#26 Intravenus by Nikos Stavrianos

I am reading Nikos’s work again after a long time. I call him by his first name because I know him personally, and I feel very lucky about that. Lucky because, at thirty-seven, I am holding in my hands a piece created by someone much younger than me that manages to give me chills. There is one page in particular, right before the end of the comic, that completely stunned me.

But why do I dwell so much on the artist’s age? It’s pure admiration. As someone who writes and works with fiction myself, I had never, at his age, reached the level Nikos is at now. Hell, I’m not even sure I can, even today, craft an image like the one on that third-to-last page of Intravenus.

This comic is one of the many self-published works he has released. Besides his table at local Greek conventions, you might also find it on the shelves of Jemma Books & Comics or other downtown comic book shops, and you might also be able to get it directly from him. (I’ll include a link at the end of the post).

So, what is Intravenus about?

In stark black and white, it unfolds like a nightmare, a chain of situations, moments, and associations. It feels like pure, unrestrained expression, enriched with prose that is sometimes lyrical, sometimes elliptical. It merges symbols and allegories, blending linear storytelling with fragmentation, creating the sensation of a post-punk industrial track, one of those where, every so often, a melodic line, maybe a bass, maybe a synth, emerges briefly, only to be swallowed again by frantic guitar bursts, and within the chaos you catch a voice whispering words like: I am a current virus and love and cruelty combine.

There isn’t a single moment in this comic when, as you turn the pages, you can predict what comes next, not even intuitively. That sense of the unknown, the uncanny, the unfamiliar, is what makes it so captivating to me. It’s art at its best, unpredictable, daring, dangerous, and deeply introspective.

If I could express one wish for this creator’s future, as someone who has been following his work for years, it would be to one day see him attempt a story bound by the strict rules of narrative structure, with dialogues and all, maybe set in a noir, maybe a sci-fi dystopia, or even a fully-fledged fantasy world.

When that day comes, I would love to be there to experience it.

Niko, you should know that I eagerly await every new work you create.

Three cheers to you!

Until next time — be well, and keep reading.

It’s important!

Accompanying Notes:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3GuoOzNfnVUqOKbkqm1ACA?si=eFcczqDkRM2hzpPe-u7djw

https://www.instagram.com/nikoscomix/

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