The Dresden Files: Storm Front (Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Mark Powers (Adapter), Jim Butcher (Author), Ardian Syaf (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover) | Publication Date: June 2, 2009

A graphic novel based on the bestselling Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher!

If circumstances surrounding a crime defy the ordinary and evidence points to a suspect who is anything but human, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department call in the one guy who can handle bizarre and often brutal phenomena. Harry Dresden is a wizard who knows firsthand that the everyday world is actually full of strange and magical things—most of which don't play well with humans.

Now the cops have turned to Dresden to investigate a horrifying double murder that was committed with black magic. Never one to turn down a paycheck, Dresden also takes on another case—to find a missing husband who has quite likely been dabbling in sorcery. As Dresden tries to solve the seemingly unrelated cases, he is confronted with all the Windy City can blow at him, from the mob to mages and all creatures in between.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning an unusually successful adaptation, this volume covers the first part of the book that introduced Harry Dresden, a modern wizard who's set up shop in downtown Chicago. Unlike Hellblazer'sJohn Constantine, Dresden is unambiguously heroic, cooperating with the police to solve gruesome magical murderers while also working solo as a supernatural PI. The two cases he undertakes here don't seem related, but they both send Dresden out into the mean streets and eldritch corners of the modern world. More to the point, they let Butcher (and adapter Powers) set up a rich, quirky universe for Dresden to explore, as when he interviews a spiteful vampire madam or fights a trench coat–clad demonic assassin. Powers and artist Sayaf do a very nice job of working a lot of text—conversations and Harry's reflections—into lively-looking pages. The action is well handled, too, especially when the climactic battle with the demon moves from inside Harry's apartment to outdoors during a thunderstorm. The Dresden novels are already New York Times bestsellers, and this comic looks like another winner. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jim Butcher is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, including the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera books. Since the publication of his first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front, on 2000, Butcher has become a favorite author of millions of dedicated readers around the world. A lifelong fan of comic books, Butcher lives in Missouri with his wife and son.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey/Dabel Brothers (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345506391
• ISBN-13: 978-0345506399
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old--
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he'd added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.

So he was pretty much doomed from the start.

Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.

So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.

He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she'd been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.

She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.

Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.

He also writes books occasionally.

Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.
He's plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in
Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer
Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league),
his son, and a ferocious guard dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stormy city, June 1, 2009

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dresden Files: Storm Front (Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

It's been nearly a decade since Jim Butcher first introduced his Dresden Files series with the solid urban fantasy "Storm Front."

So it's about time that Butcher's series got what it deserved -- the graphic novel treatment. The first part of the "Storm Front" adaptation is a lean'n'mean mingling of sharp noirish dialogue and Ardian Syaf's gritty, colourful artwork -- and it leaps right into the story with no shilly-shallying, with plenty of gory magical murders and a distinctly unGandalfian wizard.

Harry Dresden is called into a bizarre crime: a couple are found dead in a hotel room, with their hearts exploded out of their chests. Unfortunately the guy is the bodyguard of mobster Gentleman Johnny Marcone, and the girl works for vampiric madam Bianca -- not a nice combination, and it means that there is something particularly nasty in the works. Oh yes, and he's hired to find a missing husband.

Harry's winding investigation brings him into contact with Marcone (who asks him to stay out of the case), the grotesque vampire Bianca (who tries to rip off his face), fairies, junkies, and a ghastly toad-demon. Even worse, the White Council suspects that Harry -- the only wizard in Chicago -- is responsible for the murders. And whoever murdered the lovers is now gunning for Harry -- with deadly intent, obviously.

"The Dresden Files: Storm Front Part 1" has a lot expected of it -- it has to introduce the dark, grimy world of the Dresden Files, while still being a magical, action-packed fantasy-noir.

And while while "Storm Front" was Jim Butcher's first and most unpolished "Dresden Files" story, it translates smoothly into comic books -- plenty of blood'n'gore, witty remarks ("You look like you just walked off the set of 'El Dorado'") and a supernatural underground in modern Chicago. Think giant bat-women, feisty fairies and the occasional slimy demon.

The first part is rather choppy, since it has to lay out the subplots and introduce the important players. But Butcher and Mark Powers quickly smooth out the overall plot; they do a good job stripping away all excess parts of the plot, leaving only a lean magic-noir story behind. And of course, they maintain the windy noir feel and snappy dialogue ("Did the Windy City's finest detective miss yet another clue, or were you saving the panties to take home to your wife?").

And Ardian Syaf's artwork is the icing -- an overcast Chicago, dark Lake Michigan, rich colours tinged with grime, and a rangy stubbly Harry with a suitably rumpled air (although Susan's witchy face and purple hair are distracting). Syaf also has a knack for weaving in some pretty grotesque gore (exploded rib cages!) and big swirly explosive magical fights.

Harry himself is a pretty long distance from your average robed, white-bearded fantasy wizard -- he's a scrappy, rangy guy who doesn't always shave, struggles with his rent, and works as a sort of magical private eye. Not very glamorous, but he's a convincing hero even when he's fighting stark naked (with a potion-addled woman crawling all over him).

Murphy serves well as Harry's police counterpart -- a tough, petite blonde who is open-minded enough to hire a guy who hires himself out as a "wizard." And there are some interesting supporting characters like the shades-of-grey gangster Marcone, the sultry reporter Susan, and the tart-tongued skull Bob. Even the cat has a personality.

And there's a short story of Butcher's rendered into comic form, "Restoration of Faith." It's a decent little look at Harry rescuing a little girl from a nasty ogre thing, but Kevin Mellon's artwork isn't nearly as good as Syaf's. Harry's supposed to look scruffy, lanky and dangerous, not like an oily car salesman with a perpetual squint.

The first part of "The Dresden Files: Storm Front Part 1" is a bit choppy, but the successive chapters are a solid reintroduction with excellent art. And the ride ain't over yet.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A graphic storm is brewing, June 25, 2009

By 

Renee C. Mulhare "matrixrefugee77" (MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dresden Files: Storm Front (Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I can't get over how faithful the Dabel Brothers and their team are to the original prose novel this graphic novel is based off. Jim Butcher may not have been the one to adapt the script, but it's a faithful, concise adaptation, covering the major plot points and neatly telescoping the details. And the visuals are almost the same as what I had in my mind as I read Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) for the very first time. Even the preternatural beasties (the diminutive faery Toot-toot, Bianca in her vampire form, and the toad-demon who attacks Harry and his reporter girlfriend Susan) look like how I imagined them to appear. Ardian Syaf brings an appropriately noirish feeling to the illustrations and the penciling adds just the right amount of gothic shadows to the images; he's has definitely tapped into the same vein of imagination Jim Butcher has been mining from! Based on this volume and it's predecessor The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files (del Rey)) I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and whatever else that Jim and the Dabels have in the works.

Also included in this volume is the short prequel comic "Restoration of Faith, based on a short story available on Jim Butcher's website and featuring a very young Harry Dresden on one of his first cases, which the Dabel Brothers and their team rendered in visual form for this year's Free Comic Book Day.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Magic the Windy City, June 27, 2009

By 

Zekeriyah (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Dresden Files: Storm Front (Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

Following the relatively recent release of 'Welcome to the Jungle,' this graphic novel is the first adaptation of one of Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' novel. In fact, it is the first novel in the series.

As far as adaptations go, this one is pretty good. It does an excellent job capturing the dark, gritty feeling and imagery of the series (and of Chicago in general, in fact). For those not in the know, the story follows the adventures of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing wizard, as he helps the Chicago police solve a bloody murder in which two people's hearts exploded out of their chests! Along the way, he runs afoul of a Chicago mob boss, a brothel-owning vampiress, an acid-spewing demon, and ultimately a drug-selling practitioner of the dark arts.

This is urban fantasy at it's best, detective pulp meets occult fiction. This volume only gets you half way through the story, so you'll have to wait for volume two to come out (or, better yet, read the novels). But still, the graphic novel follows Butcher's writings as faithfully as it can. Everything in it is excellent! Artist Ardian Syaf captures all of the characters and elements, from Harry Dresden in his signature blazer to the sword-wielding Morgan to Gentleman Johnnie Marcone to seductive journalist Susan Rodriguez, they are all captured just as I would have imagined them to look. Every the scenery is appropriately dark and ominous, like Chicago in storm season.

I am a huge fan of the Dresden Files, and I really have enjoyed the comic adaptations of them so far. If you are a fan of the whole occult/horror/fantasy genere and are looking for a good read, the Dresden Files are absolutely essential. Either this volume or the graphic novel-exclusive 'Welcome to the Jungle' would be a good place to start. Those of you who are already fans of the novels will find this to be a good and faithful adaptation and probably don't need much more incentive than that to check this out.

Also, as a sort of added bonus, not only do we get a gallery of sketches and covers in the back, but there is also another adaptation of the short story 'Restoration of Faith,' featuring a young Harry Dresden and his first meeting with Murphy. Good stuff. Like I said, this is a great place to start the Dresden Files, and good reading to boot. What more could you ask for?