Adaptations

[lies]

Adaptations have been discussed at great length over at the Film and TV forum already, but mangagirrrl raised an interesting point in another thread here at Comics and Graphic Novels.

Has anyone read any classic books that have been converted into graphic novels?

I know Lord of the Rings was adapted, as well as some of E.A. Poe's and H.P. Lovecraft's stuff. I've only read the Poe book myself (I can look up the title if anyone's interested), and since some of the adaptations were rather good, in my opinion, I've been keeping an eye out for other novels to be made into a comic or graphic novel too. I haven't seen many though.

So does anyone have recommendations?

 

[novella]

There's a really fun, large-format one of the Greek myths. Forget the name. My son has it.

 

[Renee]

A friend of mine has been enjoying titles from Graphic Classics. I haven't checked any of them out personally but they have a pretty good selection of authors and stories.

 

[mr_michel]

as a kid i used to read this comic book series called "clasicos ilustrados" (ilustrated clasics, in case you didnt guess) i think there is the same series on the states, it had a great array of authors from dumas to stoker, pretty good, specially to get younger audiences closer to books.

 

[Wolhay]

I used to read the illustrated classic comics as well. They made it possible to get to know Shakespeare's stories without having to be exposed to his poetic prose.

Recently I read a adaptation of 'City of Glass' (first book in the New York trilogy) by Paul Auster. It had simplistic art and at some times straightforward symbolism. I had wanted more eye candy, the beauty still lies in the words. But if you liked the book you'll probably like graphic novel as well.

Peter Madsen has made comic books based on the nordic mythology that are quite funny. I was very fond of them when I was young.

 

[lies]

A friend of mine has been enjoying titles from Graphic Classics. I haven't checked any of them out personally but they have a pretty good selection of authors and stories.

That's the Poe thing I read. I'd really like to check the other volumes out, but sadly, my library doesn't carry it.

 

[jay]

If you’re not looking for a direct (i.e. complete) adaptation, there are many out there. I think a whole series of Illustrated Classics has stayed in print for some time.
These are, of course, *very* condensed interpretations.

Marvel (through, I believe their Epic line), in the 80s released a series of graphic novels (I do hate calling something 30 odd pages a novel, but…) of mainly fantasy/horror and SF writers (Bloch, Heinlein and Ellison are the names that come to mind) and then later they did a smaller format version of more ‘regular’ classics. _Moby Dick_, painted by the incredible Bill Sienkiewicz being a huge triumph in the graphic field.
j

 

[Peder]

Has anyone here read any classic novels that have been adapted into graphic novels?

Pretty soon I should be able to answer yes to that question of long ago in this forum, because the graphic novel format of Proust's Rememberance of Things Past has fnally reached the top of my stack, and I read that ultimate long-hair novel some time ago in all its original 6 volumes. I am eager to see how the condensation has worked out compared to the original.
Peder