I really enjoyed this novel! I have read the original book, and felt like this was a very good update to it! The changes made to the story were well thought out, and had depth to them. The artistry is wonderful as well. Thai is a very approachable retelling, that doesn't sacrifice storyline for the style it's told in.

Even though I never read the original The Count of Monte Cristo, I really enjoyed this graphic novel!
This graphic novel is a reimaged horror version of the novel, taking place in Haiti. The artwork added to the horror and it really intensified the story. The artwork was beautiful and I appreciated all the gore. It's a great revenge story with a satisfying ending.

David Dabel brings to us a wonderful graphic novel full of action and adventure in The Curse of Monte Cristo. It’s a retelling of the famous classic by Alexander Dumas. The graphics feel so real that for a moment I thought they are going to come out of the book. Although the story does not focus much on the Haitian Revolution, it makes your blood surge with every page. It amazingly depicts how evil is actually among us, roaming freely. And the people whom we believe to be most religious are actually devils in disguise. I have never felt so thrilled while reading a book.

The Curse of Monte Cristo is a graphic novel based on the popular novel by Dumas and I would definitely recommend it if youre a fan of classics and graphic novels.

I throughly enjoyed reading this graphic novel, it was highly immersive and contextualises the novel better. The artwork is honestly 10/10 as well and the colouring was phenomenal. The detail in the drawings was amazing, every single little thing was deliberate and you could frame every single panel.

The plot of the novel is also brilliant, the artwork really captured a man's decent into madness whilst seeking vengeance and literally fighting against his inner demons.

All in all. It was beautiful to read and the illustrations were lovely !! Really enjoyed this one and I'm glad I got to read it. Thank you so much to the publishers, authors, and Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC/copy of this book in exchange for a review :))

It was great! I loved it! The story was twisty and interesting and the art style is gorgeous!
There were a few moments where modern speech was used but it happened rarely so it didn't bother me that much.

This put an interesting spin on The Count of Monte Cristo. The art style is nice too, very dark and fitting of the story

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. “The Count of Monte Cristo”is one of my faves and this was an interesting take on the book. A bit darker than I first thought,still an interesting take on the novel.

I loved this graphic novel. Retellings have always held a fond place in my heart and the author did an amazing job of telling this story. The art in it was amazing as well, the colors changing based on the character's moods was genius. I would definitely recommend this book to libraries for purchase and any personal buyers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for my honest opinion!

An amazing graphic novel adaptation of The Count of Monte Christo! While there is a lot going on with the extra plot points added in, it's still honestly such a great read. For anyone that usually read manga adaptations of classic literature, you will love this!

Wow, this was amazing, I highly recommend this. This is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, as the title implies, but it has heavy paranormal and magical abilities and some really fun action. The major departure from the original revenge story set in France is that the main character, Edmond Dantes, is a Haitian slave and that adds a lot of new perspectives to this story.

Let me start by saying the illustrations are absolutely fantastic, I will be picking up a copy April 15th when it is released because this artwork will be so stunning in person. There is violence and gore in this graphic novel, but in the context of this story it makes sense. Everything seems hopeless for Edmond until a demon gets involved, giving him the ability to exact his revenge and conceal his identity, for a price of course. From there we hit the ground running in a story of revenge and rebellion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this work for review.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the Arc!

Absolutely stunned by the story and the artwork. This is my first time reading anything about Monte Cristo and I wasn't midly acquainted to Alexandre Dumas' work. So this was such a riveting experience. Recommend this to all Graphic Novel lovers. The artwork is to die for. Brilliant depiction. #TheCurseofMonteCristo

The art style in this is so spectacular! The way that the characters can express themselves with words and with the art is phenomenal!

The Curse of Monte Cristo is a unique and innovative graphic novel that reimagines Alexandre Dumas’ seminal text The Count of Monte Cristo, informed by elements often overlooked from Dumas’ own past and literary inspirations. In this text, the titular Count is reimagined as a former Haitian slave intent on getting revenge against the men and political system that plotted and profited from his downfall. Likewise, the setting is reimagined, taking place in Saint Domingue (modern-day Haiti) during the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), as opposed to France during the Bourbon Restoration (1815-1839), and instead of following the classic morality-revenge tale, the book integrates more speculative horror elements.

To preface, while I have not read the full book of the Count of Monte Cristo, I did read an abridged version of it in French during high school and it was one of my favourite books I read while at school. What I loved about the book was how Dumas integrated history, particularly the personal history of his father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas. The Curse of Monte Cristo plays with this inspiration with the Dantes depicted in this drawing a more direct parallel to Dumas senior than the original. Born in Saint Domingue to a French nobleman and an enslaved woman, Thomas-Alexandre grew up in slavery before being freed after setting foot on French soil when his father took him there in 1776 to be educated. After joining the military in 1786, Dumas quickly rose through the ranks during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). In 1799, Dumas left Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign and, on his return voyage to France, was taken prisoner in Naples, where he remained imprisoned until 1801. Later, his former colleague, Napoleon, now Emperor, would issue several edicts further oppressing and reinforcing racial discrimination against black people, such as reinstating slavery, banning interracial marriage, removing all men of colour from the military and stripping them of their ranks. Dumas was directly impacted by this as, after his father’s death in 1806, Dumas and his mother were denied funding from his late father’s pension because of Napoleon’s edict and the other edicts such as the ban on interracial marriage and a general attitude of discriminating against people of colour, Dumas was forced to hide his interracial identity. While Dumas’ original novel doesn’t directly interact with issues of racism, I think that anyone familiar with the core plot line of The Count of Monte Cristo can see the similarities between Dantes’ journey and the real life of Dumas’ father.

The Curse of Monte Cristo takes this history more literally rather than the more figurative references that Dumas made, mainly out of a desire to hide his identity as a biracial man in a racist society I think that the author did a good job at balancing creating a new Dantes, the historical inspiration for the character and the character’s initial portrayal in the original novel. Similarly, I liked the reimagined of Haydee as a Haitian slave woman who works with Dantes to support the Haitian revolution as a leader in her own right rather than as a slave who was owned by him and who he later would fall in love with—something which some scholars have argued was Dumas’ way of trying to understand the relationship between his slave grandmother and noble grandfather. I also liked the addition of horror elements in the story, the presentation of Abbe Faria, Dantes’ mentor within the Chateau d’If, as a demon who aids Dantes not out of the goodness of his heart or commitment to God but to further his aims as an agent of chaos was an interesting narrative decision. The author's decision as well to include mention of how the voodoo religion and its practice amongst Haitians was suppressed as a part of the French colonial mission and also demonized by them, contributed to this theme.

However, despite a lot of these strong reinterpretations, I think the story was lacking in comparison to the original. While that is to be expected due to the shorter length and graphic format, I think the author could have expanded on the story and some of the important themes. In particular, the ‘revenge’ portion of the story fell very short and was far too rushed to emphasize the same themes that the original text plays with. Similarly, I felt like some of the horror and brutality of the characters’ deaths was more for shock value than to put forth a greater message. For example, I think that this reimagining had the potential to put forth a critique of colonial violence and how the white men in power (represented by Danglars, Mondego and Villefort) who have enacted and perpetrated colonial violence do so at a distance and how the horrors of their deaths were brought forth as a result of the violence that they have enacted and gotten away with, especially given that nowadays there is not the same restrictions on discussions of racism and push back against denouncing colonialism as there had been in Dumas’ time. Furthermore, I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters, I didn’t feel connected to any of them and found that for a lot of the side characters, the author relied more on the reader’s familiarity with the original story than putting forth a new take or giving any sort of personality to characters like Mercedes or Albert as well as getting rid of some others like Maximillian Morrel, Valentine de Villefort or Andrea Cavalcanti, some of whom are more important to the original story than others but could have been included in this story whether in passing or more.

Overall, the Curse of Monte Cristo provides an interesting take informed by history that I believe is in line with Dumas’ intentions in writing The Count of Monte Cristo. However, I think that the author could have expanded more on the complexities of the characters and the commentary on themes such as colonial violence and systemic racism.

I have to say I have never read the original work but with that being said I did really enjoy this graphic novel. The fact that this adaptation was horror worked perfectly for me. I also want to add that not only did I enjoy the story but the artwork was fantastic. This will absolutely be going on my list of favorite retellings.

a beloved classic novel reimagined as a horror comic
a story of liberation, love, revenge, reclamation and the supernatural!
France 1788, the beginning of the Haitian revolution
edmond dante, a Haitian/ Parisian citizen is sentenced to a life in hell at Chateau D'lf after being framed for treason against the Ancien Regime
Faria, another prisoner, confesses to be a demon with promises of revenge
together they return to Saint Domingue as the Count of Monte Cristo and his loyal servant
they rescue slaves, burn down plantations and murder dantes enemies one by one but all starts to go south when a freed slave name Haydee sees faria for who he really is and dante must chose between his love and his life

An interesting retelling of Monte Cristo's story. The art was excellent, the character building great, the storyline solid. I enjoyed it!


Thanks Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC

This is a wonderful use of classic storytelling in the comics form. I love the color, plotting, and the overall design of this book.

My review of The Curse of Monte Cristo:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As a lifelong fan of The Count of Monte Cristo, I’ve read the original novel multiple times, so I was both excited and cautious about this graphic novel reimagining. The Curse of Monte Cristo completely exceeded my expectations—it was an absolute masterpiece.

From the first page, the striking artwork pulled me into Edmond Dantès’ world in a way I’ve never experienced before. The bold, dramatic style perfectly captures the intensity of his journey, while the color palette and shading add depth to the emotions and conflicts that define his transformation into the Count of Monte Cristo. The visuals alone make this a must-own for any fan of the story.

What truly set this adaptation apart was its fresh take on Edmond’s character. Reimagining him as a Haitian man of African descent in 18th-century France added an incredible layer of depth to the themes of injustice, vengeance, and identity. The historical and cultural context heightened the stakes, making his story feel even more powerful. The supernatural element woven into the narrative was unexpected yet seamlessly integrated—it amplified Edmond’s internal struggle in a way that felt organic rather than forced.

The writing is sharp, evocative, and true to the spirit of Dumas’ classic while adding new twists that make it feel wholly original. The pacing is excellent, balancing the build-up of revenge with moments of reflection and emotional turmoil. I also loved the nuanced portrayal of supporting characters like Haydée and Mercédès—both were given compelling roles that enriched the story even further.

This is hands down one of the best graphic novel adaptations I’ve ever read. I finished all 210 pages in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Now, I desperately need a physical copy—and if I can get my hands on an autographed one, even better!

I truly believe Alexandre Dumas would be proud of this work. As a man of Haitian descent himself, he understood the complexities of race, power, and revenge, and this adaptation honors his legacy in the most compelling way possible. This is a must-read for fans of The Count of Monte Cristo, historical fiction, and dark, immersive storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this incredible book. I cannot wait to add it to my permanent collection!

Loved the depiction of Edmond in this graphic novel retelling. I would read a sequel and could have easily read a longer version of this novel. The artwork was great and the characters came across well to fit this retelling.

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is one of my favorite books, so I was excited to see an adaptation with a unique take on the story. I enjoyed Dabel and Holder's version, and yet felt like "The Curse of Monte Cristo" hadn't reached its full potential. I really like the twist of Edmond being an escaped slave from Haiti. It allows the book to keep the story during the same time period, but tell it from a very different perspective and added to the complexities of Edmond's revenge. However, I thought making Father Faria being a demon who sought Edmond's soul robbed Edmond of his agency as a character. The original tale is so powerful in large part because Edmond makes the choices that violate his conscience. Also, the comic waters down the intricacies and cleverness of his revenge plots. Overall, this is a quick read and an interesting idea, but didn't work as well as I'd hoped in practice.