| Bacchus | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofBacchus #1, published byHarrier Comics' New Wave imprint. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Harrier Comics Dark Horse Comics Trident Comics Atomeka Eddie Campbell Comics |
| First appearance | Deadface #1 (March 1987) |
| Created by | Eddie Campbell |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Dionysus |
| Species | God of Olympus |
| Place of origin | Mount Olympus |
| Team affiliations | Greek gods |
| Partnerships | Joe Theseus The Eyeball Kid Simpson |
| Notable aliases | Deadface |
Bacchus a.k.a.Deadface is acomics character created byEddie Campbell and based upon the Roman god of wine and revelry, known to the Greeks asDionysus. In this incarnation, Bacchus is one of the few Greek gods who have survived to the present day, and is now an elderly barfly wandering the world telling stories about "the old days."
In his introduction to one of theBacchus collections, writerNeil Gaiman explains that the series "mixes air hijacks and ancient gods, gangland drama and legends,police procedural and mythic fantasy, swimming pool cleaners and the classics. It shouldn’t work, of course, and it works like a charm."[1]
Bacchus first appeared as a character inDeadface (March1987),[2] aHarrier Comics title which lasted eight issues. In issue #5 Campbell spun the character out of that book and into his own comic, the eponymousBacchus, a book that lasted two issues, focusing theDeadface comic on Joe Theseus, an updated version ofTheseus. WhenHarrier Comics ceased publication, Campbell managed to sell stories containing the character to numerous publishers; theAmerican publisherDark Horse, where the character appeared in their anthology titleDark Horse Presents, and who also collected theDeadface comics in theDeadface: Immortality Isn't Forever collection published November1990; and twoBritish publishers,Trident Comics, where the stories appeared in their black-and-whiteanthology,Trident, andAtomeka, appearing inA1, another black-and-white anthology.
Dark Horse then collected these short stories and serialized them incomic book form as the three-issue mini-seriesDeadface: Doing the Islands with Bacchus (1991), as well as serializing the adventures of another character from the mythos, The Eyeball Kid (grandson ofArgus "all eyes"), in the Dark Horse anthologyCheval Noir, which was later extended and repackaged as a three-issue mini-series,The Eyeball Kid in1992.
After these collections and repackaging, Dark Horse commissioned the new storyline,Deadface: Earth, Water, Air, & Fire, a four-issue mini-series published in 1992. Following this in May1993 came1,001 Nights of Bacchus, a single-issue comic book compilation of various other previously uncollected storylines which Campbell had placed with various publishers but which he had also created within a unified framing sequence.
The next storylines related to the Bacchus mythos were again serialized, this time inDark Horse Presents asHermes vs the Eyeball Kid (1993-1994) andThe Picture of Doreen Grey (1995), the former also collected as a three-issue mini-series in 1994-1995.
The final work in the Bacchus mythos to be published by Dark Horse was also the first time Bacchus appeared within a comic published in color,The Ghost in the Glass, published in 1995. At this point Campbell decided to self-publish his own comic,Eddie Campbell's Bacchus, in which he published two new storylines featuring Bacchus,King Bacchus andBanged Up, while concurrently revising and reprinting the material already published, and also adding new stories to the1,001 Nights of Bacchus sequence. The Bacchus character's stories came to an end after theBanged Up storyline, and although Campbell eventually finished the reprinting of the previously published material, he continued publishingEddie Campbell's Bacchus, updating the name toEddie Campbell's Bacchus Magazine to reflect the growing number of text pieces he was running, before canceling the book with issue #60.
Campbell also published these revised storylines in thegraphic novel format in collaboration with the publisherTop Shelf.[3]
Campbell worked with numerous collaborators on the many series and appearances Bacchus made, beginning withPhil Elliott, whom Campbell approached to color theDeadface andBacchus covers.
Ed 'Ilya' Hillyer worked as inker on the last four issues ofDeadface, before taking full art chores onThe Eyeball Kid series initially serialized inCheval Noir.
Wes Kublick collaborated with the writing on some of the short stories which made upDeadface: Doing the Islands with Bacchus, andStephen Bissette, Phil Elliott andPete Mullins collaborated on the art on other stories in this sequence. (Mullins helping to redo Elliott's story, which was reworked and retitled.)
Kublick again helped Campbell with the writing on the first two issues of theDeadface: Earth, Water, Air, & Fire series.
1,001 Nights of Bacchus saw collaborations on the writing front with Kublick,Marcus Moore,Daren White, andMark Campbell, with Mark Campbell also writing one story in this sequence solely. Artistic collaborators on this sequence wereSteve Stamatiadis,Dylan Horrocks, and Pete Mullins, who all collaborated on one story each.
Hermes vs. The Eyeball Kid is credited as being written by Campbell and Kublick, and drawn by Campbell, Mullins, andApril Post, with Mullins, again assisting with the art on the latter two-thirds ofThe Picture of Doreen Grey.The Ghost in the Glass featured art byTeddy Kristiansen.
Mullins again assisted onKing Bacchus, with another credit for April Post on part 9. The final serial,Banged Up, sawMarcus Moore again assist with some of the stories and Mullins assist on almost all of the art with a little help fromSteve Francis on part 8.[4]
Notable characters withinEddie Campbell'sBacchus mythos include: