Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel (American English, Original Text)

There is so much about Frankenstein and its place in literature that I would need to know to fully appreciate the novel, but my God, reading it is a dreary business.

Dreariness and comics, though, are no strangers, and this graphic version of Frankenstein works well. The selected fragments of the original prose flow nicely, with the suitably gloomy illustrations amply filling in for the missing text. It does suffer from one comic book trait: every fourth word or so is inexplicably bolded, making Shelley's already overwrought prose seem even more so. ( )

Frankenstein tells the story of a scientist named Victor who creates a creature from dead body parts. He is horrified by his creation and abandons it. The creature is not well received by those he meets and is often greeted with violence. The creature starts to kill those close to Victor for revenge.

This graphic novel is a fairly well done adaptation of the novel of the same name, so a lot of the themes are still there. It leaves out a minimal amount of story. The only thing that stands out to me is the omission of the books the creature uses to learn about humans and society. This does eliminate the themes that deal with the revolution happening in France during the time this novel was penned, but that shouldn’t matter for secondary ed. purposes.

Personally, I thought that this graphic novel was a very well done adaptation of the novel. The illustrations were very well done, and the color scheme was excellent. It is rather on the short side. For a good reader, 15 minutes is plenty enough time to finish the graphic novel. It could stand to be a little longer and include a little more meat, but it works as is. ( )

Did you know that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein bears little resemblance to the movie monster? This graphic adaptation was true to the original story and included informative biographical information on Shelley, as well. ( )

Pretty good adaptation. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations which went with this, although I felt like much of the horror I felt upon reading the novel was lost in the pictures--perhaps a good thing for young readers, but maybe a loss of mystique for anyone trying to use this as a pedagogical tool for older kids. As far as sheer comic book reading pleasure goes, a little dense, but readable. ( )

This graphic novel is an excellent introduction to the story of Frankenstein. The colors pop, and the animation is very well-done. It reminded me a lot of the recent animated adaptation of 'Tales of the Black Freighter.' I am somewhat of a Frankenstein buff, so I enjoy reading many different adaptations and interpretations. This book is not anything revolutionary, but it was enjoyable and is certainly something that students who are encountering the story for the first time will appreciate. The Shelley biography in the back is also very well-done. ( )