A Greek legend tells that Alexander of Macedon found an elixir of immortality, but his sister accidentally drank it in his stead. Cursed by the gods to roam the seas forever, she's now a dreadful menace to any sailors unlucky enough to run into her and fail to tell her what she wants to hear. In this stunningly illustrated comic, done in a deliberately limited palette that accentuates the contrasts of tragic emotions, the monster reappears in the present day. What do you do when you meet a legend? Do you feed her delirium to save your life, or do you risk her wrath to seek your freedom? Whichever your choice, remember: tales of the Greek gods very rarely have a happy ending.

This was an interesting comic. The story was okay. The artwork was great. The artist used dark colors wonderfully in the comic. I don't really think I was the audience for this comic.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review

I found ‘The Loneliness of the Abyss’ ok it was fine the art work was well done and overall an ok read.

Rating 3 1/2 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5

First official read of the year!
It was a good start of this new reading year.

This story was super duper short but effective.
Drawings are good, and this was very important for a graphic novel this short and especially with so little text in it. It delivered what it wanted, even if more pages were needed to understand more the world, concept and context.

Thanks NetGalley and Europe Comics for this arc!

4/5 stars

I enjoyed this spooky and short graphic novel about a man who gets taken by a gorgon. The art style was really really cool, I just wish there was more detailed images of her tail, I would've loved to see that in more detail before the concept art at the end.

Honestly, this gives me Love Death + Robots vibes, and I feel like this story would be a perfect addition to that animated anthology one day

A Graphic Novel I enjoyed a lot, usually these kind of stories aren't for me, I'm the romance, drama kind of girl, but this one really caught me.
A captain who got captured by a mythical creature for who knows how long, dealing with guilt and grief. The illustrations are great and the story great, I can only recommend reading it.

First published in Greece in 2022; published in translation by Europe Comics on November 29, 2023

A legend holds that Alexander, after slaying the Great Serpent who stood guard over the Eternal Waters, brought a bottle of the water to Babylon, where he planned to achieve immortality. His sister thought the bottle contained ordinary water. She drank it and became immortal, much to Alexander’s displeasure. The girl begged the gods never to let her see her brother die. They granted her wish by changing her into a gorgon. In that form, she roams the seas, asking passing ships whether Alexander is still alive and crushing those that admit his death.

The Loneliness of the Abyss extends the legend and brings it to a conclusion. The graphic story begins with a cargo ship that has lost power, surrounded by mist in a still and silent sea. The crew waits and broods for days before a giant woman rises from the sea. The crew member she snatches does not know the legend, so he fails to assure her that King Alexander still lives. She crushes him between her fingers, then capsizes the ship and tears it apart. All of this is captured in a few balloons of dialog and lovely drawings of the gorgon, the sea, and destruction.

The story adds to the Alexandrian legend when the narrator falls overboard. Instead of drowning like his shipmates, the narrator occupies a bubble of air at the bottom of the sea. The gorgon is there. He hears her thoughts. She explains that she spared him because he bears a strong resemblance to Alexander.

The narrator finds it in his interest to deceive the gorgon, so he tells her of the wonders of Babylon under Alexander’s immortal rule. The gorgon believes him but accosts more sailors to gain additional knowledge, then sinks their ships when they “lie” by asserting that Alexander is no longer king. Caught in the abyss, the narrator grows old and becomes lost in his own invented tales of Babylon. He takes drastic action at the end, after he is reminded of the life he once lived.

The art is well suited to the story. The sister looks more like a mermaid than a traditional gorgon (a deliberate choice to reflect the Greek take on gorgons, the artist explains). The coloring is a misty gray above the sea’s surface, deep blue with an occasional wash of green below. Human characters are drawn with photo-realism (perhaps assisted by some form of photoshopping?). The gorgon is either beautiful or demonic, depending on whether she is being told a pleasant lie or the unwelcome truth. In short, the art is striking and the story is cool.

RECOMMENDED

I wish I’d read this during the spooky season. Had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Loved it .

Very interesting story with great narrative and characters. The art is spectacular. Definitely want to read more from this author.

“Just blue about you, turning black, then blue again…”

Dimitris Vanellis and Nikolas Kourtis tell the story of the crew on sail on the St Nicholas, unbeknownst to them the nightmare creature that awaits them. A short terrifying tale about a legend from Greek folklore.

The crew are in for a surprise in this story that takes a a dark turn fairly quickly. As short as it is, it does project the despair and frustrations of the crew and the legend herself.

The visuals are beautifully created and are deeply haunting when experienced together with the overall story. Creating an impact this way allows the reader to understand the depth of hurt that is relatable to both characters involved.

An interesting story told with hauntingly beautiful imagery.

3,5

This was a nice, short comic based on a romanticized, over the top account of Alexander the Great's adventures that found its way into Greek folklore.
According to this legend, Alexander the Great slayed the dragon on his quest to find the fountain of Immortality. He brought some of the water with him and gave it to his sister Thessalonike for safekeeping, but she used it instead, either by mistake or out of jealousy (there are different version) and turned into giant gorgon (I think in Greek language word for mermaid is actually gorgon) and she haunts the seas ever since. It is well known that when she grabs your ship and asks is the king Alexander still alive, you should answer that he lives and reigns the entire world so she would let your ship go, otherwise she would sink your ship and drown everyone on board in her fit of rage.
That is the folk tale.
The authors of the comic use this tale in a clever way, focusing on the reason of why this monster drowns everyone who doesn't tell her Alexander is alive. They show her to the reader in all her monstrous immortal glory, but actually wants them to see the thing that haunts the monster: guilt and loneliness which is the only human thing about her and thus, the thing we can relate to. They also gave a Lovecraftian twist to it by telling the tale through eyes of a human who faced with Monster becomes aware of its own insignificance in the grand scope of things and loses the grip on reality.
It's predictable story, especially for those who are familiar with horror genre and one-shots and it that sense doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it may be perfect if you are rushing to complete a Halloween reading challenge.
I love comics as a medium, especially in a horror genre because artists can bring the visuals to the visceral experience. The Loneliness of the Abyss looks modern art-wise and almost monolithic which was done on purpose per artist's notes at the end to evoke the feelings of guilt and sadness and honestly, I found it to be maybe an easy choice considering the method and not necessarily better. I liked the scale (and it was confirmed it was a Lovecraft node) because mermaids are often depicted having a beautiful female half, but when the creature is so huge the first thought that came to mind is terrifying rather than beautiful and the effect made the point authors wanted to tell better. If I have to say more and be a total nit picky nightmare, it's that composition in some panels looked a bit off to me, especially in dynamic scenes on the ship, where characters looked like manekins randomly inserted onto background- it's like different elements are not communicating with each other to convey what authors intended. . Of course, this is a debut work and very clearly a product of passion for Kourtis and Vanellis and I hope to see them raise it up a notch in their next project. :)

The artwork in The Loneliness of the Abyss is absolutely stunning. Vanellis and Kourtis retell the story of Thessalonike of Macedon with a modern horror twist. Sailors on a cargo ship encounter trouble on the high seas when a fog rolls in and all of their equipment does. Just as they are settled in to the understanding that their ship is dead in the water, Thessalonike the Gorgon rises from the depths and asks the one question she always asks, "Is he alive?" Not knowing the correct response, the crew says no and Thessalonike rages, destroying the ship and crew. All except one young man who shouts out, "Yes, He lives and reigns and conquers the world!" The Gorgon spares his life, but keeps him eternally trapped in an bubble below the sea.

I did not know the story of Thessalonike of Macedon when I picked up this book, but that didn't matter. This short graphic novel builds at a smooth pace, awes you with the gigantic Gorgon in all her power, then lets you sink into the depths of despair the man feels as he faces an eternity of loneliness in the bubble.

I would highly recommend this book and, if it releases in print, would love to add it to my library collection.

Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for the egalley copy of this graphic novel. All opinions are my own.

This is epic. I can’t even begin to express how hauntingly beautiful this story is and how the minimized colors just enhance the breathtaking artwork. Every frame is literally an enthralling masterpiece. This is less of a book and more of an experience. I love mythology and would eagerly push this as a recommendation on anyone who also enjoys myths and legends and new takes on them. I wish this were a movie because it’s literally that amazing. The perspectives , both human and not, draw you into something that is both enchantment and madness. What lies beneath the waves, for countless centuries, longing to hear an answer to a bittersweet question? Is it a monster, a thing of beauty or utter despair and evil? Or a dreamlike mixture of all? And is the greater tragedy loneliness , madness, isolation, death, or the end of something so bewitching it defies logic? First class work from start to finish.

The drawing is impressive, with many double page illustrations, but it overwhelms the story completely. That is, the text looks like an excuse for the drawings or a second thought.

I still don't know if I like the development of the story -I do like the drawing- but I certainly like the idea behind it, a greek legend monster being alive and haunting a xxi century man. Not sure whether it is because the text sounds naif or that it is too schematic.

A ship, St. Nicholas, sails from the port of Piraeus, and on their way, the crew meets a monstrous creature that rises from the depths of the sea. The Loneliness of the Abyss is based on a story from Greek mythology about Gorgon - a gigantic sea monster.

The introduction tells the original story. I read it after I finished the graphic novel, as I didn’t want to spoil the reading, only to clarify the details.

This graphic novel is a quick read, and the art is very good. The second part is drawn in different shades of blue color.

Thanks to Europe Comics for the advance copy and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

A really quick read, but wonderfully drawn at points, and a dark tone throughout. I don't know much about Alexander the great, but in this his sister takes a potion of sorts to make her immortal but becomes this beast like under water creature who hunts and murders until one day this guy tells her fake stories to keep from dying like everyone else on the ship. And through the years he sees more and more men murdered, mostly drowning, and it's basically a dark tale of fairy tale feel. I overall really dug it despite not knowing what to expect and would check out more short stories like this.

The art in this comic is beautiful and engaging, and it is short enough that I think anyone would enjoy it as a brief interlude into the world explored in this comic. I had never heard the tale described in this comic, so I have no idea if the legend is a true one, or one invented for the comic, but either way it fits well into the established mythos of the Greeks.

My biggest complaint is both how short the comic is, as well as the story not being as developed as it should be. I think, in the beginning, versus telling us the myth displayed in the comic, it should have shown us to tell the tale. In the same way, I kind of felt that the story was just slightly too predictable to be completely enjoyed on its own. However, the art itself is beautiful, and the comic successfully tells the tale it intended to, so there really isn't anything wrong with it - I just wish I had more to read.

I think anyone would enjoy reading this comic, both for the story and the art, and would recommend it if you were looking for a short and slightly dark aquatic tale.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Europe Comics for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A simple yet effective graphic novel.

Although it may be less than 100 pages, I felt it captured the feelings of dread and despair well within such a short story.

The artwork is absolutely stunning, and I liked the inclusion of the concepts and development at the end.

I picked this up as I'm a big fan of all things Greek mythology, and I'm glad I did. Thoroughly recommended quick read.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book. I have requested this because the synopsis sounded like an interesting blend of old myth/legend and contemporary story. It didn't disappoint.

The story is dark, emotional and character based. In such a short number of pages it packs a lot of philosophical concepts from grief, loneliness, sacrifice and death. It is very powerful and I really wished it would have been longer. I really wanted to find out more about the main character's background.

A beautifully detailed horror retelling of the Ancient Greek myth of the Gorgon, the immortal sea-dweller who stops ships to ask if her brother, King Alexander, is still alive - and what happens both when she hears the truth and only what she wants to hear.