Take a photo of a barcode or cover
belle_fiction 's review for:
The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel, Volume 1
by P. Craig Russell, Neil Gaiman
I absolutely ADORED every single page in this graphic novel adaptation of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It's like holding magic in your hands!
P. Craig Russell has managed to perfectly capture Gaiman's story in this illustrated form and reunites the reader once again with Nobody Owens (aka Bod), his mysterious guardian, Silas, the equally mysterious Miss Lupescu and the witch, Liza Hempstock (who may be related to Lettie from The Ocean at the End of the Lane).
This graphic novel ticks all of the boxes: great story line, fantastic illustrations, wonderful dialogue, brilliant characterisation, etc. What makes this adaptation even more special is the number of illustrators who have lent their artistic ability to this book (each chapter has been illustrated by a separate artist). Now, usually, this could mean a varied depiction of the same characters/setting which some readers might find distracting. This is not the case here. The artists have all managed to convey the characters in an incredibly similar way creating continuity throughout.
Each chapter was perfect in its own way; it starts with the man Jack searching for Nobody Owens (who is a baby when the story opens), how Bod makes a friend who visits the graveyard from time to time, his adventures upon leaving the graveyard (which he is forbidden to do since it isn't safe for him (Bod goes not realise that the man Jack is after him)) and finally the danse macabre, uniting the living and the dead for one night.
Out of all of the chapters, my favourite one has to be Chapter 3 - The Hounds of God, which was a perfect story in itself and was reminiscent of Gaiman's Sandman in places. This was the story which touched me the most and left me feeling like I had been on a great adventure.
The quality of the storytelling is something else entirely and is very poetic and dream-like. I can see why it is so popular!
Overall, a fantastic visual read which certainly won't disappoint. The nice thing about this adaptation is that you don't have to read Gaiman's book first to understand it - the graphic novel stands alone and is a complete entity in itself (well, relatively complete). All that remains is for me to delve straight into volume 2!
P. Craig Russell has managed to perfectly capture Gaiman's story in this illustrated form and reunites the reader once again with Nobody Owens (aka Bod), his mysterious guardian, Silas, the equally mysterious Miss Lupescu and the witch, Liza Hempstock (who may be related to Lettie from The Ocean at the End of the Lane).
This graphic novel ticks all of the boxes: great story line, fantastic illustrations, wonderful dialogue, brilliant characterisation, etc. What makes this adaptation even more special is the number of illustrators who have lent their artistic ability to this book (each chapter has been illustrated by a separate artist). Now, usually, this could mean a varied depiction of the same characters/setting which some readers might find distracting. This is not the case here. The artists have all managed to convey the characters in an incredibly similar way creating continuity throughout.
Each chapter was perfect in its own way; it starts with the man Jack searching for Nobody Owens (who is a baby when the story opens), how Bod makes a friend who visits the graveyard from time to time, his adventures upon leaving the graveyard (which he is forbidden to do since it isn't safe for him (Bod goes not realise that the man Jack is after him)) and finally the danse macabre, uniting the living and the dead for one night.
Out of all of the chapters, my favourite one has to be Chapter 3 - The Hounds of God, which was a perfect story in itself and was reminiscent of Gaiman's Sandman in places. This was the story which touched me the most and left me feeling like I had been on a great adventure.
The quality of the storytelling is something else entirely and is very poetic and dream-like. I can see why it is so popular!
Overall, a fantastic visual read which certainly won't disappoint. The nice thing about this adaptation is that you don't have to read Gaiman's book first to understand it - the graphic novel stands alone and is a complete entity in itself (well, relatively complete). All that remains is for me to delve straight into volume 2!