The Stand: Captain Trips

WARNING - This review contains spoilers for the ENTIRE series of comics and the original novel. When I review comics, I list only the first issue and count a completed comic series as one book.

I had a horrible bout of insomnia last night, so I managed to finish almost all the books.

This was an awesome comic book. I've read The Stand so many times that I can quote parts of it. I first read it in high school in 1978. I still have my first edition copy ("T39" is printed on page 823 and everything) - It's very well worn. So, the numerous re-reads are spread out over many years.

This comic was very faithful to the original story and added bits and pieces to the story that I'd not thought about for some time. Trashcan Man always seemed like show more such a huge part of the original book, but as I read the comic, I realized that he wasn't. He was deus ex machina from the beginning.

I completely forgot about Nick's eye.

I am not normally a fan of American comics. In general, I find the illustrations over the top and distracting. I really dislike super-hero comics. Some comics have surprised me though. The Walking Dead is one of them. This one was another. I loved the way that the artists drew Nadine and her progression. The illustrations of her post-Free Zone are particularly good, especially her final act. I also liked Frannie's portrayal. Good stuff. show less

WARNING - This review contains spoilers for the ENTIRE series of comics and the original novel. When I review comics, I list only the first issue and count a completed comic series as one book.

I had a horrible bout of insomnia last night, so I managed to finish almost all the books.

This was an awesome comic book. I've read [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269] so many times that I can quote parts of it. I first read it in high school in 1978. I still have my first edition copy ("T39" is printed on page 823 and everything) - It's very well worn. So, the numerous re-reads are spread out over many years.

This comic was very faithful to the original story and added bits and show more pieces to the story that I'd not thought about for some time. Trashcan Man always seemed like such a huge part of the original book, but as I read the comic, I realized that he wasn't. He was deus ex machina from the beginning.

I completely forgot about Nick's eye.

I am not normally a fan of American comics. In general, I find the illustrations over the top and distracting. I really dislike super-hero comics. Some comics have surprised me though. The Walking Dead is one of them. This one was another. I loved the way that the artists drew Nadine and her progression. The illustrations of her post-Free Zone are particularly good, especially her final act. I also liked Frannie's portrayal. Good stuff. show less

This is a good faithful start to the King classic. The art is very good, the story quite streamlined but not divergent, and it gives us a very good graphic look at the even more graphic deaths.

Timely, no? Well, Captain Trips is slightly more deadly than just about anything out there. It's good to think about how bad it could really get and be thankful we're not losing everything now.

The interlude in chapter two is a perfect example of how the virus spread. Scary perfect! “… the Captain Trips chain letter, was working very well indeed.”

“All the chickens were coming home to roost.”

Indeed they were! I haven't read "The Stand" for a while, so returning to it after the COVID epidemic is pretty dang creepy! This comic adaptation is pretty good, and really well drawn, and was a nice refresher for me. It's only the beginning of the story, but like I said, in light of the recent pandemic, it hits pretty hard! I just may have to take up the novel again!

This volume tells King’s epic story 'The Stand' from the first escape of the Superflu to – approximately – the end of US civilisation, following those survivors who provide the linchpins of the novel’s wide-ranging first chapters. There are still a few scenes that I would have expected to be covered in volume 1 that it didn’t quite reach, but otherwise, it’s a great opening book.

The first thing I noticed was how nice an edition it is; most of my graphic novel collection is soft-cover, so this had a classy, yet odd feel to it. Odder yet, was how closely it followed The Stand in storyline, without digressions – stripped to its bare bones, perhaps – but exactly the story that King told (or the beginning of that story, show more anyway) in his novel. There’s something about knowing a story that well, but having it unspool in a different medium, that is tremendously unsettling, especially when the subject matter is so horrifyingly visual… it’s a story that was made to be rendered in disgusting and exquisite panels of art. My favourite impressions are of Flagg himself, and Frannie (whom the movie completely sold out), who is not as I imagined her in the novel either, and yet who comes alive in one perfect panel (her response to Jessie’s ‘oh hell’ moment). Lloyd and Poke’s crime spree could have filled its own volume, it was so vividly disgraceful. Larry Underwood, too, feels completely right (as does the ‘you aint’ no nice guy sequence’) – the others, not yet, but for me the film did them no injustices, so I didn’t need new faces.

In a way, I wish The Stand hadn’t been one of my faithful re-reads, growing up… if I knew the story a little less well, I might get even more out of the straightforwardly extracted sections of text; as it is, it’s delightful to see how well those pieces tell the beginning of the story on their own. Not that I’m suggesting my favourite writer is overly wordsome.

The Dark Tower graphic novels wander all over the place, in comparison. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if all you want is a Stephen King story without the need to read 800+ pages and pretty pictures, there’s nothing here to suggest this series isn’t going to deliver it. show less

The Stand has always been one of my all time favorite books, and this adaptation was fantastic. "Captain Trips" covers probably about the first 8th of the book, if that, but and it manages to show a large chunk of the details and story that happen in that section of the book, and does it in a way that doesn't feel like there are huge gaps. I was quite impressed. I knew that there would be a lot left out, and I had prepared myself to be disappointed in the way it was done, but obviously, I was far from disappointed, and actually loved it. The only thing that I felt was missing was Harold Lauder, but I am quite sure that he will be introduced in the next installment.

The artwork was amazing. I loved the representation of the characters, show more and this was another area where I'd been nervous - I've known these characters for half of my life! If they are depicted in a way that doesn't mesh with the characters I know, it could be very bad. But, while they did look different than they do in my head (and in the 1994 mini-series adaptation), they represented their characters well. In a couple of frames, Larry Underwood even looked a little like Hugh Laurie, that sexy beast. ;)

Sticking with the artwork, this is definitely not what you want to be reading when dinner is served. It's quite graphic, and doesn't sugar-coat or gloss over the illness caused by the superflu. There's phlegm and grossness EVERYWHERE. It was awesome. :D

I loved this, and am headed to read the second installment right now. The 3rd is on my Christmas wishlist! show less

This is a retelling of Stephen King's apocalyptic novel, The Stand, in comic book form.

This comic book adaptation of The Stand was not so much of a reinterpretation, like the much better Dark Tower comic book series, than it was a straightforward retelling. It reminded me of those illustrated classics like Moby Dick. In this case, I think it is better to just read the book.