Comments on: A Wrinkle in Time, worthy graphic novel adaptation

By: Over the River

Over the River — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Very nice @google-4c0e19b45649e4257f0c428ab35d5e45:disqus thanks.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:57:00 +0000

I wouldn’t read it instead of the novel, but it looks to me like it works well as a complement to it.

And there HAVE been great comic book SF adaptations throughout the medium and genre’s history — the EC adaptations of Bradbury’s work, f’rinstance.

(Ever hear that story? Bradbury caught EC ripping off his work wholesale and, instead of lawyering up, sent them a letter saying “You seem to have forgotten to send me my check; I realize that it’s easy to lose track of things like that in busy office life, so just get it to me as soon as you can.” William Gaines was smart enough to send Bradbury the check and after that all their Bradbury adaptations were officially sanctioned, properly credited, and gave Bradbury his cut.)

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:54:00 +0000

I think the weirdest thing about seeing the Prince Caspian movie was coming away thinking that a tacked-on romance that wasn’t in the original book was an IMPROVEMENT.

By: BoydWaters

BoydWaters — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:24:00 +0000

Arrived yesterday. My son picked it up, couldn’t put it down! Now my daughter’s turn… Excellent!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Can you imagine pitching the Narnia books to a publisher today?
“And it ends how?”
“All the children die in a train wreck while they’re still virgins!”

By: william shannon

william shannon — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:22:00 +0000

love the frame with the little cloud over Meg as she walks in the front door and the frame where Fort goes “snerf” .. details details.. definitely getting this for the kids.

By: Over the River

Over the River — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:45:00 +0000

@google-4c0e19b45649e4257f0c428ab35d5e45:disqus Thank you and I agree. I should have ensured what I sad was expressing a preference, not one size fits all. I do like comics and I do like graphic novels, but I don’t like either one more than I do a book. I’m 61 now and the books that caught my imagination when I was a boy might be too boring for today’s MTV youth. I remember tearing into each Tom Swift book, Treasure Island, and other’s full of image this I had to bring out.

I don’t disagree with your passion about this retelling, but I have to say I just don’t like it. I think it drops the little bits that made me fall in love with the original. To me it hands the story to the reader and allows this reader to cruise through the story. Again, personal opinion.

I did see the film and was OK with it, but my memories of a book I read in the early 1960s is what I carry with me.

By: alkali

alkali — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:27:00 +0000

I concur, and would add that adaptations are sometimes better. If given a choice between reading The Godfather or seeing the film, of course you should see the film. I certainly would not claim that this graphic novel adaptation of AWIT is “better” than the original but it is well worth reading if you’re a fan of L’Engle’s novel.

By: Peter Gow

Peter Gow — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:13:00 +0000

It’s pretty awesome, I have to say. Love the book, bought the graphic novel just to see, and have been blown away. Stripping the text to the dialogue concentrates the emotional power more than I could have imagined. My spouse–hugely skeptical and a fifth-grade teacher with serious standards around kid lit–stayed up late and finished it in one reading after I had read it last night. Amazing!

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:07:00 +0000

I can see your point, and in general I’d prefer novels to be novels and comics to be original comics rather than adaptations.

But there are exceptions to every rule and I think this is one of them. This looks like a legitimately gorgeous adaptation that respects the original work while also saying something new about it. The pacing alone has me blown away — Larson’s feel for the little moments, balanced with the sheer forward momentum. These pages make for a pleasingly brisk read but they don’t eschew lengthy dialogue exchanges either. And she captures little moments from the novel without resorting to narration (one I can think of that’s not in this chapter but is in the preview on Tor: Meg skipping over the creaking step).

And that’s not even getting into the art itself. I love Larson’s character designs, and just LOOK at her skill with facial expressions. Look at the emotional range on Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace — and while Sandy, Dennys, Mom, and Principal Jenkins don’t get as much range, you know exactly how they’re feeling from looking at their faces, too.

In short, this looks like a wonderful adaptation and I’m thrilled to see it.

By: Perizade

Perizade — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Loved the book. LOVED. I agree that nothing can approach the actual novel, as Disney sadly discovered when they released that awful TV movie. I have been looking for the 1960s/70s filmstrip of it for years. There are a few libraries in the US that still have it, but haven’t seen it on eBay yet.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:05:00 +0000

See, I always liked L’engle’s approach to Christianity, for much the same reason fundamentalists hate it. She’s a person who’s quite clearly grappling between her faith and the general nastiness of the actual text and history of the religion(s) — Many Waters is entirely about her trying to reconcile the casual misogyny of the story of the flood (Noah has six sons but no daughters; all of them are named but none of their wives are).

Lewis, on the other hand, seemed pretty okay with the whole misogyny thing. Even as a five-year-old I was really bothered by Susan not getting into Heaven with the rest of the family at the end of The Last Battle over something as trivial as liking makeup and boys.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:01:00 +0000

I prefer seeing the entirety of a post at a single click instead of having to click and open a separate browser to read it. I can see how it’d be a pain in the ass on a phone, though.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:59:00 +0000

Ha — I’d forgotten entirely that Sandy (or is that Dennys?) uses the phrase “happy medium” early in the story.

Anyhow. Looks gorgeous; thanks for sharing.

By: Tavie

Tavie — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Very excited and planning to buy this right away. I can’t wait to meet the graphical version of Aunt Beast.

By: OgilvyTheAstronomer

OgilvyTheAstronomer — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:33:00 +0000

Definitely one of those books you need to be exposed to as a child – it’s really weird to come to it as an adult. Having said that, I’d be totally over this if it had been illustrated by Gary Larson…

By: Over the River

Over the River — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:17:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyHDvxPggbA

By: Memefilter Boldvoices

Memefilter Boldvoices — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:16:00 +0000

Ah, how I loved this book when I was but a lad. You know what I do NOT love, though? A single RSS entry that takes up 20 vertical feet of my feed list. Totally the opposite of what RSS is supposed to do – use the tag or w/e is supported, please.

OTOH, Rapture Of The Nerds is great so far. Very enjoyable.

By: alkali

alkali — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:01:00 +0000

I think this adaptation is terrific and warmly recommend it to fans of the novel. That having been said, I am going to keep it out of my young daughter’s hands until she’s read the novel herself. One of the reasons I loved L’Engle’s novel so much is that its imagery is frequently more conceptual than visual, and it’s left to the reader to form mental pictures to go with the text. I still remember vividly the way I envisioned Meg and Charles, even 30 years after I first read the novel. Larson’s artistic choices in this adaptation are terrific and very thoughtful, but I’d like my daughter to see them as a point of comparison after she’s been through the novel herself first.

By: John Aguirre

John Aguirre — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I could never finish this book when I read it as a teenager. I was very uncomfortable with its obviously Christian message. I find something perverse about having religious messages embedded in children’s literature. Same reason I could not stand C. S. Lewis.

By: Over the River

Over the River — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:58:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJnZTVjLh1c

By: Over the River

Over the River — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:54:00 +0000

I really liked this book and I felt the best part was using my imagination, visualization, encyclopedias, and wonder to figure it out. I’m not in favor (for me) of graphic novels because they take away the imagination part. Like a music video, graphic novels present one view of the subject; it may not be the one I want.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:42:00 +0000

I loved this book so much as a kid.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:38:00 +0000

I loved this book series as a child. I was surprised to learn it had been banned. (This is Banned Book Awareness Week).

http://macteenbooks.com/mackidsblog/teens/banned-books-week-a-wrinkle-in-time-by-madeleine-lengle/

However, I’m not suprised, Cory, to read that your daughter wants you to read it to her over and over again. Having a storyteller for a dad just adds to the magic.

By: TariAkpodiete

TariAkpodiete — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:25:00 +0000

Absolutely fantastic!