Reviews

Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Authorized Adaptation by Ray Bradbury

brb_reads's review

3.0

Still hope to read the original version of this and watch the movie. Didn't really love this one.

ericbuscemi's review

4.0

This authorized adaptation fixed everything that was wrong with the source novel. While I love Ray Bradbury, I found Something Wicked This Way Comes to be overwritten and unnecessarily dense, to the point of being hard to follow at points.

The graphic novel was none of those things, and the remaining story, distilled as it was, was breathtaking and terrifying. It was also beautifully illustrated in black-and-white, and I especially appreciated how the borders were white for the daytime scenes and black for the nighttime scenes.

rat_king6767's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mattbeatty's review

5.0

Great story, equally great, concise, and beautifully illustrated graphic adaptation.

sizrobe's review

2.0

In this graphic adaptation to a Ray Bradbury novel, two kids run afoul of a spoopy ghost carnival. I dunno, it didn't really grab me. From what I understand, it's better in the original format.

rebeccaha86's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

notesquotesscarletmotes's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Reading the novel for the first time just prior to reading this graphic novel adaptation may have been an error on my part. This version was lackluster for me for a variety of different reasons. Important plot points were overlooked, there were unnecessary additions that I felt did nothing for the story, and the art, while interestingly surreal, was never quite as horrific as the visions I'd conjured in my own head while reading the original work. Still worth reading but not at all on par with the source.

extrikated's review

2.0

Ugh, this was so disappointing. I wasn't a fan of the art, first off, which felt too zine-like for my personal preferences. But beyond that, I felt like the necessarily-condensed storyline accentuated the flaws of Bradbury's longer fiction pieces: clunky dialogue and confusing plot gaps. It did make me want to reread the original novel, so I guess that's worth something.

crowyhead's review

2.0

I was really kind of disappointed with this adaptation. I had a hard time following the action. I don't think most people who are very familiar with the novel would have TOO much difficulty, but it's been a few years since I read it, and I had some problems, which tells me that someone who hasn't read the novel is probably going to have a really hard time.
I also just didn't like the art all that much, I'm sorry to say. The character designs were good, but again, it was hard to follow the action, and something about the way the art was reproduced made it look like it had been drawn on a computer screen. I have no idea whether it was or not, but it just didn't quite work for me. This makes me sad, because I would love to see a really lush, full-color graphic novel adaptation.

quackthump's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75