Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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?

On Harry Dresden's Earth, beings such as fairies, trolls, and vampires roam the planet. Wizards also exist, as Harry knows firsthand, being such a creature. Harry has listed himself in the yellow pages as the only in the open practicing wizard in the country. Harry has even helped the Chicago police on a case or two though most officers reject the arcane.

Harry is in bad standing with the White Council that governs wizards because he survived an incident in which he killed someone in self-defense using magic. He is under the Doom of Damocles in which if he breaks any rules, he will be executed. This makes his present situation a bit touchy. He is working a case involving the use of deadly magic that requires Harry to reconstruct the original spell in order to identify the murderer. If his watchdog who loathes him catches him performing an inkling of dark magic, he will be obliterated. Feeling he has no choice, Harry soon finds himself on the abyss by the dark magic he encounters.

This is a fine graphic comic book of the first Dresden urban fantasy originally released in 2000. Mark Powers' story line feels fresh yet adheres nicely to the original thriller, but also seems so much darker; partly because of the Ardian Syaf arcane vision of Dresden's Chicago. Fans of the saga especially of the TV series will relish Dresden goes comic book as this series converts superbly.

Harriet Klausner

i bought this for my son, at first tought it was the wrong one but turned out to be the right one, he loved it

I really enjoyed this comic version alot more than I thought I would. Hoping the 2nd half is just as good even though so far it looks like they changed artist for the 2nd volume. I really liked this first half and comic Harry.

Disregard the cover, inside Harry Dresden looks the way so many of us thought he should. The grafic novel follows the original faithfully and the art work brings it all to life just as I had imagined. Not only does Harry appear as I pictured him, but so does Susan, Morgan and Bob. Pick this one asap, hopefully the second chapter will follow soon!

Harry Dresden: The only openly practicing wizard in Chicago
If you've read the book of the same name, Storm Front, you pretty much know what this is about. To copy my review of the book:
"Harry Dresden is the only practicing wizard in the Yellow Pages and often works with the police on their "paranormal" crimes. One day, Lieutenant Murphy calls him up and presents him with a crime scene: two dead bodies, killed in a most brutal and obviously unnatural method, which some are trying to blame on Harry. Meanwhile, Harry is also hired to find the missing husband of Monica Sells."
As with the novel, I really enjoyed the character of Harry (a good thing, as he is our protagonist!). He's your average wizard--obviously skilled, but not so omnipotent that the action scenes are boring. Harry has weaknesses (he's terrible with women, for one), he's grumpy, he overworks, he passes out when he's tired...all around, he's a pleasant guy to learn about.
Dresden's world is pretty interesting too. I loved learning how the magic works (in some ways, I feel this area was nicely "cleaned up" from the novel version, which had a tendency to be a bit unclear and almost too detailed, I felt), seeing the faeries, seeing Morgan, seeing the demons, seeing Bianca...and so on.
The story is very interesting. I like how Harry is working on two cases at the same time. Also, the story was well translated into graphic novel form, something that can have varying results, I've seen. I wasn't confused about what Harry was doing or why (though I have to wonder how much of that is because I've read the novel and knew what he was doing and why).
Specifically about the graphic novel, the art was very good. Harry Dresden wasn't quite what I expected, but I grew to like him regardless. Morgan was also very good. As I mentioned above, the vampires, demons, Bob, Toot-Too...all cool to see. My big complaint here is towards the women. Every single woman, from Karrin Murphy to Susan Rodriquez to Bianca to Monica to Linda had sharp chins not that dissimilar from Harry's. I was particularly perturbed about Karrin Murphy because I got the impression she had almost a cutsey doll face (Drew Barrymore maybe??), not a sharp, pointy-chinned face. Susan Rodriguez did not look Mexican or Hispanic in the slightest, merely like a tanned Karrin. By the time I reached Bianca, a red-haired Karrin, I ceased to be surprised at all the pointy-chinned ladies (btw, I always imagine Bianca more like Angelina Jolie). I won't even talk about the other ladies, I think you get the picture.
One last graphic novel comment: "Harry text" (Harry's interior dialogue, or the first person narrative in the novel) is well translated here. Perfect balance of exposition and letting the art speak for itself.
I was impressed with the graphic novel, overall. Sure some of the art is wonky (namely the women), but the story is the best. This novel was truly meant for this medium. The action sequences are well-rendered, the characters are like their book counterparts, and the story is intriguing--so much that even though I've already read the novel, I'll be checking out Volume 2. If you like Dresden, you definitely need to check these out.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

Stormfront is the second Dresden Files collaboration between Del Rey Books and Dabel Brothers Publishing. While the first book, "Welcome to the Jungle" was written exclusively for the comic by Jim Butcher, Storm Front adapts the first book in the Dresden Files urban fantasy series. The book introduces us to urban wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden. While just starting to look into a missing person's case, Dresden is called in by the Chicago Police Dept. to look into the murder of lovers who died seemingly by having their hearts explode from out of their chests. The male victim was a bodyguard for a mob boss who tries to persuade Harry from investigating the case. The female was an escort at the Velvet Room run by the vampire Madam Bianca, thus placing Harry between two very powerful figures.

On top of that Morgan, a Warden of the White Council who oversee wizards blames Harry for the murders and using magic to kill is a crime punishable by death. Finding himself caught up in this triangle would be bad enough but things get even worse when a toad-like demon shows up on Harry's doorstep intending to kill him.

The hardcover graphic novel presents a faithful adaptation of Butcher's novel which can be attributed to Butcher having a very strong involvement in the project, even down to the choice of artist Adrian Syaf. Syaf has a style a bit similar to John Romita Jr. although less gritty and more fluid. He captures Harry and his supporting characters quite well. Dresden is a perfect character for being adapted into a graphic format as the stories are driven by a good deal of action. Yet even with all the action, the wit and smart-ass appeal of Harry is never lost.

Watches, warlocks, vampires, and Harry, the Wizard and his talking skull. Quite a combo for a hair-raising experience. The Dresden files are fantastic! Serious, funny, witty, sad, you sometimes find yourself laughing out loud without meaning to. I like that Dresden is not a materialistic person, in fact, that may be the main fact I a drawn to him. A lot like Joe Pike in the Robert Crais novels. Material items means nothing to them, as life should be. It's truly not the one with the most toys that dies the happiest, it's the one that gives of himself the most that dies the happiest. Yes, I know you're thinking, "who do you think you are to say such a thing," but's it's true. Dresden just reaffirms my favorite characters like Joe Pike, Jack Reacher, and, of course, Harry Dresden. Enter the Dresden world and you will not regret it.