3 stars

The name Pygmalion nowadays tends to invoke the play of the same name by George Bernard Shaw, but many often forget that it is a reference to a Greek story about a sculptor obsessed with creating the perfect woman. In Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin, Serge Le Tendre and Frédéric Peynet bring to life this ancient tale in an adaptation that feels more like Aesop's Fables than a true exploration of hubris. On top of that, there were quite a few inconsistencies in the narrative where it felt like a scene was missing. It's an enjoyable enough (and short) read, but there are better adaptations of Pygmalion out there in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for an ARC of this comic in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Romance comic of the greek sculptor Pygmalion. Quick read of the story of Pygmalion and how he fell in love with his sculpture Galatea and his ignorance of the love Agape had for him.

This was a nice quick read. The story was pretty good and I loved the art style. I think people who are really into greek mythology would love this comic.

TW/CWs - Animal sex (on page); Nudity; Misogyny; Arranged marriage; Death; Servants/slaves; Blood; Derogatory word for Romani people; Prostitution; Sex (on page); Domestic abuse; Poop; Animal sacrifice; Animal death; Gore; Suicide (hanging)

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to use this website and thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read this book and give an honest review.

This was a very strange short manga/comic that was full of love, sacrifice and greek gods. This was a very intreasting but felt a little rushed to me as well as the characters didnt have much progression in there character ARCs in the story which i felt fell flat, the characters also didnt feel realistic to me. The story felt like it had one line and some pannels had absolutly no connection to the story which confused me to what they add to the story. I did though like the arts style and the way the comic text was written, The concept of the manga was a cool unusual idea and theme but i think overall this manga isnt catered to me so i can understand why others who usually read this genre might like it but i just think that it is not my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this eARC!

Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin is a retelling of the greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion who falls in love with his own statue of a woman and prays to Aphrodite to bring her to life.
While the comic strays quite from the original myth - as is the usual for a REtelling - it brings an interesting perspective to the different concepts of love.
Complete with stunning illustrations, I wholly recommend this comic!

Pygmalion is one of these Greek myths that many years can pass, but the story enchant all the generations, a story full of mankind and flaws and unreachable love, Pygmalion was in love with his own creation, a stone statue, and for the love of that statue he scorned the love of a woman that loved him for many years, yes, this comic book is a good way to introduce someone to the myth of Pygmalion, it could be a little more in depth (but I am a fan of this story) but I really can’t complain is well done, and the drawings look good as well.

I highly recommend this comic to fans of roman and Greek myths, I would advice some attention, since there's a bit of nudity and adult themes, so I wouldn't advice this for too young teens.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I am obsessed with Greek mythology but I have never heard of this story before. I really enjoyed that this author gave light to a story that wasn’t well known.

In "Pgmalion and the Ivory Virgin," French author Serge Le Tendre aims to retell the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, which, as you'll remember, is about a genius sculptor that falls in love with the statue of a woman he's sculpting and, through the meddlesome intervention of goddess Aphrodite, is granted his wish that the exquisite ivory statue becomes a woman of flesh and blood. In the myth, this miracle has a happy ending.

It's more complicated in Le Tendre's rendition, which tends to follow the original plot close enough but with major deviations and changes. The story is expanded a little with details non-existent in the original, such as Pygmalion having a rather ornery father, an ordinary life as a village bumpkin trying to make a name for himself as the next great sculptor, and a young woman named Agape who is in love with him but whom he neglects in favour of his obsession with the perfect woman he's creating out of ivory.

Le Tendre seems to be wanting to explore the nature of true love in his retelling, through the unusual name of the "rival" to Galatea: "agape" is one of the various types of love the Greeks classified, but not erotic/romantic love. Galatea is romantic and erotic love, and she is the love Pygmalion chooses. Until Agape, through the meddling of Aphrodite, strikes a deal with the goddess that allows her to blur the lines between her and the ivory woman. The result is... different. Bittersweet, perhaps, if you squint. To me personally, it was tragic and entirely not in line with the myth.

That ending wasn't the only downside for me, however. The inclusion of some scenes looked like a waste of space and didn't add to the plot, such as that unnecessary mating of dogs that is shown in loving detail for several panels. For what? What does dogs in heat have to do with the story? And then there's the out-of-the-blue appearance of the sea monster that almost shipwrecks Pygmalion's puny boat, and also didn't contribute anything to the story. Since this is a very short story, only 80 pages, it read like bloating that should've been cut off, pure filler, and that space could've been spent developing the characters further. Agape, for one, deserved more page time. I would really have loved that, I found her the most interesting, far more than the protagonist, and is the reason I'm not rating this lower as I would because the flaws really did take away a lot from this graphic novel.

A well done retelling of a classic myth, complete with beautiful illustrations that round out the characters and the story. I would recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with Greek mythology, as it serves as a good introduction to some shorter myths like Pygmalion.