Mike Oeming may be at risk of being pigeonholed as the mythology guy.  But he's spreading his wings.  He doesn't just do Norse gods.  He does Greek ones too.

Ares is, to put it mildly, not an obvious choice for a miniseries.  He hasn't been seen in a few years, and he was never exactly a particularly major character.  And of course, there's no Thor for him to fight any more.  So what do you do with a guy like Ares?

Oeming's answer is to run with the idea of Ares as god of war.  But he's not just a straightforward soldier - he represents war at its very worst.  Blind, violent annihilation is basically his thing.  Nobody remotely decent wants to be like Ares.  After years of wondering why the other Olympians don't like him very much, Ares has finally got the point.  He's a deeply unpleasant man who does deeply unpleasant things.  And, having worked this out, he's alarmed.  He's going to do something about it.

So Ares has quit as the god of war, and tried to set up a new life in America.  This is the central conceit of the series, and it's a very good one.  Ares is genuinely, sincerely trying not to be a bastard any more.  He is legitimately appalled by war and has turned his back on it.  He hasn't been in a fight in years.  He is contentedly living with his son Alex in the suburbs, and he likes his new life.

Except... well, he's still Ares.  He's abandoned the whole "war" thing, but the rest of his attitudes are refreshingly unimpaired.  He's a single father because, dammit, he's not having any girly nonsense confusing his boy.  He's proud of his son standing up for himself at school, even if those namby-pamby teachers say he's "aggressive."  He occupies his days with good, honest manual labour.  He drives a Hummer.

This really works.  Not only is it funny, but it actually succeeds in making Ares into a sympathetic character without completely compromising him.  He's still utterly blind to many of his flaws, but at least he's trying.  He clearly adores the kid.  We've actually got a reason to root for this guy.  It's a fantastic take on the character. 

Travel Foreman's art comfortably exceeds my expectations.  He's at home with both the mythology and the suburbs, and he's got the acting skills to sell the revamped Ares as something more than a comedy routine.  There are some overly confused action sequences near the start, but after that, it's good stuff.

Overall, a very successful revamp of the character, and a promising start to the miniseries.

Rating: A

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