This is a gorgeous retelling of the Pygmalion myth. I love the art, I love the new adaptation of the story, and I love all the twists it has. This is a lightly mature story with lots of universal themes - as mythology tends to have. Europe Comics has dozens of wonderful graphic novels in its backlist and Le Tendre and Peynet's Pygmalion is another stunning one to add. I absolutely love this and would definitely gift it to my friends who are into mythology.

Pygmalion as a character stands out just like the tale of Eros and Psyche. This graphic novel is no modern retelling, but instead embraces the traditional tale found in Greek lore in an easy to digest form. A must read for any Greek lore and mythology lovers.

I’ve only recently gotten in to these types of graphic novels, I started reading them in French and realized they were good reads and just enough at the beach or before bed. I was also surprised by the depth of storytelling and emotional resonance that they can achieve.

For this one I love the setting, mythology, and art. It was dramatic and effective, and it paced a very moving story. Agape was my favorite part, and a certain scene was very upsetting, but I thought the message of obsession was very well crafted.
A small thing I loved was the beginning and bookend of it with the dogs seen in the background throughout, details like that are nice,

All in all, wonderful art and a fun story with humor and pathos. Maybe not for historical purists, but I strongly recommend this title to anyone else.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Review:

Pygmalion & the Ivory Virgin, is a graphical retelling of that old & quite well known Greek classic, which then inspired the play by George Bernard Shaw, as well as the theatrical movie 'My fair lady'.

If one would recall, the original premise of the story was that of the sculptor Pygmalion, who in search of the perfect woman, crafted her into an ivory statue, then becoming obsessed over her. Moved by her devotion. the Goddess Aphrodite invoked her blessing, breathing life into stone, and bringing to life Galatea, with whom Pygmalion lived happily ever after.

This retelling, as scripted by Serge Le Tendre, and penciled by Frederic Peynet, attempts to flesh out the backstory of the titular character, while adding new ones who explain his motivations and personality.

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SYNOPSIS (Skip for Spoiler warning; but come on, the story has been out for like a few thousand years)

In the ancient city of Amathus, there lived Pygmalion, the young sculptor in training, son of the merchant Antheos. The infidelity of his mother, as well as growing up with an ornery father had left Pygmalion with an undue distaste towards women at quite a young age. He considers them all to be imperfect, and not up to his standards. He spurns the affection of the women who adore him, especially that of Agape; his neighbor & childhood friend loves him unconditionally.

Following the death of his father in an unfortunate accident, Aphrodite shows him the vision of his perfect woman, Galatea, whom he carves into an Ivory statue after much effort. Having realized his ideal, Pygmalion becomes obsessed with Galatea, spending every waking hour with her. Becoming more unhinged, he even bashes the head in of Copius, his teacher, who attempts to steal her from him, falling into a fever dream.

Agape finds him and nurses him back to health. But, the first thing that Pygmalion does after waking, is to throw Agape to the curb, and go back to his Galatea. Heartbroken, Agape renounces her home and joins the temple of Eris, as a Propoetide, a sacred prostitute. Making a deal with Aphrodite, she commits suicide, to realize her love.

At the same time as Agape breathes her last, Pygmalion finds to his joy & bewilderment that his perfect woman has come to life. He is walking on the clouds in jubilation, and soon the whole city is abuzz with the miraculous news of the stone statue that was brought to life by the Gods. After reveling in each other's company, the lovers decided to get married.

Alas, at the wedding dais, Pygmalion is accused of murder, the body of Copias his teacher, having washed up at shore. Pygmalion is to be taken by the crowds and sentenced for his crime, when Galatea, reveals herself as Agape, witness to his innocence.

Pygmalion is saved, but as a penalty to revealing her secret, Agape will turn back to stone. Being unable to live without her, Pygmalion choses to be with her, sharing her fate, and at sunrise, both lovers turn to stone in each other's embrace, together for all eternity.
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WHAT I LIKED:

The Artstyle:

Peynet's artwork is exquisite, having a pastel like quality, and bringing a buttery oily broad strokes to character faces, skin tones and wide cityscapes. The contrast in skin tone, shadows and clouds add more vibrancy and life to the frames, and the sunny summer palette is very pleasing to the eyes, as well as makes the character's expressions pop out. I fell in love with it from the very first set piece. It also has an added benefit of really enhancing those scenes where Gods and their divine shenanigans are put into focus.
(I would love to share some examples, but have to refrain till a later date.)

WHAT I DIDN'T SO MUCH LIKE:

The story & themes:

Pygmalion's tale is something which can be viewed with wonderment, the first time you read it as a child. But as an adult the lessons which it conveys are....troublesome. The artist who detests women in real life, and sets out to 'make' his own personal perfect woman, doesn't sit well, by any standards. While adaptations like those of George Bernard Shaw, add a lot of levity and character growth for the female, here she is just the final prize for the protagonist.

The graphic novel, scripted by Le Tendre, attempts to flesh out Pygmalion and his motivations. To this effect, he successfully manages to insert a cast of characters who have varying amounts of depth, but are unfortunately underdeveloped and given too brief of a time to be explored.

Ironically, none of this helps the protagonist Pygmalion, who was supposed to be fleshed out and humanized. At the best of times, he comes across as an indifferent, cold hearted, self centered and sort of a chauvinistic swine. He is bratty at the best time, and sociopathic at worst.

The reason for his anathema towards women could be traced back to his childhood, and the infidelity of his mother Bresia. In throes of passion with her illicit lover, Bresia is caught red-handed by her husband, who proceeds to kill the lover, and banish Bresia from their home; all in front of a young Pygmalion.

This might have caused the boy to see all women as creatures who are inherently flawed and not meeting his standards of perfection. He holds a particular dislike towards the Propoetides, the sacred prostitutes, both due to their doctrine, and as this is where his mother took refuge after being thrown out.

In Galatea, he sees his perfect woman, untouched, incorruptible and free from all the inadequacies of this world.

Yet he does come across as sociopathic & uncaring in multiple instances. Waking up after the accident which claimed the life of his father, he doesn't spare a breath for the departed, immediately being obsessed over the woman in his visions.

Afterwards, in his obsession with Galatea, he throws away the love & affection that Agape has for him, ignoring even her kindness to him when he was injured. Even her eventual suicide barely registers in his psyche.

Agape had to literally be reborn into Galatea, into Pygmalion's perfect women, for him to finally start giving her some notice, and eventually realize their 'ahem', 'True' love.

This whole love affair seemed to be something which came out of a Fair & lovely (skin cosmetic) commercial. the guy ignores you first time around, you literally kill yourself to become more appealing to him, and them he deems you worthy of his attention and affection. It seems to send the wrong message in terms of romantic attraction & relationships in general.

Some part of me is not satisfied with the fairy tale ending which Pygmalion got. It was as if, all of his narrow minded behavior became justified and he is gifted with the women of his dreams. Forget all that talk of how love should be mutual. No, love is one sided, where one partner has to bend over backwards to realize the unreasonable standards to the other, and change herself to become a better woman for him. Definitely not the definition of a toxic relationship. After reading this, I wanted to go and reread 'The Practical Princess', the hilarious fairy tale retellings by Jay Williams to clear my palate.

Frankly, with the way that the story was progressing, I would have been more satisfied with a narrative where, after having come to realize his perfect woman, things go downhill for Pygmalion, as his ideal clashes with reality. An ending where Agape/ Galatea comes to realize that Pygmalion is not the man of her dreams, and she deserves someone better, leaving him as a blubbering puddle of tears would have been the perfect ending.

Speaking of Agape, it's a pity that the writers didn't choose to focus more on her, as she is by far the most interesting of the characters; followed by Bresia, Pygmalion's exiled mother. This tale could have been an allegory as to how the lives of these women were completely dictated by, and revolved around the men in their lives, and how the only release from this self deprecating cycle would have them branded as prostitutes.

A tale of Agape's journey from a heartbroken girl blinded by love, to someone who renounces her life to be an ascetic, before finally arriving at the self realization that she doesn't need someone's love to fill the emptiness in her heart would have been a great story worth reading. Hell, I want to write that story now!
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In summary, great artwork, flawed script. I want to give it a 3 out of 5.

[P.S. Thank you Netgalley & Europe Comics for giving me an ARC of the book. Well wishes.]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I have seen thoughtful and fresh retellings of Pygmalion's story. I would not call this one of them. There were moments where I almost wondered if the comic was self-aware - was it trying to critique its own plot? Notably, there's a scene where Pygmalion rides past a couple of girls on the road, and when he's passed them, they laugh at him. If I was being especially charitable, I might say, well, the story is aware of what a misogynist Pygmalion is. It's making him the butt of the joke. But I don't think that's really what the story as a whole is doing. It just feels tired and, frankly, gross at certain points. I'm not of the belief that historical retellings need to sanitize history or that characters need to be likeable for their story to be enjoyable, but I do think writing needs to be thoughtful. I did like the short length, and I thought the pacing was fine. It kept me reading even through parts where I really disliked the scripting.

On a positive note, Peynet's art is beautiful and feels appropriate for the setting. I would absolutely read more comics on the basis of his art, just preferably with a different writer.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

Pygmalion and The Ivory Virgin is a loose retelling of the myth of Pygmalion with plenty of creative liberties. Starting with the title, you can already see how women are portrayed in this story. They seriously couldn’t have come up with a better way to describe Galatea/Agape?

Let’s start with the things I like about this graphic novel.
-The art is absolutely stunning! The art style fits well with the time period portrayed.
-It was a short and quick read.
-Easy to understand.

Now let’s get into the things I didn’t like.
-The original myth of Galatea and Pygmalion is bad enough, but some liberties to change the myth were not good.
-Random things were brought up or shine that added nothing to the story or even worsened it. Most were also never resolved. For example, Pygmalion’s Mother wanting to rekindle their relationship was never resolved. Also, the art of the dogs? Gross and not appreciated.
-The misogyny reeked through this graphic novel so badly I had to open the windows. (Not really, but you know, hyperbole) Pygmalion also never improved his behavior. I get trying to accurately portray how women were treated in this time period, but it was a touch too far and unnecessary. The title alone enforces the idea that women are objects along with many other things that happen in the book.

I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you want a Pygmalion and Galatea retelling, there are better ones out there.

You THINK you know the story of the sculptor whose statue comes alive. I thought I did. But we only know the barest bones of the story, if you grew up knowing only Edith Hamilton.

"Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin" has a different impact, when seen visually. There is foreshadowing, there are layers that are NOT in the text, but are shown in the beautifully drawn panels. The impact of a sea monster that suddenly emerges is actually FELT like a blow upon turning a page, and so too are the animal activities that hint at echoes done by human counterparts later on. We also get to appreciate how Pygmalion's earlier sculptures are actually mediocrities, which makes one reflect on his frustration on sculpting women. Perhaps he was simply channeling his self-hatred to others, blaming innocent models and women in general for his own failings?

While Pygmalion is the title character, he comes across as a j*rk both in Hamilton's book and this one. It is Agape (*applauds name choice of author*), she who loves Pygmalion and is initially spurned, who shines. Although as a woman, I was just shaking my head at her, shouting: "Girl, HE'S NOT WORTH IT!!!"

To expect perfection by putting others on a pedestal... as a teacher, I was reminded of the Pygmalion effect in the classroom: when students have teachers who show high expectations of them, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Le Tendre's book shows us the build up and the consequences of the age old question: what happens after you find the perfect woman?

The font of the text took some getting used to, but after the first couple of pages I was so interested in the story that it no longer bothered me.

The ending felt a bit contrived for this reader, and also, a quick re-read of Hamilton's retelling shows inconsistencies. But of course, in the name of artistic license, all is forgiven.

Well worth the read! Le Tendre made an old tale new again.

FOR MATURE READERS ONLY.

(Grateful to Netgalley for a free download of this graphic novella!)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4858198294

with the stunning art and earthy colours, Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin by Serge Le Tendre and Frédéric Peynet retells the original myth of Pygmalion with certain creative liberties taken with the plot and same old typeset-ted depiction and portrayal of women which irks me to read sometimes, however accurate it might be to the time and era. The cover should have given away but i have enjoyed all the other Graphic novels so far from Europe Comics but this story didn't meet my expectation.

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

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

Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin by Serge Le Tendre and Frédéric Peynet is an adult graphic novel that adapts a Greek tragedy. The graphic novel revolves around Pygmalion, a young sculptor who wants to carve a statue of his idealAccording to the description, "The gods often meddle in the affairs of men, so Aphrodite, the goddess of love, decides to give the statue life in answer to Pygmalion’s mad desires. But there is a price to pay!"

Overall, Pygmalion and the Ivory Virgin is an adult graphic novel that will appeal to fans of the sexier Greek tales. One highlight of this book is the artwork, which was well-colored and well-drawn. I did take off 2 stars because of the gratuitious sex. At first, I thought that this book could have been used in classrooms in Greek mythologies unit, but then I realized how inappropriate it was. It is firmly for adult readers. If you're intrigued by the description, you can check out this book, which is available now.

From the description of this graphic novel, I'd assumed the plot would more closely follow (if not entirely replicate) the original myth of Pygmalion. While the base elements of the story were there, some pretty major changes were made to the overall plot. I'd like to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say the ending of this story is entirely different from the original myth. Which is fine by me! However...This artistic license did not seem to extend to the way that women were portrayed and treated. I understand the point of capturing the culture and backstory that would lead Pygmalion to have his extremely negative and problematic view of women, but this view never felt fully challenged. If changes were being made to the original story, it would have been more satisfying to see Pygmalion's misogynistic views challenged more profoundly and to have had the young man experience consequences for his actions. Instead, Pygmalion is beloved and receives his own happy ending of sorts with very little recognition of the behavior that brought strife to those around him.

The art for this story was stunning!

First of all, I want to start saying how amazing the art was in this book, I really enjoyed the way it portrayed emotions, and the gorgeous landscapes of Greece... but sadly, the dialogue didn't make it for me, I don't know if it was a matter of the translation or the fact that it came out too misogynistic, or what, but I just couldn't get in the story, which is a shame because I love Greek mythology and I had read another Galatea story by Madeline Miller that I had enjoyed in the past. Alas, this story was not for me, although I appreciated the art.

A deeper and more nuanced retelling of the classic tale, brought wonderfully to life by some great illustrations.

I will start off by saying I absolutely loved the art style. It’s very classic in the modern French sense and I really associate it well with Roman and Greek stories.

However, I believe this story brought absolutely nothing beneficial to the story of Galatea and Pygmalion. The title says it all, the focus is on the man and the ‘Ivory Virgin’ that is Galatea is a prize to be idealized that no human women can reach. The plot point of his unrequited love was unfortunate and not at all satisfying to modern readers.

This story was fine, likely truer to the original concept than I would like to read and the art is gorgeous, but this book is incredibly misogynistic and if you’re interested in reading more about the story of Galatea and Pygmalion, I’d much rather recommend Galatea by Madeline Miller over this comic.

CW: misgony , sexual content, suggested/almost happens incest, & suicide

*I received an eARC from Europe Comics & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*

this was a very nice short graphic novel. i always like anything related to mythology, so of course i liked this take on the classic myth of pygmalion and galatea. the art style was very good, and even though some panels felt unnecessary, i liked them! for example the sea serpent- GIVE ME SEA MONSTERS AND I WILL STARE IN AWE!! i also really liked the ending and how even though it was sad, it was actually hopeful and meaningful!

I sort of love this comic, but it's a love-hate relationship.

For starters, literally right out of the gate we have the unnecessary inclusion of intercourse. Unnecessary? But isn't this a book about romance and gods and a statue coming to life? Why yes it is... But to include dogs doing the horizontal tango on page 3 when it doesn't add to the plot AT ALL, that felt unnecessary and put me off the book a bit at first. I had intended to share this with my teen, but that little detail instantly gave me a bad taste that I unfortunately couldn't get rid of. The content doesn't exactly get much more appropriate from there either.

I do love this particular myth and was looking forward to seeing Aphrodite showing some of her lessen talked about skills. The whole teaching a lesson and being wise/vindictive always seemed to be Athena or Artemis territory. Heck, even Hera herself was probably thoroughly pleased with this little show.

If you know the myth, you know the story so spoilers are not spoilers. Even so, I won't be including any as to not spoil the story for new fans. I will however say to tread with caution. This book does have some inappropriate content and as stated before, not all of it is ever remotely close to being necessary for the plot.

That aside, I do love the book. Just wish the adult content was less.... in your face.

Propelled by the love of his craft, and dedication to his master but mostly belief in his future greatness, young Pygmalion commits to learning the art of sculpture. After the breakdown of his family, along with the pressures to marry, he becomes fixated on creating the perfect sculpture- a recreation of a vision from a dream. Despite the affection of his neighbour's daughter, Agape, Pygmalion is entranced by his ivory statue of a woman, naming her Galatea.

Watching the mad choices of the mortals, the goddess Aphrodite meddles in their affairs, finding an unlikely solution to their woes and desires.

This is a graphic novel depiction of the Greek tale of Pygmalion, making keen references to the women involved in the story, namely Agape, Galatea, Aphrodite and Bresia. It balances these different lives well to form a considered and respectful narrative.

Le Tendre's text conveys the story well but it lacks emotional depth. A key element is empathising with Pygmalion and understanding Agape, however, whilst addressed, it felt superficial. The writing is not, necessarily, required to be compelling on its own (it works alongside the imagery), yet some striking or poignant lines would have been beneficial.

Throughout are panels showing two dogs. Whilst these didn't impact the main narrative, they did aid in showing the progression of time through the various events, offering context.

The residual thought after reading this is that it's a nice read; it is a graphic novel with good artwork and a clear story. However, as a retelling of a classic tale, it fails to distinguish itself.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

This comic is a retelling of the story of Pygmalion and Galatea with gorgeous illustrations. I both liked and disliked the artistic liberties taken in this mythological retelling. May be, because the last retelling of this story I read was V.E. Schwab's Galatea, this seemed a bit too flowery for me. The patriarchal influence in the society is apparent and the brutality faced by Bersei and Agape, the concept of virginity equaling to the value of a woman's worth and so on and so forth is what forms the basis of the story.

The story takes a happy twist in the ending with Pygmalion coming to senses about how wrong his beliefs of purity were (if only that happened in every instance).

Even though the book was short, the art style was beautiful and the book was enjoyable

This book is pretty bad. None of the characters are likable. Its poor attempts at humor come across as uninteresting or irritating instead. The main focus is supposed to be the romance between Agape and Pygmalion. But Pygmailion’s treatment of Agape ranges from dismissive to straight up cruel. Watching Agape continue to fawn after a man that is disrespectful to her is really annoying. Pygmalion only shows interest in Agape once she inhabits his idealized female body which he carved himself. That’s an extremely messed up moral even worse than the one of the original myth the story’s adapting.

This was a retelling of the myth that changed it a bit, but still was faith enough. The art was gorgeous and really transported you to the Greek time, really loved the art style!

A retelling of the story of Pygmalion and Galatea with beautiful illustrations, this graphic novel is sure to delight any lover of mythology. There was impressive character development for something so short and the characters felt like they were both the same traditional characters with added personality that made them feel as if they were new at the same time.
I will say there were a few panels that seemed out of place, especially those involving dogs? It distracted me from the story a bit, but other than that I have no complaints.