DRACULA (Dover Graphic Novel Classics)

I reviewed the original Dracula back in January, and not favorably. It just wasn't up to scratch, and the audio book version was read appallingly badly, which never helps, of course. However, this is such a storied story that when I got a chance to review a graphic novel version, I flew at it like a bat out of Castle Dracula, and I'm happy to report that I wasn't disappointed this time.

John Green (not that sad-ass John Green fortunately, but a talented and artistic one, wrote this, otherwise I would never have asked to review it!) took the venerable tale and ran with it and did a bloody good job! The illustrations are so finely drawn that the artist may have used incisor teeth as pens....

The story features crisp line drawings that do a really polished job of illustrating the text, which itself is sparse and cuts to the chase - sometimes literally! How the heck he managed to parse that tome down into this essence, or even quintessence, is as mysterious as it is impressive, but it’s all there, and I much prefer this decimated version to the unexpurgated.

The author also has a charming turn of phrase here and there, too. One which particularly stood out for me was where he wrote, "..dark side of twilight…". I thought that was beautifully said. The original Dracula had some notable phrases of this nature, too, but the only one I recall from it was where Van Helsing and his team were about to enter the tomb and slay Lucy Westenra, and one of them courteously offered another the opportunity to go first. The writing said, "There was a delicious irony in the offer, in the courtliness of giving preference on such a ghastly occasion," (Dracula p313) and it was so memorable that I can quote it verbatim to this day.

The only complaint I had about this is one I've had about several graphic novels: the use of the white space on the page. In an ebook, it doesn't matter, but in a print book, we're talking about dead trees here, and how many of them we're going to kill to make a print run, since this isn't going to be printed on recycled paper as far as I can tell. There is a large amount of white space around the margins, which means this graphic novel could have had smaller dimensions and maybe saved a few trees? Maybe there are good reasons for this, but my hope is that writers and graphic novelists will appreciate how important trees are and make best use of the space upon which they purvey their art. OK, pet peeve off!

This graphic novel is really well done, well illustrated, beautifully written, and well worth the reading. Now I have to wonder if John Green (not the sad-sack John Green who trashes indie authors, but the artistic one) is going to grace us with other classics or if this is just a one-off?

This graphic novel is just the thing to get young readers to read the classics. I read Dracula many years ago and loved it. This edition was a perfect way to introduce it to my teenagers. They enjoyed the drawings as they read the story. I definitely would recommend this book.

I am really enjoying these graphic novel adaptions of the classics. They are great for a refresher or high school student who's having trouble reading the original text.

'Dracula (Dover Graphic Novel Classics)' is a faithful adaptation of the novel told in graphic novel format. As a bonus, all the art is presented black and white so that it can be colored.

It's all here. The creepy castle and creepier Count Dracula. The Harkners, Van Helsing and Renfield. The dark and tragic death. The race to the castle to stop the Count and save one of his victims. There are things left out, of course, because it's only 48 pages long, but for about $4, you get a good adaptation and some great art you can color.

Of the three of these I've recently read, this one, due to the nature of the story, is a bit on the darker side. Most people will know of these stories, but just know these are not children's adaptations of the stories, so shop accordingly. But of the three I've read, this one had some great pictures to color. Dracula's three concubines. A graveyard in a church. A train. The adaptation and art by John Green has been great in all these, but I especially liked this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I enjoyed this graphic adaptation of Dracula very much. Having read the original novel several years ago, this version didn't omit anything important from the story. It hit all the main story beats and expressed them clearly and easily. This format should help convince young readers to give it a try and to stick with it without being hung up on antiquated language. My only problem is with the art. It is very good and solid art but would benefit from some coloring and or use of shadows. A story such as this with its gothic horror would benefit from some shadowing and shading in the art. Otherwise I found this Graphic Novel to be most enjoyable to read.

Enjoyed very much! Kept the Story line going. If you are a lover of Comics and Graphic Novels you will surely enjoy this quick read. The art is good and well detailed.

The story is abridged to fit the length, the format, and the intended audience of children 8 and up, but it retains the meat of the story. I love the clean artwork that makes the images easy to understand but also enables them to be colored in by the reader. What a great way to further immerse yourself in the story, express your creativity, or practice for a career in comics!