Glenn Fabry

Nessundove fa parte di quei libri che in tanti hanno letto e amato ma che, reputandoli fuori dalla comfort zone, restano relegati in fondo alla lista dei desideri. E ci stanno spesso giusto per rispetto a quelli che te li hanno osannati (sìsì, lo leggo appena ho smaltito la mia lista infinita, intorno al giorno di San Mai, mese più mese meno).
Poi Mondadori se ne esce con una versione illustrata molto bella e per niente cara. Che fai, la lasci lì? Visto che ce l'hai ,che fai, non provi show more almeno a cominciarlo? E visto che pian piano (ma neanche così tanto piano) scopri che è un gioiellino, che fai, non lo divori?
Dopo questa lunga premessa, Nessundove è un romanzo di formazione in cui il protagonista supera tutta una serie di prove che lo portano ad alla crescita ed alla consapevolezza di se stesso e del mondo.
Ma lo fa esplorando il mondo della Londra di sotto (fantastica) e incontrando personaggi molto ben caratterizzati.
Scorre che è una meraviglia e, almeno per me, con pochissimo di scontato/chiamato. Come già detto, la scelta poi, in questa edizione, di integrare nel testo una serie di illustrazioni di Riddell ha reso la lettura ancora più piacevole.
Assolutamente da leggere anche per chi, come me, nel fantasy tendenzialmente non ci sguazza. show less

Well that's certainly a thing.

Almost exactly 4 years and what feels a lifetime ago (January 2017), I read the prose version of [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere (London Below, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348747943l/14497._SX50_.jpg|16534]. I didn't actually know it *had a graphic novel version (there are a number of other books in this category I'm finding). But looking back, I'm so very glad it does. The prose version of the story was show more weird and fantastical and wonderful--and the graphic novel turns that all up to 11, given form to all the strange characters and settings of London Below.



Right from the very beginning, we have Door on the run with her white face and keyhole eye (they never really explain that do they), some magic jsut barely hinted at so far.

Only for things to escalate quickly, with a body (not quite dead) on the street, a fateful descision made, and an apartment full of pigeons.



London Above! And now we're really getting into the story.

What follows (as I mentioned in my review of the other version) is a perfect sort of portal fantasy. Falling into another world just on the otherside of our own; often (as is the case here) full of wonder and magic. And of course some sort of terrible plot or another, otherwise why would we be reading about it?

It's a wonderful story and the graphic novel format really does fit this story well. I really recommend both the novel and this form, but if you're going to just read one, I think the graphic novel can stand alone.

Well worth the read.

A few more random pictures I found interesting/awesome. Spoilers!



The Marquis de Carabas is a shadow. I don't know if that was mentioned in the novel, but either way, it's an entirely disconcerting effect...



Heh. Cultural confusion. Tasty cats.



Anaesthesia is a fun character. I wonder if (like in Gainman's Sandman series) that's a Title or just a name. We never do find out, but for what little she's about, she's a fun character.



Helping. And a wonderful quote.



Oh the Angel Islington. Angels, especially fallen angels are among my favorite characters in novels. There's just something about a perfect being, one who actually has had a chance to know and to meet God--and turned away nevertheless.



Oh Coup and Vandermar. Such terrifying ridiculousosity. show less

This was a little surprising. I am a big fan of the novel Neverwhere, and love Carey's and Fabry's work, but from the firsts sneak peak I saw of this adaptation in the back of an issue of Fables I felt that I had to avoid it. The image of the characters were too firmly entrenched in my mind, Fabry's imaginings too far off from what I felt was the truth of the story. When a friend of mine essentially hoisted the book upon me in his attempt to clear out his life, I held it at arms length. show more Indeed, I almost sold it, but stopped to read Carey's introduction.

In it, he mirrored many of my feelings about the original story, and about Gaiman's writing in general. He spoke about what a good experience adapting the story had been for him as it allowed him to really take apart a book he loves and see how it works. I went on to swallow my snobish pride and cleanly devoured the thing in a sitting. It left me with much the same feeling of wistful joy that the novel does, and painted a different way to look at the story. True, Fabry made some of the characters a little too comic-book sexy and the supporting cast a sort of Transmetropolitan goofy, but his linework speaks with his particular grit, and Carey did some really wonderful things to make the story flow. This is an adaptation that loses nothing in transition from prose to sequential art, becoming something new just as Carey states in his introduction. My biggest complaint is that the imagery makes my imagination look very low budget.

As a side note, I don't think I'm going to sell it tomorrow. show less

It was great fun reisiting Gaiman's London Below and all the characters who populate it, as seen through the eyes of Mike Carey and Glenn Fabry. Their retelling is artful in that all the right moments were kept in the story, and it retained its Gaiman-esque tone even with the change in narrator. There's something about the story that really works well on a visual level as well, and I'm not sure how Gaiman described some of the scenes - particularly Downing Street. The images of Door, show more Richard, and Hunter swinging through a topsy turvy street are perfection in the montage, which takes on an Alice in Wonderland kind of vibe. Really, what's next for Neverwhere though; its been done in most formats now, but it is clearly unwilling to stop until all are conquered. show less