Member Reviews
This being my first foray into manga, I think I did pretty well! This was such a cute little story! I love everything having to do with The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I enjoyed reading this very much. Zero is one of my favorite characters, too, so that made it all the more enjoyable.
Highly recommend - 5/5 stars.
I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
Zero is LOST! Left to his own devices, he'll need to try and find his way home.
Jack is trying to find him, and decides to put Halloween on hold--can he find Zero before it's too late to save Halloween?
This was really fun and a great series!
Love all things Nightmare before Christmas but Zero is our favorite character! It was so nice to see his story and the images are stunning!
As this was my first manga, I didn't knew what to expect.but it turned out to be likable.
I have loved TimBurton's movie adaptations and have been a fan.
If you adored The Nightmare Before Christmas and you still want to continue the journey with these quirkisome characters, then this manga book is for you!
Zero's Journey is beautifully illustrated and the colors are wonderful. I was able to follow the story easily. It is adorable. It is what we, the pet owners go through when our pets go missing.
I love Zero! I want him as my pet now!
I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I love anything that comes from Nightmare Before Christmas. I was very glad to it is as a review copy. It was something I wanted it without knowing I wanted. I was so excited to see that Zero got his own adventures. This is just the start of it from what I have heard. There are several more volumes to come.
Unlike a lot of Disney’s other property, The Nightmare Before Christmas hasn’t had any new stories set in its worlds beyond being in the Kingdom Hearts series. So hearing that not only was there going to be a new story set in the world, but that it would also feature Jack’s faithful ghost dog Zero was like music to my ears. However, this first book felt more like treading over old ground rather than giving us something new and fresh.
Zero’s Journey takes place after the original movie. Jack is working on a new project for Halloween, but it isn’t going well. Despite his frustration, he takes some time to play with Zero. An accident sends the ghost dog out past Halloween Town to the Holiday Doors, where he is sucked into the door to Christmas Town. He finds help from a kindly elf and her owl friend, but not everyone in Christmas Town is as obliging to the ghost dog. Back in Halloween Town, Jack is desperate to find Zero, but his responsibilities keep him from searching. Tricksters Lock, Shock, and Barrel agree to help, but they may have more mischief than assistance in mind.
The title calls this Zero’s Journey, and to its credit it lives up to this. Most of the story is told from Zero’s perspective from the moment he goes through the Christmas door. He does all the things you would expect a dog on his own adventure would do: He befriends the owl Howly and some flying reindeer, indulges in some of the sweets from the many bakeries in Christmas Town, and runs into some elf children who play too rough with him. He ends up biting off more than he can chew when he runs afoul of a gingerbread man who comes to life after Zero eats his leg and traps him in a pot.
The art faithfully captures the look and feel of the world. Jouelle has that creepy-yet-kind look that you expect from this spooky but sweet world. Ishiyama’s portrayal of Zero is perfect. He moves with the fluidity of a ghost while still retaining all of the energetic motion of a floppy-eared dog. It was really a joy to see.
While I did enjoy this first volume overall, it still felt like a bit of a retread of the movie. We’ve already seen Christmas Town. This first volume did try to expand on it, with Joulle showing Zero the History of Christmas Town in what would have been a musical number if it had been a movie, but it’s still more of the same. I would have liked it if Zero had gone through another door, like Thanksgiving or Easter or Valentine’s Day. A romp through the other worlds would have been much more interesting. This is just book one of four, though, so it is possible that could still happen. I would still recommend picking this volume just for all the scenes with Zero, who is truly a delight.
This was a short and fun read.
I am a huge fan of anything Nightmare Before Christmas so of course I want to read a story that revolves around Zero. Who doesn’t love that ghost dog?
This is a great spinoff from the Nightmare Before Christmas universe. I hope there are more independent stories that will be coming out.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.
I really liked this Manga.
I am a big fan of the movie and therefore really enjoyed reading a manga where my favorite characters - in this case especially Zero, got through new adventures.
The Nightmare before Christmas is one of my all time fave stories. I was so excited to pick up zeros journey volume one, but I’m afraid I was let down. The illustrations in this graphic novel were very good, very on point but the story line felt like a child’s book. It wasn’t descriptive enough that It missed so much. I think you could have just left out the words and stuck with the pictures. I will continue on with the series to see how it ends but it truly let me down.
'Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas' from Tokyopop is a continuation of the popular movie starring Jack's dog Zero.
Jack Skellington is busy planning next Halloween, but Zero wants to play. When Jack starts absently playing fetch with Zero, Zero ends up in the grove of holidays and ends up in Christmas Town. He makes new friends like flying reindeer and a friendly elf that takes him in. Jack is worried about his friend, but too busy to go looking so he asks for help from an unlikely group.
This manga collects issues 0-4 of the series. I enjoyed reading this one, and I liked that it was full color. The art and story should appeal to young readers who like the movie.
I received a review copy of this manga from Tokyopop, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.
Zero's Journey is a cute story about the ghostly pup getting separated from the pumpkin king himself, Jack Skellington. While the writing isn't stellar and the story isn't particularly memorable, it's at least an enjoyable story and one that NBC fans will enjoy reading and collecting.
Loved this graphic novel for it reminds me so much of the movie.. Can’t help but feel the characters come to life and jump off the pages from the way they are drawn. They didn’t miss a beat with characters and the characterization that each has. I highly recommend this book to all who are fans of the movie.
This was a super cute and nostalgic read. Perfect for getting into that Halloween spirit along with watching The Nightmare before Christmas. I would love to see this as an animated movie based on, or as a sequel to, this story. Being a fan of the franchise I had a connection to the story from the beginning, but I think it would work for someone who's not seen the movie too. I hope there'll be more cute stories like this one in the future!
Lovely story about zero and his friends. It’s nice to return to the one and only halloween town. Would recommend this manga for fans and it’s fit for a halloween read perfectly. The story is a wee predictable but was fine with me.
Book Review
Title: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey
Author: D.J. Milky, Kei Ishiyama, David Hutchison & Dan Conner
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: So, I requested this because the Nightmare before Christmas and the Corpse Bride are my favourite Tim Burton films and I couldn’t wait to see what Zero’s Journey had in store for me. This review will be quite short because there isn’t too much that I can say on the subject, but I will do my best.
So this graphic novel seems to be a continuation of where the movie left off if you haven’t seen it then go watch it, it’s hilarious. For those that have watched the movie, you will know that Pumpkin Jack made it back to Halloween Town and decided to leave Christmas alone for good. However, in the comic, upon making it back to Halloween Town Jack was obsessed with recreating the portal that took him to Christmas Town in the first place.
Jack manages to create the portal, but he can’t navigate it properly and, in his worrying, he accidentally manages to send his faithful ghost dog, Zero through the portal into Christmas Town. We follow Zero’s adventures through Christmas Town, but he soon becomes sad that he can’t return home to his friend; Pumpkin Jack. However, not everything is good in Christmas Town as Zero doesn’t belong there and is often chased away.
The good thing is even though Zero has found himself in a tough situation, we the reader, knows that Jack and the triplets are heading to Christmas Town once more in order to retrieve Zero. Overall, I really liked this comic and it does begin to answer some questions the movie left behind. Highly recommended.
I must admit, I've already got this book on my shelves. I suppose I should actually say that I've got it in my collection, because it's already checked out. The teens in our library can't get enough of Nightmare Before Christmas and this is just a fun addition to the movie. I enjoyed following Zero and look forward to more of his adventures, as I know my teens do as well.
Cute drawings and cute story,
The pages were backwards in my e-ARC, so it was a bit difficult to read..
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for my free copy in return for my honest review!
Yes I'am adult who still loves to read a good comic/picture book! The comic is in Manga style reading so if you do not know how to read it the first pages gives you a quick review!
We absolutely loved this graphic novel so so much! You follow Zero's journey which is so beautifully illustrated you wish you could grab the images of the pages and place them all over your walls as art. If you are a fan of Tim Burton then you obviously need to pick this book up! Would make a great present for the little spooky person in your life!