The Graveyard Book [Graphic Novel] by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Graveyard Book: Volume 1

Author: Neil Gaiman 
Graphic Adaption: P. Craig Russell
Publisher: July 29, 2014
Source: Publisher for honest review. 

The first volume of a glorious two-volume, four-color graphic novel adaptation of Neil Gaiman's #1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning novel The Graveyard Book, adapted by P. Craig Russell and illustrated by an extraordinary team of renowned artists.
Inventive, chilling, and filled with wonder, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book reaches new heights in this stunning adaptation. Artists Kevin Nowlan, P. Craig Russell, Tony Harris, Scott Hampton, Galen Showman, Jill Thompson, and Stephen B. Scott lend their own signature styles to create an imaginatively diverse and yet cohesive interpretation of Neil Gaiman's luminous novel.
Volume One contains Chapter One through the Interlude, while Volume Two will include Chapter Six to the end.

We all know that I LOVE Neil Gaiman. I was so excited to see the Graphic Novel adaption of the classic Graveyard Book  and I must say, I wasn't disappointed. The arrangement that P.Craig Russell did was fantastic, and I was really impressed by how wonderfully it read. I wasn't sure how the novel would take being adapted to Graphic Novel but if anything I just found it more engaging.

I read it in one sitting, which may not seem like a large feat for a "comic book" but it was quite long. It houses a whole lot of story in its pages and I couldn't get enough.

The original story is just as beautiful in this edition as in the original novel. Nobody is raised in a graveyard by the spirits that call it home. It is creepy while still being completely fascinating. You begin to know the graveyard as home just like Nobody/Bod does. Bod's adventures are highly imaginative and the graveyard setting allows for practically anything to happen. It is a blur of time periods and a mesh of personalities that end up raising Bod. After all, it takes a graveyard to raise a child.

There is foreshadowing involved that allows us to also see the outside world outside, namely Jack who I'm sure will pay a much larger part in volume two.

I enjoyed the artwork, there are different illustrators throughout the graphic novel and originally I worried that I would be able to tell the difference between them. The illustrations however all have the same feel, and in the end I found them to be consistent, and the slight variations added to the mood of each section rather than seeming choppy and different.

Overall: I am so excited to get my hands on volume two! If you haven't been introduced to the world of Neil Gaiman yet, this graphic novel is the perfect intro. If you're a long time Gaiman fan, or love graphic novels in general, you will proudly display this one on your shelf among your many other favorites.

Startdust by Neil Gaiman

Date Released: July 2007
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: 5 keys
Source: Bought
ISBN: 0380804557



Description:

In the sleepy English countryside of decades past, there is a town that has stood on a jut of granite for six hundred years. And immediately to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here in the town of Wall, Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he'll retrieve that star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran through the only gap in the wall, across the meadow, and into the most unforgettable adventure of his life.In the sleepy English countryside of decades past, there is a town that has stood on a jut of granite for six hundred years. And immediately to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named.

Here in the town of Wall, Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he'll retrieve that star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran through the only gap in the wall, across the meadow, and into the most unforgettable adventure of his life.

Review:

This book was my first reading of Neil Gaiman and oh, did it start a beautiful friendship. Since this book I have scrounged up nearly every book ever written by him and keep trying to fit them into my schedule around every turn because this man is one amazing writer.

This book is one that was surprisingly great, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I had seen the first ten or so minutes of the movie, but when one of my friends read American Gods and couldn't stop going on about it I decided I had to read some Gaiman myself.

And we all know, I'm a YA girl.

So, Stardust was what I picked up and it was amazing. The book doesn't center around any one character, of course it focus' on Tristran but it jumps around to give a more well rounded view of all of those who live beyond Wall and this was a world I wanted to get to know more about. It was interesting, the characters, the setting, the situations, all of it kept my interest and had me reading until late in the night.

What I really loved though about Stardust was just Neil Gaiman's way of writing. The way he phrases simple things astounds me and it makes me realize just how powerful words can be. After reading this book I am on a quest to read all of his others and that doesn't happen all the time.

If you haven't read Gaiman yet, or if you just want to, Stardust is the perfect starter book to one of the greatest writers out there. I highly recommend it - so you should go read it.