2012 - End Of Week 25 - Graphic Novels

Greetings Friends,

To finish up my graphic novel reading I decided to finish strong. To do that I read four graphic novels by the godfather of the graphic novel - Will Eisner.

#17 (of 20) Moby Dick adapted by Will Eisner.

Ishmael, a young man, hopes to join a whaling ship. Along the way he meets a harpooner named Queequeg. Together they join the crew of the whaling ship Pequod. Although all seems normal they haven't met their captain yet. After days at sea Captain Ahab finally addresses the crew. Ahab announces that they will be looking for the great white whale - Moby Dick. The captain is all consumed with killing the beast that took his leg. And so goes the tale.

This classic tale by Herman Melville has been worked into a nice graphic novel by Will Eisner. He not only adapted the story but illustrated, lettered and colored it. Nicely done.


#18 (of 20) The Princess and the Frog adapted by Will Eisner.

When an evil wizard asks to be the castles wizard, the young prince tells him - "No". This makes the old wizard Gnarl quite upset. He turns the young prince into a frog. The only thing that will break the spell is a kiss from a maiden. So the frog heads off to live with other frogs. When that doesn't work out he heads over to live by a water well. There he meets his maiden.

This Brothers Grimm tale was once again adapted, lettered, drawn and colored by Will Eisner. Another winner.

#19 (of 20) The Last Knight - An Introduction to Don Quixote adapted by Will Eisner.

A long time ago in Spain Alanzo Quixano only read old books about Chivalry and Knighthood. He becomes so obsessed with it he decides to be a knight. To do so he takes his great grandfathers armor out of the attic, cleans it and becomes the Last Knight. After being Knighted by a local inn-keeper, he is re-named Don Quixote. With his horse, he is now ready to right wrongs. As his quest continues he is joined by his side-kick Sancho. And the adventure continues.

I can't imagine Miguel De Cervantes tale looking any better. Once again a complete tale handled by Will Eisner.      

#20 (of 20) Sundiata adapted by Will Eisner.

This is a tale from thirteenth century Africa. Sumanguru was the King of the land of Sasso. He was a great conqueror for his people. When Sumanguru hears about the friendly country of Mali, he decides to conquer it. This was an easy task since Mali's king had died. During his raid, all of Mali's kings sons were killed save one - the lame youngest son Sundiata. After years of hard work Sundiata could finally stand, then run, then hunt. Once he grew to manhood he was able to rally other warriors from defeated tribes. Now he was ready to challenge Sumanguru. 

This was by far the best of the lot. Also adapted, drawn, lettered and colored by Will Eisner.

That will do it for my graphic novel challenge.

Keep Reading Comics.

D.L.