Marvel and that is why I have to say Greek Mythology is so cool and like the creator of this comic George O’Connor says these really are like the original superheroes. The cover for this graphic novel comic is ok and pretty eye catching as it shows Zeus raging with lightning all around him and the interior art is done by George O’Connor and is pretty cool, not the style of comic art I like but I can still respect it. While this is a very fun read I do wish that it would have dove a little deeper into the legacy of Zeus as truly this issue only covers his battle with his father and ends with he and his siblings taken control of the Earth and teaching humans how to take care of themselves. But to be fair to this comic as well it is also geared toward young readers as well, so George clearly did not want to dive to deep into the more mean side of Zeus. Check out the artwork below to see the style O’Connor used in this comic. To sum this up, if you want a read a comic based on the early life of Zeus that is for young and older readers give this a read.

This was such a fun update to do and if you want to learn more about Zeus as well as the other Greek Gods make sure to head to your local library and check out some books on the subject, or you could also look up their legends and tales here on the net. And I think that in the future I might do a few more of these Olympians graphic novels for updates, as this was a fun one to do. I also hope that you enjoyed this faster paced update as I think when I cover more of the Greek Gods in the future they will be done in this format. And I have to say a big Thank You for spending a small part of your Christmas Eve here at Rotten Ink with me and I hope that you have a great and safe Holiday Season and an amazing Christmas day. I also would like to let you know that our next update will be my Countdown for Films I have seen in the Cinema in 2024 and will be the first update in 2025! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Christmas film or two and as always spend some time with your loved ones. See you soon as we need to talk Cinema and I am looking forward to sharing my Horror Movie Countdown! Oh and I have to say Merry Christmas!