Nancy Butler

Marvel's adaptation of Jane Austen novel is amazingly faithful to the original. The author even goes to the trouble to warn the readers about the few changes she did and the reasons for them.

It does make a few basic errors that an editor should have caught - Marianne saying thirty-five for Colonel Brandon's age (this is early 19th century... it should be five and thirty) and an yearly income cited as 50 000 (that would mean the possession of 1 mln... which is highly unlikely -- it is much show more more likely that the whole fortune is 50 000 - which would make a yearly income of 2500). But these are minor issues and can be forgiven.

The one thing that did not fully work for me was the art - the human figures look more like caricatures than as people. That's just not the style I like... but it was not bad enough to distract me.

Overall - a good adaptation, without missing any of the main points of the novel..and who knows - it might make a new generation of readers like Austen. show less

I'm not a collector of 'graphic novels', but I couldn't resist this one! Nancy Butler has skillfully adapted Austen's wordy novel to fit Janet Lee's bright and cheerful illustrations, working together to cover all of the memorable scenes from Emma at a fraction of the length. Lee neatly captures the personality of the eponymous heroine in each frame, whether Emma is beaming at old Mr Woodhouse and Mrs Weston, or frowning at Mr Elton. Emma is given hazel eyes and fair hair, where Harriet is a show more golden blonde and Jane Fairfax a brunette. The Regency dresses are also beautifully designed, full of vibrant repeat patterns and embroidery, and even the backgrounds are a riot of colour, with rich interiors and autumn scenes. The male characters, particularly Mr Knightley, are not sketched in the same amount of detail, but this is Emma's story after all. I did like Mr Knightley's exclamation of 'Good lord, the man's written a book!', in response to being presented with Frank Churchill's letter, though. A few of my favourite frames include a wide-eyed Harriet earwigging on Robert Martin and his sister in Ford's shop, two montages of the ball and strawberry picking at Donwell, Emma sobbing in her carriage, and of course, Emma and Mr Knightley together at last.

Truly a delightful addition to any Austen collection! show less

This Marvel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Nancy Butler was well-done and the art by Hugo Petrus is pretty good, but the colorist work is anachronistic and jarring with the 1990s brown lip and face contour era. I give it 3.75 stars for a good representation of the novel.

I am a huge fan of manga and comics. I devour them. Another great love of mine is Jane Austen; her wit and and skill have rarely been matched even to this day. Pride and Prejudice is a particular favorite of mine. So when I learned that Marvel made a comic adaptation of Austen’s famous work, I had to read it.

Plot: Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five daughters, an intelligent, fiery and witty girl. Her mother has no goal in life but to see her daughters married well but with no money or show more connections, this will not prove easy. When a rich young bachelor, a Mr. Bingley, moves into town, Mrs. Bennet immediately sets her sights on him. The eldest daughter Jane, beautiful, kind and good-natured, catches his interest. His friend Darcy has a less favorable opinion of the Bennets and his pride leaves an equally bad impression on the community. He and Elizabeth soon at odds but could she have misjudged him?

It’s hard to do Austen’s work justice, especially in five comic issues but this is a valiant effort. The art is beautiful, delicate and suits the work. I also love the women’s magazine style in which the covers were done; they are quite clever and funny. Nancy Butler, in her adaptation, has stuck closely to Austen’s brilliant dialogue and cannot be faulted in that respect. The story seems a bit rushed and some of the explanations insufficient for someone who doesn’t already know the story. But on the whole Butler is very familiar with both Austen and her time period and captures the most important scenes of the novel. Though this is no replacement for the novel, in my mind, it is a wonderful complement to it.

Some other notable titles in the Marvel Illustrated series: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde show less