By d. emerson eddy — Perhaps more than other forms of narrative fiction, comics has a penchant for reflexive meta storytelling. Comics that are built around a story of making comics, including portions of that comics-within-comics, but also integrating the fictional world of the comic within the comic as a kind of real place. The first two issues of Olympia from Tony Pires, Curt Pires, Alex Diotto, Dee Cunniffe, and Micah Myers do this beautifully by introducing us to a kid whose comic book hero, Olympian, unexpectedly crash lands in front of him. It plays with ideas of imagination, paying homage to Jack Kirby along the way, utilizing the old school comics framework as a second layer for storytelling. Olympia #3 is something different entirely.

With guest line art from Jason Copland, Olympia #3 is a darker, more serious story as it shifts focus to Kirby Spiegelman, the creator of the Olympian comics. Copland's art here has a rougher, scratchier appearance than Diotto's in the first two issues, helping give the feeling of gravity and darkness to the story. Spiegelman's looking rough, unkempt, and beaten down as we're watching his life essentially disintegrate. Cunniffe's colors help amplify that, choosing some dark tones that add an overall somber mood to the story. The only time it really breaks free from that is when we see one of the bright lights in Spiegelman's life visiting his son.

Most of the story is presented in a 9-panel grid, which gives me the feeling of structure and order. Something that maybe you wouldn't necessarily feel as you think your life is spiraling out of control, but with that structure, it reinforces the idea that this is real. It also gives an interesting impression of monotony. There's a kind of banality to Spiegelman's depression and descent into a downward spiral that's really quite profound.

One of the few times that it breaks the format, Micah Myers' letters really shine in a splash page. The word balloon takes up nearly half of a page, its size and the thickness of the balloon itself beautifully conveying Spiegelman's moment of doubt, lashing out at his own creator. And I think here too is part of what's captivating about how Pires is structuring some of this overall, in making us think about multiple levels of the creative process and developing a situation where it's possibly that a creation can meet its creator. And whether or not there will be any kind of reconciliation.  

Overall, Olympia #3 operates as a look at the struggles of a man within the comics industry at his wits end—you can certainly enjoy it on its own as sobering tale of a life potentially gone wrong—but there's also the broader picture of the rest of the series that leaves the potential for rectification. Pires, Pires, Copland, Cunniffe, and Myers present an intriguing, thought-provoking next chapter here.

Olympia #3
Writers: Tony Pires (Story) & Curt Pires (Story & Words)
Artist: Jason Copland
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Micah Myers
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99

d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.