Disney Manga: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - Zero's Journey
Member Reviews
Marianna D, Reviewer
Zero is the most lovable ghostly dog ever, but the story is so short and simple I can't rate it more than 3*. The drawings are stunning, I loved them, expecially the first section that contains sketches for the covers. They're gloomy but will also warm your heart, I don't know how.
The book is perfect both for Christmas or Halloween, but very, very short. I wish it was longer!
Many thanks to both NetGalley and the authors for a free copy of their ebook.
Elke F, Reviewer
Who doesn't love Jack Skellington's cute little best friend, the dog Zero? Finally, my secret hero of The Nightmare before Christmas stars in his own fantastic story. Told in beautiful pictures that perfectly match the original movie's style, the pages are brimming with color, at the same time spreading thespirit of Halloween and Christmas. I can't wait to see how the story of poor lost Zero continues. Perfect for readers of all ages.
Sara T, Reviewer
Honestly, if you love The Nightmare Before Christmas you are going to love this book. It's so colorful and fun. There's not a ton of dialogue so it's a great book for young readers and to just look at the pictures. I can't wait to own a copy of this.
My only complaint is that it just ended. This is the first volume of the story but the ending was really abrupt.
Kat N, Librarian
I love the Nightmare Before Christmas and this book is so great! Disney is starting Manga that younger kids can enjoy with fun characters and beautiful drawings.
Joel S, Reviewer
The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer to simply advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.
Gemma R, Reviewer
#DisneyMangaTimBurtonsTheNightmareBeforeChristmasZerosJourney
Following on from the movie, Zero is now lost in Christmas Town! He kills time exploring while waiting to go home on Santa’s sleigh in Christmas Eve. The artwork is great, and the story moves at a fast pace. In Halloween Town, Jack and the residents are all searching for Zero, and Jack decides to trust Oogie’s boys again <head in hands>.
I read this with my kids who enjoyed it, but were disappointed that it is not the complete collection of the comics so we are waiting to see if Zero is found.
Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for my advance copy in return for an unbiased review.
Tim W, Media/Journalist
The Tim Burton film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” casts a wide shadow in terms of its tone but also its humor yet it also is able to convey a sense of heart. This is mostly done through song but this use gives the characters ways to speak of things, especially in Halloween Town which are harder to do. The way that “The Nightmare Before Christmas – Zero’s Journey – Book One” [D.J. Milky/Tokyopop/112pgs] truly works at times is because it uses purely visual and motion in its frames. The way the manga works in this way conveys the emotions of the ghost pup in an engaging and real way. The reader sees his reaction in an emotional and pure way, not conceded by words. What the story tends to do unfortunately in the way it moves later in its progression is try to emulate the film too much in balancing the songs which as a Danny Elfman creation is hard to match. Ultimately the story tries too much to parallel the film which undeniably is the easier but not more challenging approach. But again the early perceptions of Zero just loving the new sights and smells of Christmastown work before giving way to general mischievery through no fault of his own. The art in this volume is good and on point in a reflective manga texture but ultimately seems like ground retread.
C-
By Tim Wassberg
Dawie D, Reviewer
Although Zero’s journey was quite short, it left me with a feeling of wanting to find out if Jack and co. manage to locate him. If not only for the artwork itself which was simply superb. It would come recommended to those among you who are fans of Tim Burton and Jack. Also for those who like their Halloween settings. I gave this a 3 out of 5 on GR. This is as high as my ratings for comics go, unless they realy resonate well with me or happen to go above and beyond expectations…
Lauren S, Reviewer
First off: apologies for the crappy images, but Disney apparently felt the need to heavily watermark the comic as well as adding text indicating this was a review copy to every page. I don’t feel right reviewing a graphic novel without including some examples, though, so I’m presenting them as is.
This is a collection of the first five issues of the comic book series, so just a note that this is not a complete story, as such. As part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney decided to release a children’s manga featuring a new story set after the movie. Considering I’ve just spent the past week watching the movie once a day with my kids, I figured this would be the perfect Halloween activity with them. The basic premise is that Jack is working on a new device that will connect all of the holiday portals. While playing with Zero, it’s accidentally activated and Zero falls in – unbeknownst to Jack. While Zero explores his new surroundings, Jack and the rest of Halloween Town search for Zero.
First off, it’s truly a Japanese-style manga, which means it’s read from what we’d consider the back to the front, and on each page from right to left, top to bottom. This was a difficult for my son to grasp at first (as a beginning reader, he’s had left-to-right drilled into his head) but he adapted after the first ten pages or so. Some pages – like Zero’s adventures in Christmas Town – have very few words and are perfect for pre-readers. Since the movie was a musical, there are even portions that are written in rhyming verse, which was a touch that delighted my kids.
We get to see a return of many of our favorites (Oh no, Jack, are you really going to trust Oogie Boogie’s Boys AGAIN?!?!) as well as visit familiar places (gotta love a montage!), but the new characters and places are what really stood out to me. While this portion was set in Christmas Town, I’m hoping that we’ll get to explore another holiday with Zero in a different volume!
I love the art. It’s reminiscent of the movie without being a complete carbon copy. I’ve chosen to highlight panels from Halloween Town, as I’m sure most people who are looking to pick this up want to see how familiar scenes were reimagined as manga, but the color choices for Christmas Town were particularly excellent. My kids’ favorite parts were the sections from Zero’s POV, and they loved how expressive he and the other animals were. The details on some of those scenes are just exquisite, and my son frequently had to stop me when I was ready to advance to the next page because he was still looking everything over.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this with my kids as part of our Halloween activities. If you or your children are fans of Nightmare Before Christmas, you will love this book! I’ll definitely be buying a hard copy for my kids, and will be looking forward to the next volume!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Caitlin J, Reviewer
I’m a huge nightmare before Christmas fan so when I saw there was a manga made with a new story about Zero I knew I had to read it. It is the perfect mix of Christmas and Halloween. Since the story follows Zero going into Christmas town it would make a great read for Christmas.
Zeros Journey is able to be enjoyed by adults and kids. The art is perfect when you compare it to the movie. I loved that it wasn’t heavily changed and just continues from the movie. I can’t wait to read the next one and I highly recommend this one.
Aurora S, Reviewer
Have you been missing your favourite characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas? Well here's your chance to see them back in action again! Zero feels like Jack is too busy for him, and decides to go off on an adventure of his own. Only this time, it's him going off into Christmas Town!
Zero is a favourite of a lot of ours, I'm sure. He's a cute ghost dog with a little jack 'o' lantern nose, and he needs a lot of attention, as he's still a dog. We really get to see everyone we know and love back at it again, chipping in to help Jack find him. The art in this book is so heartwarming and cute, I can't help but feel happy when I'm reading it, even though some sad things do happen to the little dog.
I know this is marketed as a kids book, but as a 21 year old, I can vouch that it's suitable for any age of person who loved the original movie. I'm so glad to see everyone again, and they're just represented so nicely in this. I would love to have a copy of it on my bookshelf for when I need cheering up. My favourite part would probably be seeing Zero actually act like a dog and try to eat everyone's food. Definitely check this out if you're a fan of the movie and get the chance.
Thanks for reading!
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
Alex S, Reviewer
Because no less an authority than Max Gladstone has convincingly argued that the original is <a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/10/26/is-the-nightmare-before-christmas-a-halloween-movie-or-a-christmas-movie/comment-page-1/">a Hallowe'en movie as much as a Christmas one</a>, and more to the point because my Netgalley ARC will barely make December. And also because Zero is a very good, if somewhat dead, boy. A genial if entirely unnecessary sequel, with Jack insisting he has that whole Christmas business out of his system even as his faithful hound gets lost and repeats his master's trip to Christmas Town. It suffers from trying to mirror the original's musical format in a medium with no music, and not even such good lyrics, but the art team do give good ghost dog.
Reviewer 207084
Hero's journey
Loved the film but my niece found it a bit scary. The comic feels less scary but keeps the theme of the rivalry between Halloween and Christmas. In the film Pumpkin Jack tried to be Scary Claus in the film, here Hero goes on an adventure and Mrs Claus explains Jack misunderstood Christmas.
The advantage of Hero being a dog is that the dialogue can be simple and repetitive. This makes this an idea gift for parents to read to children who want to understand both traditions. It is also an ideal reader for those who have never experienced these traditions with it's repeated short phrases and sentences.
The images are cleverly overlapped on some pages to give the illusion of movement which is very engaging. The beautiful cookies and images makes it a very attractive read.
One for the Christmas stocking for all fans of Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas.
I was given the novel free by netgalley.com for my fair and honest review.
Karen E, Reviewer
True confession, I'm a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas and being a dog lover, Zero was always one of my favorite characters. This story is that of Zero getting lost in Christmastown. The artwork, as expected, is beautiful and the story is cute. Definitely something most fans of TNBC would enjoy.
Thank you to D.J. Milky, Diamond Book Distributors/Tokyopop and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
Reviewer 285194
This was a short and cute extension of the film. I hope they do more from this series so we can learn more about Halloweentown.
This follows directly behind the events of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the movie is referenced in this. So if you haven't seen it this might not make sense.
Zero gets stuck in Christmastown and through him we learn more about Christmastown and how Christmas works in this world. It was a fun counterpoint to learning about Halloweentown in the film.
The art was true to the film and translated well onto the page.
Reviewer 520170
Great book! Cute story. I enjoyed reading this book. A good book for people who love Manga and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Destiny B, Librarian
Like many, I grew up on The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it still holds a certain nostalgia for me, even though I feel like one of the few horror-loving people of my generation who isn't still particularly captivated by the film. That aside, I was pretty eager to check out this new Disney Manga series about my favorite character, little Zero the pup. The story follows Zero as he gets lost in the land of Christmas, and has to survive there on his own until he can make it back home to Jack.
While the artwork is adorable and I love spending time with Zero, as well as Jack and Sally, and a lovable new elf character from Christmas, there's simply not much of a story to this volume. Most of the book is just artwork depicting Zero running around getting into trouble without anything really happening, and during a pivotal scene in Halloweentown involving Lock, Shock, and Barrel, things go predictably enough that it began to feel redundant. If you're a massive fan of the film or have a young reader in your life, I'd recommend this, but if you're like me—an adult in her twenties whose love for the film has begun to fade—I'd probably leave things be on this one.
Thank you so much to TOKYOPOP for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Heaven B, Reviewer
A fantastic sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Although, this was a quick read it did not disappoint. The illustrations really made the whole story and I cannot wait to continue the story with the next installment hopefully.
Kristin D, Reviewer
This collects issue 0 - 4 of Zero's journey.
Zero gets lost in Christmas town and has to find a way to make it back to Jack. Beautiful artwork.
Reviewer 298993
I've been a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas for years, so when I saw there was a comic focusing on Zero I was really intrigued, unsure if it would live up to the hype of that I think the movie is. I'm happy to say it did. The characters were well written, the plot line is solid, and the artwork is absolutely amazing. I couldn't wait to read the next page to see how this would end. 4 out of 5 stars.
