The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (graphic novel), Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (graphic novel)
Neil Gaiman, illustrated by P. Craig Russell, colors by Lovern Kindzierski
Based on the illustrated novella by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano
ISBN: 9781401224240
Read January 15, 2014

Snap judgement: it was nifty, but I still like the original better.

That said, there were a few individual places where I thought the story benefitted from the style of comic panels, or from specific artistic choices.

Firstly, the fox actually has green eyes!  I wouldn't trade Amano's stylized faces for the world, but it was nice to see expressions and actual eyeballs on the monk and fox.

I loved the use of the red and white robe for the fox's human form.  There were a few panels in particular that were just nicely done; when she jumps over the fire and changes, when she is teasing the onmyoji, and when the dreamland pair shifts from man and fox to a couple.

I loved that the use of Dream's white-on-black text made the Fox King's identity more obvious.

I liked that the onmyoji was fat and somewhat attractive, and the sequence showing his fears was very well done.

I LOVED the trio of weavers.  Super-nasty and disturbing.

The sequence where the monk walked into Dreaming was very powerful in this version, because more of the landscape and events were pictured.  The destruction of the geta, and the interactions with Cain and Abel in particular were haunting.

I also am glad that I read the original first, because I could see in my mind the text behind many of the image sequences (like the fox eating the frog), but it did make me aware of at least one minor alteration; the grandfather originally choked on a mochi and here that phrase was altered to an 'unripe peach.'  Made me wonder why alter that, and not just change it to "rice cake" and for that matter, why that, and leave onmyoji or oni or tengu as they are?

As an aside, I find myself uncomfortably aware of my prudish American upbringing, where reading text about 'private' body parts is a-ok, but actually seeing them is somehow worse.  I'm trying to get past that myself, but if a child wanted to read this story, I have to admit I'd rather they read the illustrated novella than looked at the graphic novel.  Graphic indeed, I suppose.

Final verdict: if you are somehow prevented from owning both versions, then the original is still the best choice.  I just can't express how perfect the artistic partnership is between those two masters of their media.

However, in the real world, where people have bookshelves full of The Sandman, this is a beautiful and haunting addition in it's own right, and does a lovely job of adapting the original to another medium without feeling like a copy, but without losing the soul of the story.

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters
Neil Gaiman, illustrated (lavishly) by Yoshitaka Amano
October 1999, Vertigo/DC
ISBN: 1563895730 (hardcover)
Re-read January 14, 2014

I devoured this when it first came out, the lush story, the breathtaking art, the unearthly beauty of the Dream King, the faux-historical background, the joy of having a familiar character inhabiting another world that I was passionate about.

Since then, I've browsed through it many times, sighing over the artistry, reading bits and snippets, but rarely the whole thing.  Until today, when I finally got my hands on P. Craig Russell's graphic adaptation, and just had to compare the two.  I've just finished the original again, and it's still breathtaking.

I wish I had better wordcraft to explain how the haunting fall and wash of the paintings makes my chest ache with that tug that is part awe in the face of beauty, and part sadness that life must move on and won't allow you to stay entranced forever.   I wish I could craft a silver and jet net of words to provide a setting of suitable filigree to set this faceted, jeweled, exotic gothic fable into, but I can't.

Just read it, and look at it, and know that craftsmen do exist, and the craft is glorious and good.

Tuesday Storytime: Funny Friends

Nothing's better than a good friend; someone with whom you can share your hopes and fears (and sometimes your living spaces).  Here's a trio of stories showcasing various excellent friendships.

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy
David Soman and Jacky Davis, illustrated by David Soman
ISBN:  9780803733398
Ladybug Girl is ready for adventure at her favorite playground, but once there, she runs into a spot of difficulty when her friend Sam doesn't want to play her way (and she's not that interested in playing the things he likes either).  What's a superhero to do?  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  I love the Ladybug Girl books because the 'problems' she faces are so simple and human, and she goes through a realistic process of frustration, mistakes, and finally solving the problem on her own.  Really positive messages, but the stories manage to not be too preachy or moralistic along the way.

Good Luck Bear
Greg Foley
ISBN: 9780670062584
I haven't seen the earlier books in this set (Thank You Bear and Don't Worry Bear) but I'll have to look them up, because this one is cute as the dickens.  My storytime kids are tiny, with equally small attention spans, so I try to have at least one "quick" book in each storytime, to let them feel successful at paying attention to a whole entire book.  This is a perfect fit, thematically, story-wise, pictures, and length.  I love it.  Bear is looking for a lucky 4-leaf clover, and a whole parade of "friends" amble by offering criticism, cut-downs, or interference, until Mouse shows what true friendship means.

One Cool Friend
Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by David Small
(Caldecott Honor book)
ISBN: 9780803734135
Elliot is delighted when his father takes him to the Natural Museum, and even more-so when dad says that Elliot can have a penguin!  The set-up is cute and at least on the first read-through, even a shock for adults, but re-reads will show slightly out-of-frame hints and sneaky double-meaning comments throughout.  Really love that it's a father and son, and that the household is obviously quite devoted to scientific pursuits.  The cameo of the library lady (who was helpful and accepting) is a nice bonus.

Star Wars: Kenobi, John Jackson Miller

Star Wars: Kenobi
John Jackson Miller
ISBN: 9780345546838
Read January 13, 2014

This one has been on my "to read" pile since November, and I'm finally whittling that particular month's pile down.  It's funny that I just read Verily, A New Hope before reading this one, because it made a few asides and comments by the characters much more pointed than they would otherwise have been.  In particular, a story about an actor who was aged by exposure to the harsh desert winds and suns so that in half a year, he looked to have aged twenty years! was vastly amusing.

Miller admits in the acknowledgements that he originally planned this story as a graphic novel, in a western milieu - and it shows.  That's not a bad thing, actually.  His scenes are gritty and sand-filled, the western analogues of cowboy and Indian transfer nicely into moisture farmers and Tusken Raiders, and his descriptive passages have a visual flow and movement to them that is quite agreeable.

With a story like this, the journey really is the point, because anyone reading already knows how it turns out.  How we get there is the only real interest value, and I enjoyed the ride for the most part.  Downsides do exist: the opening acts were a bit slow to get rolling, I thought that "Ben's" narrative voice in the meditation sections was off, and the unraveling of the antagonist's plans, mind, and life happened a bit too quickly; but these are piddly details.  Overall, it was a fun ride in a familiar landscape, with a whole cast of new and interesting characters and one very familiar person trying to find a new niche in life.

Is it the next Thrawn Trilogy?  Hell no.  Is it comparable to Shadows of the Empire (the novel, not that impenetrable multimedia octopus, thank you very much) or I, Jedi?  Yeah, for me it was, although the gritty tone and small-town Tattooine setting much more closely matches the tight focus and small stakes of the short stories in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina or Tales from Jabba's Palace anthologies.  Overall, a solid addition to the EU, and one that I hope makes it into the soon-to-be-established canon. 

Final thought: Sand People are seriously hard-core.

Sorrow's Knot, Erin Bow

Sorrow's Knot
Erin Bow
ISBN: 9780545166669
Read January 12, 2014

YA/Fantasy, indigenous cultures in a world of dead shadows and the power to 'bind' with knots or words.

I can't really improve on the jacket copy without spoiling the story, and I find myself strangely averse to spoilers for any part of this story.  All I feel I can safely say is that Otter, Kestrel, and Cricket are caring friends, that family relationships can be both loving and twisted, and that this beautiful and unsettling story made me cry.

I find myself this next morning wanting to hug my mother and my grandmother.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope
Ian Doescher
ISBN: 9781594746376
Read January 7, 2014

Parody/Homage: Star Wars, as written by the Master Wordsmith himself.  My only quibble is that the story uses the 'official' reworked version with the Jabba appearance.

I grinned a lot when reading this, especially the many soliloquies that reveal future events or hint at characters and relationships.  I particularly enjoyed Obi-Wan's speech as he steeled himself to death to inspire Luke, and Luke's 'once more into the breach' before the final battle, which both improves on and laughs at his original naive, bragging 'womp rat' line.

There were admittedly places where the wording was more cutesy or corny than creative, but the vast majority were delightful, most hitting that sweet spot where I could see the characters speaking the lines, but could also see clearly where they were taken from the Bard as well as from the screenplay.

I even liked the Chorus, and I usually hate the Chorus!  I was left with an overwhelming urge to try and actually stage this.  I have a feeling that it would be either hysterical or laughable, but to the author's credit, I really want to try.

"Act 4, Scene 2:
Han, in the detention block control room, to the comlink

O, be not anxious, comrades, fear ye not!
The situation here hath been controll'd.
All merry 'tis in the detention block!

Officer 1 (through comlink) But what hath happen'd?

Han ----- 'Tis no matter, Sir-
A slight malfunction of the weapons here.
But all is well, and we are well, and all
Within are well.  The pris'ners, too, are well,
'Tis well, 'tis well.  And thou?  Art also well?

Officer 1 (through comlink) We shall dispatch a squad to verify.

Han - Nay, there's a leak in the reactor here.
Pray give us time to mend the matter well.
The leak is large and dangerous, but fear
Thou not, for all - I tell thee true - is well!

Officer 1 (through comlink) But who art thou, and what's thy number code?

/ Han Solo blasts comlink /

Han - That conversation did my spirits bore!
Now Luke, prepare thyself for company!"

(This post created on an ipad, apologies for textual/formatting errors.  I will correct and update as soon as I'm back to a 'real' computer.)

Graphic Novel: Dresden Files, Ghoul Goblin, Jim Butcher

The Dresden Files Ghoul Goblin

Jim Butcher and Mark Powers, illustrated by Joseph Cooper and Mohan 

ISBN: 9781606904381

Hardcover Graphic Novel, 160 p.
Read January 9, 2014

I've missed Harry.  The last novel I read was Ghost Story, and I'm holding off on the more recent ones because they've gotten a bit too dark and heavy-hitting for me, at least for the winter months.  (I did get to read Molly's story Bombshells in the Dangerous Women anthology (GRR Martin, ISBN: 9780765332066) this past weekend (January 5th, 2014), and I can say it's a measure of how much I miss the Dresdenverse that I chose to read that instead of Sanderson's Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, which I STILL have not gotten to read.)  So it was an unreserved pleasure to backtrack to Harry's early days, when his weight class is measured against everyday ghouls and goblins and sea monsters.

The story starts shortly after the events of Fool Moon, with Dresden still reeling over the first real casualties he's been responsible for, and Murph giving him the cold shoulder.  When a small-town deputy from Missouri shows up with a tale of a family of orphaned siblings dying in unusual circumstances, Harry is all too willing to leave Chicago's bad memories behind for a while, and do his part to help another set of orphans.  Unfortunately, the kids are the remnants of a family cursed due to an ancestor's stupidity (elaborated in the prologue, with a Lawrence of Arabia cameo in Egypt), and now the kids, the last of the family line, are literal pawns in a supernatural turf battle.  Just identifying the nonhuman players is taking all of Harry's strength and wits, and it doesn't help that there is a reactionary Sheriff itching to arrest him for being a con artist, and a shady lady Mayor with a mysterious connection of her own to Egypt.

Obviously Harry can't die (yet), but the body count does get pretty rough before the end.  

The storyline is tight, and what's really interesting is comparing the graphic novelization with the original text summary included at the end of the book.  While characters and events mostly line up, the entire ending is drastically different, and in my opinion, much stronger, in the graphic novel than in the summary.  Makes me wonder who was responsible for the changes, and how that process developed through the creation of the original 6-part series.  

The art - oh lord, the art is beautiful.  I think I mentioned in my review of Fool Moon Part 2 that I was not entirely thrilled with how Chase Conley was interpreting the characters there.  Well, we've switched back up, and I'm LOVING Joseph Cooper's work.  It's simply beautiful.  The characters are expressive in face and body without looking like caricatures.  Even the really tough work like making the goblin subtly off-kilter without looking overly inhuman were just delightfully done.  I especially liked the lantern-jaw on the ghoul, and how Cooper used body posture and viewing angle to really show up that grotesque deformation.  In addition, Harry doesn't look emaciated or nuts, and the female characters have mouths and eyes that fit their faces.  A special bonus for me was the set of covers by Ardian Syaf, who started this whole shindig up in style, and who I've sorely missed.  I was a little nonplussed by his choice of Harry in his pentacle and orange prison jumpsuit, which isn't at all the way it goes down in the story, but I can't deny that it's an impressive and intriguing image to catch someone's eye.

Here's hoping that Butcher sees fit to give us more of these original story graphic novels, or perhaps some graphic treatments of some existing short stories.  I would love to see Harry and Bigfoot in graphic format, not to mention a certain werewolf wedding.