Herakles by Edouard Cour (3 vols.)
As the boxes from Hong Kong and storage slowly trickle into our brand new custom shelves, I get to reread things I haven't read in years. Upon rereading, I can say without any qualms that Edouard Cour's take on the Herakles myth is nothing short of a masterpiece. A darkly humorous tale of heroism and misery, Herakles is depicted here as (I suspect) something that's closer to the intent of the original myth: an exceptional man who is nonetheless little but a toy of the gods. The art, the text and the humour all point to this: a tale of grit against near impossible odds. Herakles, far from the positive hero he's often depicted as executes his travails because he has to, often in crude or unsubtle ways. He doesn't see himself as a hero but rather as someone who is cursed with the constant attention of the gods (and of Hera in particular, hence his name). Go read it, it's that good.
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