American Gods Volume 1: Shadows (Graphic Novel)

American Gods is one of my all time favorite books. I was considering re-reading the novel, but decided to read the graphic novel adaptation instead. It is quite good. The novel is always going to be my first love, but the graphic novel captures a lot of what is great about the book.

For all that I'm generally for more Neil Gaiman content, I think that this is one situation where I wish they had left things alone. The novel itself is one of my favourites, and while Russell did an excellent job of retaining much of Gaiman's tone (obviously things had to be simplified a bit) the artwork and layouts are what i felt most let down by. Russell apparently tried to keep the designs as close to how Gaiman describes the characters in the book, but even without the visual influence of the television series I couldn't get my head around a Wednesday who looks so young. Mad Sweeney didn't quite come off right either, but I think that they deliberately designed his character with sloppy lines. Obviously the tv series can do a lot show more more visually in some of the more surrealist scenes, but I've seen what other artists in graphic novels can do, so the flat portrayals of the House on the Rock and catching down the moon just felt drab. Maybe the second volume will be an improvement, but not if it's this exact team... show less

This is both good and bad.

The good? Excellent source material, lovingly adapted to the visual medium.

The bad? It's a note-for-note adaptation, with no real creativity put into the story for those that know the story. For me, the series does a similar thing, but they play with it enough to make it feel new and fun, instead of rehashed.

It's like watching that shot-for-shot remake of Psycho. Interesting, but what's the point?

Where the creativity does come in is in the visuals. The main story's visuals are rather workmanlike, and not overly exciting. I kept thinking what a Neal Adams or Terry Moore would have done with it. But the side trips into the various gods' stories with different artists are much more fun.

I ask you, how freaking show more amazing—even with a note-for-note adaptation—would this have been with Neal Adams carrying the main story, and Bill Sienkiewicz, or Dave McKean handling the side stories?

I'll keep going with it, but the first volume was only okay. show less

I read the original novel ten years ago and enjoyed it a lot. So I was a bit disappointed when I watched the TV adaptation last year and found it a bit frustrating; I liked the visuals and the acting, but the scripts were pretty weak and didn't seem to line up completely with my memories of the book. This adaptation seems more faithful, though like the rest of Dark Horse's Neil Gaiman Library of graphic adaptations it is also a bit stiff and lifeless. At least I can better remember what I liked from the original novel, even if the magic isn't quite all there.

American Gods: Shadows adapts the first part of the novel - also named "Shadows" - following Shadow as he is released from prison, hired by Mr. Wednesday, journeys to the House on the Rock, is attacked by two of Mr. World's goons, and ends up in Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jackal's funeral parlor. It took me a little while to really get into the style of this adaptation. It's less of an adaptation in the traditional sense and more of an illustrated novel. The script for these issues comes directly from the novel. Nothing is added, certain things are just tweaked to make the transition from novel-to-comic smoother. There is a lot of narration - told via captions in the screen - to help keep the action moving. It's a weird style at first, but after show more a while, you totally get used to it. Personally, I do kind of wish there were more changes made in the adaptation from novel to comic, but it's not a particularly big deal. As the text is just the novel slightly tweaked, the real standout in this adaptation is Scott Hampton's artwork. Like the text, it does take a bit of time to fully get used to exactly what Hampton is doing with his illustrations, but once you get used to it, you see the beauty in his artwork. He delivers new, unique, and interesting designs for each of our characters, imbuing them with life and a personality that goes well with what was described in the book. His illustrations are every bit as faithful as Russell's script is to Gaiman's original book, and it's all for the better. It's really nice getting to see visuals for a lot of these scenes that were described in the novel - and have yet to be adapted in the TV series - so, I'm thankful that Hampton and Russell were so faithful with this adaptation. Shadows is, ultimately, the setup for the rest of the story, so much of this adaptation feels like it's setting up the subsequent volumes, but that's okay. Every good story needs some setup.

Dark Horse Comics' adaptation of American Gods is deeply enjoyable. While there's nothing new in the actual script of the story, the joy comes from how Hampton depicts the world of the story. A part of me wishes some changes were made to the script - like updating Tech Boy to be more reflective of the 21st century - but on the other hand, I am pretty happy that it's such a faithful adaptation. The style - both text and visual - of this series can take some getting used to, but once you get used to it, it's a thoroughly enjoyable read. It's a nice, quick way of refreshing the story of American Gods in your mind without having to devote a large amount of time to reread the book - though, there's nothing wrong with doing that. As the second season of the TV adaptation is just starting, it's nice to have a way of refreshing my memory of the novel quickly and efficiently, and this comic adaptation works wonderfully for that. Plus, the illustrations are gorgeous. I recommend it for anybody who's a fan of Gaiman or American Gods. show less

4.5

Book source ~ Library

I read the book years ago and then I recently found out there’s a graphic novel. Of course I had to read it, but my library didn’t have it. So I suggested the purchase and they obliged. My library is awesome!

First in a trilogy (or so I’ve heard), this volume covers Shadow’s release from prison and his introduction to Mr. Wednesday, all the way to where he’s leaving the funeral home of Ibis and Jacquel. For those who don’t think they can do the longer novel version I recommend the graphic novel because it hits all the high points of the story. Because of the medium it can’t quite get all the nuances (obviously), but it’s a really good adaptation. Since I read the book years ago, I didn’t really show more remember most of it until I started reading this one. Then it began to come back to me. The artwork isn’t really all that for me, but it’s nice all the same. It reminded me of some of Gaiman’s Sandman comics so I did some research and a few volumes use the same illustrators. Look at me! I recognized some artwork! Impressed myself, I did. Lol I may need to check out the tv show now. Maybe. We’ll see. show less

It’s probably been 16 years since I read American Gods, and I’ve forgotten a lot of the details. Still, this adaptation seems pretty thorough, and I did enjoy the refresher. Best of all, I was reminded of why I loved Shadow so much.
For a graphic novel, it’s on the lengthy side, and there’s more to come. I think it would be just as satisfying to someone new to the story as it was to me.