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nglofile's review
1.0
I wasn't overly impressed by the first Dresden graphic novel I sampled, and now I'm convinced I just need to give these adaptations wide berth. They cheapen what is one of my favorite series, and that doesn't just frustrate me, it makes me angry.
Obviously the storylines will need to be more stripped-down for this format, but they still undersell. All that is wondrous in the novels is missing here, even more so because Dresden is isolated from his friends, allies, and even his home setting of Chicago. Despite the steady flow of action scenes, the story experience is flat and unsatisfying.
The art not only doesn't add to the story, but it is formulaic. To add insult to injury, the female characters are all hypersexualized in their illustration, and Butcher's work need never stoop to that level, even in collaboration.
Obviously the storylines will need to be more stripped-down for this format, but they still undersell. All that is wondrous in the novels is missing here, even more so because Dresden is isolated from his friends, allies, and even his home setting of Chicago. Despite the steady flow of action scenes, the story experience is flat and unsatisfying.
The art not only doesn't add to the story, but it is formulaic. To add insult to injury, the female characters are all hypersexualized in their illustration, and Butcher's work need never stoop to that level, even in collaboration.
j_kupp33's review
3.0
Ghouls and Goblins will always be bastards, whether in real life or in fiction. This graphic novel proved no different.
A fun side-story in the Dresden Files series with Jim Butcher's typical strong character work, but then in pictures.
If you like Dresden and can't get enough of it, this quick hour to hour and a half read is def worth it and better than the other Dresden comic Welcome to the Jungle.
A fun side-story in the Dresden Files series with Jim Butcher's typical strong character work, but then in pictures.
If you like Dresden and can't get enough of it, this quick hour to hour and a half read is def worth it and better than the other Dresden comic Welcome to the Jungle.
hannas_heas47's review
4.0
Short story about a family that suffers a curse until it's members are few, typical Jim butcher style. Still a short story in my opinion is hard to rate because details are so little. Thanks goodreads for a read in exchange for a review.
schnoebs13's review
4.0
Getting called out of town for a case, Dresden is faced with having to deal with the aftermath of the previous battle with the werewolves. Gruesome deaths have him worried though that he might not have gotten all of them. Coming to this small town in Missouri, Dresden works with a lot deputy to figure what’s targeting this family in a long line of supernatural deaths.
I really enjoyed this volume even though I wasn’t completely the biggest fan of the artwork. I appreciated seeing Dresden in a completely different setting and working with people who are a lot less willing to acknowledge the supernatural than those he might encounter in Chicago. I think this was a great opportunity to really see how he has still been dealing with his past and the impacts it has on how he works toward helping people. I also liked learning more about the world of the Nevernever and the rules behind the magic there. Super interesting to see how Dresden fits into that game among the supernatural.
I really enjoyed this volume even though I wasn’t completely the biggest fan of the artwork. I appreciated seeing Dresden in a completely different setting and working with people who are a lot less willing to acknowledge the supernatural than those he might encounter in Chicago. I think this was a great opportunity to really see how he has still been dealing with his past and the impacts it has on how he works toward helping people. I also liked learning more about the world of the Nevernever and the rules behind the magic there. Super interesting to see how Dresden fits into that game among the supernatural.
stormlightreader's review
4.0
This story takes place right after Fool Moon and the addition of goblins and ghouls to the Dresden universe was really good. I liked the inclusion of Dresden's backstory. Since, I've read all of the Dresden books to date, I had to reacquaint myself with who Harry was at that time. I like the illustrations. I like seeing how Dresden looks and how the magic looks.
A good read for Dresden fans.
A good read for Dresden fans.
marimoose's review
4.0
You know, I seem to be enjoying the graphic novel adaptations to this series, so I'm not sure why the only Dresden novel I've picked up and read was the first one. I prolly should add the rest of the Dresden books to my list of things to read.
That said, I think it helped that this graphic novel was a short story and not broken up into several volumes. The artwork was awesome, too! Oh, and naga. And jinn. Yespls!
That said, I think it helped that this graphic novel was a short story and not broken up into several volumes. The artwork was awesome, too! Oh, and naga. And jinn. Yespls!
tyrelljh's review
4.0
Ghoul Goblin started off very slow and I wasn't sure that I would honestly like it. After about 15 pages, the story started getting more and more intense. 5/5 stars.
The artwork in this graphic novel were absolutely amazing. The ghoul and goblin were excellent editions to the Dresden universe.
The artwork in this graphic novel were absolutely amazing. The ghoul and goblin were excellent editions to the Dresden universe.
jkenna90's review
5.0
This was so good! The story was amazing and the artwork was really well executed
mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
It was nice to see a new story in the Dresden Files universe. But this was only okay. It really didn't add to the richness of the world. Unless we are going to see some of these characters surprisingly reappear, which is not impossible I suppose. But there wasn't new details about the characters or magic or Harry. We got to hear about curses and the Talbots and Naga. And got a slightly different view on ghouls and goblins. And the art and writing were certainly good enough. 3.5 of 5.
aashkevr's review
3.0
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first Dresden comic I have read, but I am a fan of the series and I enjoy graphic novels, so I figured, perfect!
Once the comic got going a little, I thought the storyline was well done and interesting. Dresden made the same sort of snap-judgement errors that he makes in the book series (it helps that unlike some book-to-comic series, Butcher is maintaining authorship). A lot of the basic explanations and backstory information was in keeping with the series, again, probably because Butcher took a direct interest in making sure things lined up.
This story takes place right after Fool Moon, which puts it waaaay back there in the series for most readers. I began reading without any time context and was surprised to find the werewolf flashbacks and the funeral for Carmichael. That being said, I had to adjust for who Harry was at that time.
I was not a fan of the illustrations. They were vary inconsistent grom page to page. Sometimes a character looked thin and other times, fat. Faces had sharp features, and suddenly they were muddled. Some characters gained and lost wrinkles and distinguishing marks from page to page. Eyes sunk into skulls and re-emerged willy-nilly. In some scenes, this made sense - characters in the background were distorted or unclear. But sometimes a single character, in the foreground, varied so drastically from panel to panel that it would have been reasonable to assume (from the faces) that the pictured individual was someone different.
Because of this, my enjoyment of the story diminished. This is obviously not the goal for a graphic novel. The illustrations should, ideally, enhance my appreciation of the work. And there were some beautiful effects. Young ladies were all stunning and the colors and patterns for the scenes with "magic" were lovely as was the architecture. If the character faces would have been consistent, I would have been singing high praises right now, but I found the facial inconsistency extremely frustrating throughout the story.
At the end of the graphic novel, there are some interesting addenda. There is a section that details all of the characters and another that runs the reader through the basic plot of the book. The problem here is that the plot and that graphic novel vary significantly in their endings. In the text version, several loose ends are tied up, but the story is much more happy-for-now than happy-ever-after (which really fits Dresden anyway). In the graphic novel, the ending is much more ambiguous, with several characters just *poofing* out of the plot, and there is a sense of things having been "solved" which is not borne out by the text-plot version.
Having both was just confusing, because the graphic version was clearly the "right one" in some ways, but the text one seemed a lot better in terms of planning and general plot. After reading it, I went back to see how I had missed those pages in the graphic section, but they just weren't there. I would have been less upset about the graphic ending if I hadn't have been given access to the original plot which seemed superior to me.
All in all, it was a good read for Dresden fans, and there were many excellent features, but a few "minor" ones drew down my opinion of the book significantly.
This is the first Dresden comic I have read, but I am a fan of the series and I enjoy graphic novels, so I figured, perfect!
Once the comic got going a little, I thought the storyline was well done and interesting. Dresden made the same sort of snap-judgement errors that he makes in the book series (it helps that unlike some book-to-comic series, Butcher is maintaining authorship). A lot of the basic explanations and backstory information was in keeping with the series, again, probably because Butcher took a direct interest in making sure things lined up.
This story takes place right after Fool Moon, which puts it waaaay back there in the series for most readers. I began reading without any time context and was surprised to find the werewolf flashbacks and the funeral for Carmichael. That being said, I had to adjust for who Harry was at that time.
I was not a fan of the illustrations. They were vary inconsistent grom page to page. Sometimes a character looked thin and other times, fat. Faces had sharp features, and suddenly they were muddled. Some characters gained and lost wrinkles and distinguishing marks from page to page. Eyes sunk into skulls and re-emerged willy-nilly. In some scenes, this made sense - characters in the background were distorted or unclear. But sometimes a single character, in the foreground, varied so drastically from panel to panel that it would have been reasonable to assume (from the faces) that the pictured individual was someone different.
Because of this, my enjoyment of the story diminished. This is obviously not the goal for a graphic novel. The illustrations should, ideally, enhance my appreciation of the work. And there were some beautiful effects. Young ladies were all stunning and the colors and patterns for the scenes with "magic" were lovely as was the architecture. If the character faces would have been consistent, I would have been singing high praises right now, but I found the facial inconsistency extremely frustrating throughout the story.
At the end of the graphic novel, there are some interesting addenda. There is a section that details all of the characters and another that runs the reader through the basic plot of the book. The problem here is that the plot and that graphic novel vary significantly in their endings. In the text version, several loose ends are tied up, but the story is much more happy-for-now than happy-ever-after (which really fits Dresden anyway). In the graphic novel, the ending is much more ambiguous, with several characters just *poofing* out of the plot, and there is a sense of things having been "solved" which is not borne out by the text-plot version.
Having both was just confusing, because the graphic version was clearly the "right one" in some ways, but the text one seemed a lot better in terms of planning and general plot. After reading it, I went back to see how I had missed those pages in the graphic section, but they just weren't there. I would have been less upset about the graphic ending if I hadn't have been given access to the original plot which seemed superior to me.
All in all, it was a good read for Dresden fans, and there were many excellent features, but a few "minor" ones drew down my opinion of the book significantly.