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Coming Soon: PSYComics astonishing “Circe”, by Laurence Alison and Simon Harrison

By John Freeman on May 16, 2025

Circe (PSYComics, 2025) - art by Simon Harrison

Independent British comic publisher PSYComics, recently-launched Madness & Monsters, a fantasy adventure saga centred on Greek hero, Odysseus. The first adventure, Odysseus: In Defiance of the Gods has been released, and an astonishing retelling of the Circe myth follows soon, the work of Laurence Alison, Simon Harrison and Neil ‘Bhuna’ Roche.

Circe, a tale of a Goddess who wants to experience being a mortal and thus incurs the wrath of her Sun God Father Helios, will be seeking support on Kickstarter soon. Thanks to PSYComics, we’ve had sight of this powerful, adult retelling of Greek myth, and can report it’s as savage and disturbing as you’d expect from an unlikely creative team. Simon Harrison’s astonishing visuals, which longtime 2000AD fans will remember from his work on Revere, written by John Smith, and his Strontium Dog work, collected in The Final Solution are absolutely breathtaking throughout.

Simon, who by his own admission, is a rebel even within an already maverick set of creators in 2000AD, has come out of a lengthy period away to produce his first (and very likely his best) comic artwork in 14 years. His experiences all over the world including as a bodyguard in Israel, Africa and Ukraine as well as his time producing fine art under the moniker and collaboration of Becker Harrison has doubtless informed some of what appears here, and it’s great to have him back.

Laurence Alison, a Professor of Forensic Psychology for over 30 years and more accustomed to writing scientific papers, has joined Harrison to rewrite and re-evaluate the ancient Greek myths that pervade our society. Alison has worked in operationally intense environments on topics as diverse as mass casualty incidents, threat events and child protection and, as with all his work, Circe has something to say.

Ably assisted by Neil ‘Bhuna’ Roche (lettering, design and the ‘Nerve Centre’ of the quality indie publisher PSYComics) the team have now created the second of a trilogy of ancient Greek tales.

Their first, Odysseus: In Defiance of the Gods, already had a successful Kickstarter campaign and was branded as “Harryhausen meets The Sopranos”. Issue 2 will introduce Circe (after all, Greek myth scholars will know how inextricably intertwined Odysseus and Circe are) but, as Alison explains, in Odysseus we have a mortal’s eye view looking up at the Gods and in Circe a God’s eye view looking down on mortals.

In the first adventure Vietnamese master artist Vu Danh brought us an earthy, gritty feel to Odysseus, in which Gods appear in waves (Poseidon), a giant faces in a murmur of starlings (Hermes) or as beautiful figures in the clouds (Athena).

But Circe is a very different beast. Harrison’s stunning art – part Geiger, part Moebius develops a vision of extraordinary other worldliness.

Neil Roche has described Simon’s art on Circe as “truly arresting – a psychic attack on the eyeballs and mind,” and he’s not wrong! His Gods retain all the majesty of what we expect to see in a marble statue, but they are also dark, horrifying and intimidating. And that’s just the Gods – let alone his edge of nightmare Furies, the cursed and transformed many headed Scylla and the dark and ominous Nyx.

But as with all great tales, this has something to say about the human condition. Circe is aching to be human, despite her birth as a celestial object. She longs to be held, loved and is fascinated by the transience of mortality. The male Gods, and particularly her Father, the Sun God Helios, who Harrison has designed around Nazi symbolism, is our villain… and what a villain!

“How often do we hear about some redeeming feature of our bad guys?” Alison asks. “I get it, and I’ve written that before but here I wanted pure evil and malevolence.

“Helios has nothing but a desire for utter control. He is burning, psychopathic and unfeeling rage. And now his daughter wants to invite a deliberate weakness in …this is where our story begins.”

So, Circe focuses on a daughter father relationship but, of course many other demonic other worldly forces enter the fray and impact both God and mortals. And there is plenty of bloodshed.

Circe issue 1 is the first part of a two-part piece (each is around 44 pages). Simon provides all the art and even makes available a series of original and stunning painted piece of key characters. High quality prints and Tees are available too. 2000AD Dredd artist Stewart Kenneth Moore is on variant cover duties, too.

“This promises to be an intense event with two creators at the top of their game,” we’re told, and after enjoying Odysseus: In Defiance of the Gods, and getting a sneak peek at Circe, we can assure you this is a retelling of Greek myth you should not miss…

• Circe issue one releases its power via Kickstarter on 31st May 2025 | You can register for the launch here

• Follow PSYComics on Facebook

• Simon Harrison’s DOGON project on Instagram

• 2000AD Thrillcast: Simon Harrison talks about his life and career, getting work at 2000AD, all the incredible places his art has taken him, and all with a view on the world and on art

• Shuk & Doode, co-written and co-created with Tim Crowfoot, early work by Simon Harrison, is available from Dark & Golden

• Revere, written by John Smith, drawn by Simon Harrison, is available as a digital edition from Rebellion

• The Final Solution, written by Alan Grant and John Wagner, includes Simon’s Strontium Dog work

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.