Tongues volume 1 by Anders Nilsen

Published by ‎ Pantheon on March 11, 2025

I have to hand it to Anders Nilsen. He does not lack ambition. Not only does he take on a big story, merging Greek mythology with modern strife in the Middle East, he invents a new mythology of his own, one that sends a thirteen-year-old girl named Astrid on a mission that will either save the world or cause it to follow her into darkness.

Astrid acquired a suitcase but has not investigated its contents. A talking chicken tells her it might be used as a weapon but she will lack the knowledge to wield it. The chicken (which sometimes manifests as a less loquacious owl) tells her that her treasure is of immense importance to the human race.

The story is anchored in the myth of Prometheus, who spends each day chained to a mountain where he plays blind chess with the eagle who will eat his liver before the day ends. In some panels, the eagle is in flight, apparently communicating with Prometheus by telepathy, while the art focuses on urban marketplaces, streets filled with armored vehicles, soldiers mingling with vendors and shoppers, and pigeons perched on roofs next to buildings that have collapsed. Prometheus and the eagle chat about various subjects, but Prometheus has recently been obsessed with his unexplained plan to regain his freedom.

In another plot thread, a European soldier who calls himself I.O. is fighting or smuggling goods in a place he calls East Bum-fuckistan. I.O. and fellow soldier Nico come across and share their beer with a hitchhiking American. The American is trying to lose himself after killing some family members under circumstances he does not reveal. A teddy bear strapped to his backpack gives him advice that helps him survive. I.O. has made a promise to a dying friend that he will safeguard the friend’s monkey, but Nico — who is supposed to be helping I.O. with a side hustle — makes off with the American and the monkey.

And then there’s the swan who transforms each night into a red-eyed human male and appears in the bed of a young woman who is being pressured to choose a husband from an unappealing group of suitors. Some of this might seem silly, yet it all fits within the context of a modernized myth, given the prevalence of talking animals in Greek mythology.

The storylines will apparently be tied together at some point by the Omega, whose followers (“the Rings”) believe he is the Roman god Jupiter. The Omega long ago prevailed in a war against the maker, the progenitor of the gods. More than that we don’t yet know.

The plot is intelligent and the story is occasionally moving. By the end of the first volume, we see the contents of Astrid’s suitcase, which raises more questions than it answers. We also see inside a tower that seems to be protected by radar and a military presence, a tower occupied by a tormenter of Prometheus. I would be worried that such an ambitious beginning to a story might get lost without reaching a destination, but the story is told with confidence, suggesting that Nilsen has a plan that will eventually cause the storylines to cohere.

I’m not an art critic, but I was taken by the minimalist nature of the graphic art. Many panels tell the story in images rather than text, as good graphic novels should. Volume 1 of Tongues left me intrigued. I look forward to volumes to come.

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