Not too bad, but nothing beats the original.

This was quite dark in both story and art. It's a twist on the original that introduces the theme of slavery and features a deal with a devil, so it's definitely darker than the Dumas classic.

I really love how grey the original story is, but this keeps things rather more obvious. Vengeance is the goal and we know immediately that something is off, and Dantes should not be doing what he's doing. I think by condensing the novel into this short graphic novel, you really do lose a lot of the nuances.

That said, taken on its own merit this is a decent story that moves at a decent pace and touches on some important themes.

It's a horror story, so there's plenty of gore and on the whole it's very dark. I wanted a little more, to be honest, but this got right to the point of things.

The artwork suits the story rather well, and some nice clean lines show plenty of detail.

I enjoyed this, and while it didn't quite compare to the original novel, it was enjoyable in its own right.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

The Curse of Monte Cristo is a graphic novel retelling of the classic The Count of Monte Cristo, but with a twist. In this version, Edmond Dantes is a Black man, born to enslaved parents in Haiti. After escaping slavery, he succeeds and finds love, but he is betrayed and imprisoned. There, instead of meeting a wise old man, he meets a demon who helps him plan his revenge.

The story keeps the main plot of the original but adds horror, supernatural elements, and historical themes like slavery and the Haitian Revolution. The result is a darker, more violent version of the classic story. There's a plot twist or two swirling in the air.

The artwork is powerful; dark, emotional, and intense. There’s a lot of blood and gore, so it’s not for the faint of heart. But if you like revenge stories, horror, or unique retellings of classics, this is a great read. I genuinely enjoyed reading every single page!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

First off, I’ve never consumed anything about Monte Cristo, and for a long while have thought it was a real man. Or based on a true story. Considering how many adaptations there are, with no fantasy elements, I’m fairly surprised it’s a fictional character. Either way, I didn’t know anything going in, except that it’s a popular piece and has received many positive reviews. That’s it.

However, while reading, I didn’t necessarily feel like I needed to know any background to Monte’s story. It’s a new spin on it anyways, making the protagonist of African descent, a slave and “a man of color, as they nowadays say”. Plus, connecting it to the Haitian revolution, so you know how that part ends.
It was a good spin. Taking revenge on the white men – who hate other men just because of the skin color, thinking that ‘white’ skin is superior – that was very satisfying. An act of justice I support with all I am.

Only the pace was a little quick sometimes; rushing through flashbacks, going back and forth between past events, making it seem as if David was expecting for fans to pick up this graphic novel, not so much for newcomers to read this first.
It’s minor, though, and I did end up understanding the puzzle of memories.

The supernatural aspect, with the demon luring him and giving him powers to do so was … 50/50. On one hand, cool idea and I’ve loved Faria’s design as well as the demonic aspects. However, not so much the ending. No spoilers, but it kinda ruined it for me. Made it seem like the whole demon thing wasn’t necessary — unless the epilogue was rushed. Or Monte did imagine Faria, purely his lust for vengeance led him. Could be plausible.

I expected a bit more horror; it leans much more to the paranormal side, with relatively normal amount of gore you’ll find in almost every war- or revolution-related story.

The art-style and character design is rough-edged but well done, similar to American superhero comics. Which fits quite well, cause I’d count Monte and Faria as a superhero duo. Although they could’ve done a bit more, but at least they’ve did the world some favor by getting rid of these few white men.

I may check out the other versions or the original book of Monte Cristo, cause I am curious, but I’m sure I won’t like them much. It’ll definitely be difficult to top this. Would the story even work if Monte was white? Sounds kinda boring, to be honest.

~

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC.

-Ayxan Solongo, 16.04.25

Publishing date: 15.04.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Andres McMeel Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

TLDR: The Count of Monte Cristo reimagined with race. 3 stars

Personally, I never read the original work so I will be viewing this without the context of the original work.

I have a few gripes with the plot itself. Not the themes, or the events, but just the fact that it felt underdeveloped and slightly unsatisfying in the end. Overall an okay story, I was entertained, but the events have faded in my mind since I finished it just a few days ago.
I do enjoy revenge stories, and I got that here so not all complaints.

Characters themselves are nothing remarkable. They fill their roles and have motivations I can both get behind and respect. Although, they felt slightly artificial in a way I can't really explain.

Art was pretty cool and fitting for the story and events presented.

I think the intended audience for this work are the readers of the original work, but as someone who hasn't experienced it I think it might hit better with those who haven't read the original. As per my usual recommendation, read it if it seems interesting to you.

I give this 3 stars. Nothing super remarkable. Not bad either. Just fine and my time with it was entertaining.

When I saw this was a RETELLING of one of my favorite books ever, The Count of Monte Cristo, with a twist, I had to read it. What I got was a—cluster—of anti-white, devilish propaganda that left me with a toothache. I read the end. I saw that they were trying to pay homage to Alexander Dumas’ mother who was of African descent and once enslaved. But instead of a homage to the mother I felt more like I was being personally attacked because I’m white. And I HATE books that make me feel this way.

The story of The Count of Monte Cristo was already so impactful. WHY take a wonderful story and turn it into a PC, white/shaming graphic novel that BARELY developed?

If you look at the reviews, the ones who never read the original masterpiece gave high reviews. Those of us who have read that classic, yes not so much. This should have been “inspired” by The Count of Monte Cristo because it sure isn’t a retelling. 🤢

Three stars for the artistry, though, because it was fantastic.

{I was gifted a complimentary copy of this book. All reviews are my own.}

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

This was a very fun read of the reimaging of the count of monte cristo., I loved how it was done with lovely illustrations that brought deep and made me more engaged

Absolutely fantastic! The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favorite stories and this graphic novel with a horrific twist does it serious justice! Loved the artwork and the horror! Enjoyed the ending quite a bit as well. One note on the author Alexander Dumas in regard to the authors story at the end of the book. His father was the Black parent. His father was a mixed race black man born to a French Count and a Free Black mother on Saint Domingue. He was brought home to France where he served in the French Revolution under Napoleon and was the 1st Black 5 star general of France. The author Dumas’ mother was white woman, a daughter to a wealthy merchant family. For reference please see the book “The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo” by Tom Reiss. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This was an incredible graphic novel. This is the second time in five months that I've read a reimagining of the Count of Monte Cristo and this was just as good as the last one. I loved the horror aspect of this story. The addition of the demon in the story really added to the intrigue. Having him be a Black Haitian slave also gave the story a lot of depth. I enjoyed how Edmond was able to figure out the truth behind everything despite what the demon tried to do to him. There was a happy ending for the characters in it that I was glad for.

Those looking for a creepy spin on an old classic will likely find this horror genre adaption of "The Count of Monte Cristo" a compelling read! I must have read the original novel at least a dozen times growing up (it was one of my favorite classics), so when I saw this graphic novel adaption pop up on NetGalley, I couldn't resist checking it out, even though horror isn't a genre I usually read.

Be warned--it is not for the faint of heart, and some of the scenes are quite gruesome in nature. However, the heart of the story is faithfully told with some interesting new twists added to it (like Edmond being Haitian!), and I found it enjoyable (even if I may have skimmed past a couple bits more quickly than others). I definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy this genre, whether or not they've read the original (but go read the original if you haven't, afterward! It's so good!)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for me to review!

I saw the words "Monte Cristo" and could not hit that Read button fast enough okay

Talk about a fun re-imagining of such a great classic!! It is of course a very condensed version of the original, with a side of actual demon, but the added details of Edmond being Haitian and how this affects his story is just too delicious to not love.

It was an okay re-telling of the classic Count of Monte Cristo.
Though this was shorter and packed a punch, it was missing something.

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!