Welcome to the Jungle

General Background
Welcome to the Jungle is the graphic novel prequel to all the Dresden Files books I've been reading recently. As such, it's a quick read, and I figured I could squeeze it in before I started Angel's Blood... and believe me, I was not disappointed with my choice.

The Plot
In Welcome to the Jungle, a very, very young Harry (well, he seems that way compared to the guy I left at the end of Dead Beat, anyway, despite the fact that only a few years have passed in book time - which just shows how much the boy's been through since I started reading) is investigating the dead of a guard at the Lincoln Park zoo. At least... that's where it starts, anyway

The graphic novel format makes for a different kind of book than a novel would show more - fewer twists, turns and subplots. And yet, despite the more simplistic plotline, most of the elements that I've loved about the Dresden Files so far are there, so I didn't feel shortchanged in anyway.

The Characters
There are four of the main characters that readers of the novels will recognise: Harry himself, Murphy, Carmichael and Bob . Everyone else has yet to make an appearance. Harry, despite the youth, is pretty much everything I've come to love about the character. And the same can be said of Bob, however little pagetime he gets. Murphy and Carmichael, however, feel more like the first initial shadows of what they're going to become - Murphy gruff and distrusting but willing to at least bring Harry in, and Carmichael cynical and convinced that Harry's little better than a con artist.

Add to this we have Will (short for Willemena) Rogers, who totally makes me think of Fred from Angel; Moe, the gorilla, who's just cool; and a few other supporting character about which I can't say too much without giving stuff away.

Good Stuff
Good stuff? For a start, it's another Dresden Files installment, and one you can read without spoiling yourself for ANYTHING to come. I also liked the way the Harry I've come to know from the novels comes through so clearly in this graphic novel format - both through the words, and through the talents of Ardian Syaf's illustrations. There are some panels where the Harry's personality just *shines* (or occasionally, *glares*) through in the artwork, and such panels inevitably had me squeeing like a crush-struck teenager to myself.

Plus, there's all the snark and banter I know and love from the novels. One particular interchange, involving accounts payable, made me a very, very happy Starfire (although honourable mention should also go to the solliloquy involving the combined media bursting into spontaneous orgasm).

Bad Stuff
OK, as far as I'm concerned, the one and only problem with this graphic novel is that I'm finished it and now I have to take it back to the library, damnit. When I'm working fulltime again, I may just procure the entire damn set of the books for myself... just so I can go back and reread them (and hug them and pet them and yes, possibly, even call them George)

Ratings and Recommendations
Right - for anyone who's been reading my various reviews of the Dresden Files set (and watching them degenerating gradually into fangirlish squeeings), who's said "Y'know, I've got to try out this set, but I have SO MUCH on my reading pile...", this is an EXCELLENT place to start. It took me around 45 minutes to read through the graphic novel, and that included taking time out to sit and lovingly squee at various artwork I particularly loved, or to re-read particular dialogue interchanges that pushed my happy buttons. Not only that, but it doesn't give you any spoilers, and is actually designed as a lead-in for the series, so it might actually be a good thing to read before you hit Book 1.

I'm going to go all out and give this one a 9/10. I loved reading it with much love, and I really look forward to seeing the next graphic novel if/when it happens. show less

I wish I'd never set eyes on this piece of rubbish. Any fan of Harry should stay very far away from this graphic novel (more like a graphic short story). The story is terrible and boring, the illustrations awkward and Harry is embarrassing, there's nothing adorable or vulnerable about him. His self-deprecating just sounds like a lie. There is no subtext, no using your imagination and little even looks as it is described in the books. But worst of all, it's ultra sexist. Disgusting. It's like they assumed incorrectly that only powerless male nerds read this stuff so it was okay to make him all super-hero-y and the ridiculously physically disproportionate women all weak-kneed and blubbery. I have more to say that was in my progress show more updates but I'm too annoyed to paste them here right now. show less

It was very cool to get this episode of the Dresden Files in graphic novel comic form. The art was fantastic, really bringing Harry and Murphy (and Bob and Mister) to life.

I'm also glad that Butcher wrote the story himself. The voice was right. So often a graphic interpretation loses the author's special touch.

And of course, this cool little story of the wizard named Harry makes me want to pick up the next Dresden Files novel.

Nicely done, Jim.

This was the first Dresden Files graphic novel that I have read. The series is by far my favorite, and the graphic novel only adds to that. The realm that Butcher creates is beautiful and well crafted. His imagination, though, truly shines in the graphic novel. The characters are drawn to resemble the novel counterparts almost perfectly, even stated by Butcher himself in the introduction. The plot lives up to Butcher's other works, involving deep detective work, witty jokes and one liners, as well as a great mixture of action and dialogue. The story revolves around a murder that occurs at a zoo. Dresden is called in because it was a supernatural attack rather than a mortal one. The story unfolds as typical Dresden novels do, with Harry show more going after different leads until the twist at the end. However, also like typical Dresden novels, Harry isn't quite as behind on what is going on than what readers believe. The ending is satisfying and acts as an excellent introduction to the main novels to someone who has never read them before. I would highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a supernatural detective story or just an excellently written story in general. show less

In the introduction to the graphic novel edition, Butcher explains that when writing the Dresden Files novels, he always pictured them in his mind as comic books. Which goes a long way toward explaining why this 4-issue original prequel series feels just like reading one of the novels. It’s pure unadulterated Dresden goodness, with all the trademark wit, magic, and monsters you’ve come to expect. And Ardian Syaf’s artwork is perfect: comic booky without being overly cartoony, and his characters—especially Harry Dresden himself—are spot-on.

I'm familiar with Butcher's Dresden Files, but I've never read any of the books. Reading the graphic novel, thus, became my first Dresden experience, and it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Welcome to the Jungle follows none other than the infamous Harry Dresden, sorcerer extraordinaire turned mystical detective, as he takes on yet another case: a brutal murder at the Chicago zoo with too many unanswered questions for the poor Chicago PD to handle; that's why they've called Dresden, because his specialty is with the supernatural. As Dresden investigates, he starts to learn that there's far more to this case than meets the eye, beyond the typical otherworldly things. The more he digs, the more he comes to realize that he's dealing with forces show more greater than his own, forces that could kill him if he's not too careful.

Welcome to the Jungle is a fairly stand-alone tale. One doesn't need to have read any of the Dresden books to get a clear picture of who Harry Dresden is or what he does. This might mean that fans of the novels may find this graphic novel a tad redundant, but I understand the reason for trying to make this graphically visualized addition to a popular series separate from the books--it is touching on a new market, and leaving them high and dry would be comparable to career suicide.

That said, there is much to be admired about Welcome to the Jungle. The artwork is fairly standard as far as American comics are concerned, with a glossy, bright coloration and American-style structuring of characters. I'm not a big fan of American-style comic art, but it seems to work particularly well for Dresden. He has that ruggedness that American comics tend to demonstrate both in character and build. My only criticism of the artwork, and with the characterization, is the stereotyping of women in this piece, something I would have thought had gone out of style years ago.

The story is nothing to get excited about, but I suppose that Welcome to the Jungle is less about the complexity of plot and character development, and more about the injection of noir elements to produce a grungy, updated fantastic detective story. It seems to work, though a deeper plot could have helped pull things out from the "shock-and-awe" jumps that existed in the plot.

My biggest issue with Welcome to the Jungle (which, by the way, is the name of a song by an rather popular 80s rock band) is the way the dialogue is structured. Much of the story is told through Dresden's internal thoughts, which might not be a problem except where his thoughts point out the glaringly obvious. In novel form, these sorts of thoughts would certainly work well to establish Dresden's voice, but here it is irritating. We can see most of the detail in the image; telling us about such things in Dresden's mind is redundant.

Overall, I think current fans of the novels would enjoy Welcome to the Jungle. While it is far from perfect, it doesn't lack in interesting elements, and would have much to offer people who are already familiar with Butcher's fiction. New readers might not enjoy it nearly as much, but I suppose that depends on your tastes in graphic novels/comics. As it is, Welcome to the Jungle is an entertaining read. show less

I love Harry Dresden. And with each new format I get to experience this universe in, the more I fall in love with it. And this did for me, what the television series did not, it truly brought to life what I see in my head when I read. Murphy, Harry, Mister... they were all perfect. And even in this new format, I lost none of the flavor that makes Harry Dresden an amusing character. He's not a superhero. But try to kill him, and you'll find it might have been easier to take out Superman. This is a brilliant prequel to a series I love and adore and cannot recommend enough to my friends, my family, and the random strangers I meet on the street.