Scan barcode
saramarie08's review
4.0
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
In a successful opera house in France, Christine Daaé enjoys her first experience as a Prima Donna. She has always been an understudy, or a silent dancer, but something about her singing has changed recently. The transformation sparks the curiosity of one of the opera’s benefactors, Monsieur Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. He visits the starlet backstages but finds not everything is on the up and up. Through following Christine and many clandestine meetings over many weeks, he discovers a mysterious entity has been visiting her dressing room, claiming to be the Angel of Music, and training Christine’s voice. Christine, at first, believed her departed father had sent the Angel to her, but she discovers, to her horror, that the Angel is in fact the Opera Ghost, a figure of legend who has been wreaking havoc and placing demands on the Opera staff for quite a while. Raoul is determined to save Christine from Erik, the Opera Ghost, but he’ll have to overcome some great obstacles in order to do so.
This is a pretty faithful adaptation, but a little brief at times. Some of the best one liners made famous by the musical were also included. The phantom’s true face is creepy like it’s supposed to be, and covers his entire face as it does in the book, rather than one half as popularized by the musical. The illustrations of the phantom are sufficiently creepy; his presence is haunting in every scene, including the ones where he is masked up and concealing himself. Madame Geary and her daughter are almost non-existent in this adaptation, which might be good for musical lovers who think Meg is useless.
The illustrations are a little rough in that most of the characters have very masculine features, including the women. The ballet dancers are not all thin ladies, which seems more a design error than a choice.
there is quite a bit of violence in this story, including murder, and very dark themes. This would be best suited for high school audiences.
Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
In a successful opera house in France, Christine Daaé enjoys her first experience as a Prima Donna. She has always been an understudy, or a silent dancer, but something about her singing has changed recently. The transformation sparks the curiosity of one of the opera’s benefactors, Monsieur Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. He visits the starlet backstages but finds not everything is on the up and up. Through following Christine and many clandestine meetings over many weeks, he discovers a mysterious entity has been visiting her dressing room, claiming to be the Angel of Music, and training Christine’s voice. Christine, at first, believed her departed father had sent the Angel to her, but she discovers, to her horror, that the Angel is in fact the Opera Ghost, a figure of legend who has been wreaking havoc and placing demands on the Opera staff for quite a while. Raoul is determined to save Christine from Erik, the Opera Ghost, but he’ll have to overcome some great obstacles in order to do so.
This is a pretty faithful adaptation, but a little brief at times. Some of the best one liners made famous by the musical were also included. The phantom’s true face is creepy like it’s supposed to be, and covers his entire face as it does in the book, rather than one half as popularized by the musical. The illustrations of the phantom are sufficiently creepy; his presence is haunting in every scene, including the ones where he is masked up and concealing himself. Madame Geary and her daughter are almost non-existent in this adaptation, which might be good for musical lovers who think Meg is useless.
The illustrations are a little rough in that most of the characters have very masculine features, including the women. The ballet dancers are not all thin ladies, which seems more a design error than a choice.
there is quite a bit of violence in this story, including murder, and very dark themes. This would be best suited for high school audiences.
Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
blackwolf294's review
3.0
This was a fast-paced read. And the art is gorgeous and detailed and definitely aids in the spooky, gothic feel of the book. While I did enjoy the story (and the musical is one of my favorites), this version felt slightly hard to follow and almost as if it was missing something. Regardless, it was an enjoyable, quick read.
se_wigget's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera in my late teens and early 20s, because it's Victorian and gothic. But now I find the Phantom manipulative and have more sympathy for Carlotta.
This book brought up memories of the novel and musicals (yes, there are two), and sometimes I had Andrew Lloyd Webber music in my head.
The cover art is gorgeous, and I wanted the interior art to be more like that. The artist didn't have a grasp on period costume--I wanted this to have historically accurate 1880s garb. Instead it's Edwardian-ish without corsets.
There's a lot missing from this version--it could be longer and have a lot more detail. It doesn't even mention the concierge who died under the chandelier--the new managers nit only sold tickets for box 5 that night but also hired this concierge to take care of the box instead of letting Madame Giry take care of it for the Phantom.
Also... that old obsession seems weird today. The Phantom kidnaps Christine--he's a manipulative asshole. Now I sympathize more with Carlotta and less with the Phantom.
This book brought up memories of the novel and musicals (yes, there are two), and sometimes I had Andrew Lloyd Webber music in my head.
The cover art is gorgeous, and I wanted the interior art to be more like that. The artist didn't have a grasp on period costume--I wanted this to have historically accurate 1880s garb. Instead it's Edwardian-ish without corsets.
There's a lot missing from this version--it could be longer and have a lot more detail. It doesn't even mention the concierge who died under the chandelier--the new managers nit only sold tickets for box 5 that night but also hired this concierge to take care of the box instead of letting Madame Giry take care of it for the Phantom.
Also... that old obsession seems weird today. The Phantom kidnaps Christine--he's a manipulative asshole. Now I sympathize more with Carlotta and less with the Phantom.
banana83854's review
3.0
***Netgalley ARC provided for honest review***
This graphic presentation of the Phantom story lent itself very well to the spooky and haunting setting. The art style wasn't my favorite, but I feel like it fit with the story being told. The wording was concise, the coloring was rich and foreboding, and the chapter heading pages flowed seamlessly throughout without interrupting the pace of the story. A very quick read, and one worth trying, especially for fans of the Phantom musical or novel.
This graphic presentation of the Phantom story lent itself very well to the spooky and haunting setting. The art style wasn't my favorite, but I feel like it fit with the story being told. The wording was concise, the coloring was rich and foreboding, and the chapter heading pages flowed seamlessly throughout without interrupting the pace of the story. A very quick read, and one worth trying, especially for fans of the Phantom musical or novel.
greyhuigris's review
2.0
As much as I like the musical, I don't think it translates to a graphic novel. Besides not having the magic of Andrew Lloyd Weber's music, I found the art in this very off-putting. It feels very dated, but not dated in the late 1800s/early 1900s sense, dated like superhero comics from the 80s. It just felt very congested and busy.
djinnia's review
3.0
I love Phantom stories. I read, watch, and listen to them all.
I saw this and was very happy.
It did follow what I remember of the original novel, which I admit has been a long time since I read it. I was hearing the music of the Broadway musical in places that correlated with the book.
I wasn't happy with Erik's red eyes. In the original book, they were golden that seemed to glow. The red eyes demonize him more than what was needed.
My only other complaint was sometimes the word bubbles were hard to read because they were too small. I had to enlarge the the pages on my Ipad multiple times to read them.
I saw this and was very happy.
It did follow what I remember of the original novel, which I admit has been a long time since I read it. I was hearing the music of the Broadway musical in places that correlated with the book.
I wasn't happy with Erik's red eyes. In the original book, they were golden that seemed to glow. The red eyes demonize him more than what was needed.
My only other complaint was sometimes the word bubbles were hard to read because they were too small. I had to enlarge the the pages on my Ipad multiple times to read them.
kate907's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
whatchareadingheather's review
4.0
I have yet to read the original source material, but I have seen the movie and the stageplay too many times and I will go to my grave saying that Christine should've just been alone with her successful career after the men were done fighting over her. Anyways, this book is absolutely gorgeous and I would love to have a lot of these pages framed on my wall.
natalie7193's review
3.0
Received an EARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine and mine alone. I love The Phantom of the Opera. The novel, the musical, anything I can get my hands on. So when I saw this on NetGalley, I was very excited.. This is the first graphic novel of a classic novel I have read so I wasn't sure what to expect. The main story and important plots were there. However, there are some moments in the novel where I couldn't read some of the text. The page had black box moments with text only. Not sure if it was because it was digital or not, but it was difficult to make out some moments of the book.
The art is gorgeous and plays with the dark, gothic romance that is well known with this story. It was a fast paced book, but the art played well with the text. If you enjoy the Phantom, the classics, and/or graphic novels, you'll like this one!
The art is gorgeous and plays with the dark, gothic romance that is well known with this story. It was a fast paced book, but the art played well with the text. If you enjoy the Phantom, the classics, and/or graphic novels, you'll like this one!