Hermes: Tales of the Trickster

This tenth entry in George O'Connor's Olympians series continues an impressive streak of excellent graphic novels. Like the other volumes in this series, it is uniquely crafted to the god's personality, this time with a framing device that runs throughout the book, telling the tale of Argus the many-eyed guardian. Of course, there is a twist at the end, demonstrating just how tricky Hermes is.

There are several other tales told within this book, including the birth of Hermes, his antics against his brother Apollo, the origins of his helmet and staff, the birth of his son Pan, and the final battle against Typhon, the last child of Gaea. That last story is gloriously and horribly depicted, and I get the feeling from this book especially that O'Connor had a blast writing and drawing the whole thing.

Also, There's a great bit about dogs, too. I learned a bunch from this book!

It is meticulously researched, energetically illustrated, and smartly plotted. And like the other volumes in this series, it features lots of notes, drawings, and other interesting back matter after the main narrative. I love these books, and I have mixed feelings about the next two, excited to see them but also sad to know that they will complete the series. Luckily, I have a couple of years to deal with these emotions.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been glowing. In a starred review from the School Library Journal Mahnaz Dar summed up, "Another stellar addition to graphic novel shelves." Kirkus Reviews also gave it a star and called it "Another crowd-pleasing, compulsively readable entry in this divine series."

Hermes: Tales of the Trickster was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and much more here.