Customer Reviews

Graphic Classics: Oscar Wilde (Graphic Classics (Graphic Novels))

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Great shades of classic literature! Of all the Graphic Classics editions I have read, my initial impression of Volume 16, Oscar Wilde, is the strongest by far.

I am not sure if it's the unexpected discovery of a favourite story that I have known, but not known. The "Canterville Ghost" is a splendid story of a ghost who just can't scare the English inhabitants of the house away. Reading the story carefully, you realize that Casper the friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, and a host of other ghost friendly films are based on this. Antonella Caputo and Nick Miller do a super adaptation that sparkles with hilarity. The Picture of Dorian Gray is just as chilling and intense as the original story is.

The most startling tale is "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime." With stark, energetic art by Stan Shaw, Rick Rainey gives us a compelling story of an accurate cheiromantist with murder as his prediction. The biblical story of Salome (retold by Wilde) springs to life with unexpected details and brutality. The last panel of Salome kissing the head of the prophet just as she is about to be executed by her father is shocking, but could be more so if was a stark image of two bodiless heads kissing.

With usual skill and deft literary abandon, Tom Pomplun presents tales calculated to keep readers in suspense....

Look for Graphic Classics at your local book store or online at www.graphicclassics.com

Tim Lasiuta

If you remember the 1945 film, The Picture of Dorian Gray, you will revel, as I did in the new Graphic Classics collection of Oscar Wilde stories. It perfectly captures the black and white classic, and more. The graphic version (drawing by Lisa K. Weber) uses swoops of perspective, menacing shadow and quick cutting to advance the action to its dizzying climax. The highly charged illustrations by Stan Shaw for Lord Arthur Savile's Crime carry this even further. To see what this media is really capable of buy Graphic Classics Oscar Wilde. And hats off to the two people who adapted the originals to this form: Alex Burrows and Rich Rainey. After you catch your breath you'll want to move on to The Canterville Ghost and Salome, also in this issue. Oscar, you are alive and well in the Twenty-First Century.
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I wrote my Undergrad thesis on Oscar Wilde, I am a huge fan of all things Wilde, books, poems, biographies, essays, children's, adults, movies, plays etc. You get the point, anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this Graphic novel collection, my favorite being their take on Dorian Gray, although simplified and some of his amazing Wit is lost, the translation into a graphic novel lends itself perfectly.

highly recommend for fans or not. I enjoyed this GN so much that I also purchased the Lovecraft. (I plan to get for my new teen library room, as soon as the library work for is finished with renovations.)

Besides the works of the subtitle, Lord Saville's Crime is another work illustrated plus one page from Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol. The works are like graphic novels in black-and-white by topnotch illustrators with impressive credits. Stephen Silver, for example, has done work for Warner Brothers, Disney, and Nickelodeon. Lisa Weber, for Cricket Magazine and Children's Television Workshop; and she's got a series of young readers books called The Sisters coming out soon. Stan Shaw has illustrated for magazines, websites, and TV networks. Some of the illustrators have had art work in previous editions of Graphic Classics.

The testament of the skill of the artists in this field of illustrated literature is that their work holds up over the 30 or so pages of the different Oscar Wilde works. They use all of the dramatic and visual techniques of this popular contemporary illustration--different size frames, shifts in perspective from detail to panorama, shifts in type styles, etc. They obviously worked hand-in-hand with the ones (presumably a writer or editor) who credited as adapting the Wilde story. So the four illustrated and adapted stories are instructive for other illustrators and artists and entertaining for all.

In the sixteenth volume of Graphic Classics, we are given some famous works of Oscar Wilde in a comic format.

Starting with The Picture of Dorian Gray, they take a classic novel and break it down to its basic parts. While some of it might be a bit confusing for those not familiar with the actual book, it was still done very well. The illustrations were amazing, especially the difference in Dorian the man and Dorian the portrait, as you can see on the book's cover.

Next up, we have the short story The Canterville Ghost, which was a personal favorite. The story was funny and nicely told in the format. It definitely made me wish to go and read the actual story, as well, which I think is a plus if these graphic novels can do that for other readers.

The third story was Lord Arthur Saville's Crime, which, again, was amusing in that classic Oscar Wilde way. The drawings for this story perfectly fit the narration, as it's a lot more dark.

Finally, this book ends with Salome, which was probably my least favorite out of the entire book. This is in no way because of the writing or art, but rather, the storyline in general didn't interest me as much as the rest. One of my favorite parts was the page where Salome dances. The artist took the various moves and poses and lumps them all together in a way that turned out amazing. I definitely think they were correct in using this for the end of the book, which made the set-up of all the stories nicely done.

Overall, OSCAR WILDE was an immense pleasure to read. The writers and artists took a hard task and did it well. I'm a fan of Oscar Wilde myself, though I haven't read much by him as of yet. I believe that this book will be welcome in the homes of new and old fans, as it gives you a first peek into some of Wilde's famous plays and stories, as well as showing them in a new, modern way.

By the time I was finished reading, I couldn't wait to read more by Wilde, as well as more Graphic Classics.

Reviewed by: Lauren Ashley

The latest offering, volume sixteen, from Graphic Classics pays homage to the legendary Oscar Wilde. Like others in the Graphic Classics series, Wilde is an author who I am familiar with mainly through various film adaptations, rather than the original works. I was not even aware that he had written "The Canterville Ghost", as story I first encountered as a child in the 1944 adaptation The Canterville Ghost. I have seen a couple of adaptations since then, all unaware of the true sarcastic nature of the tale, and who the original author was.

Like all books in the excellent Graphic Classics series, editor Tom Pomplun brings together works of classic genius with modern masters of sequential art. "Graphic Classics: Oscar Wilde" is unusual in the series in that only four stories are adapted, instead of the usual broad spread of a particular author's work. It is a nice mix of the famous, such as "The Picture of Dorian Grey", and the more obscure, like "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime". Being only four stories, more attention and weight can be given to each adaptation. There is a one-page excerpt from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", and a collection of "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young" as well.

The stories in this collection are:

"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" - A one-page excerpt the full version with Wilde's famous saying "All men kill the thing they love". This is illustrated by Lance Tooks, and is a sharp little piece to start the collection.

"The Picture of Dorian Grey" - Perhaps Wilde's most famous story, I had known the basic tale for years but never actually read it. This adaptation, by Alex Burrows, of the man whose portrait ages while he stays young is perfectly matched with Lisa K. Weber's particular skills. Weber is a familiar contributor to the Graphic Classics series, and here she mutes her usual cartoony style for something more gothic to match the story. It really is an appropriate combination, and I can't imagine any other artist doing the job. The grey tones of her work and almost Disneyesque style of faces adds emphasis to Grey's perfect beauty and corrupted painting.

"The Canterville Ghost" - Adapted by Antonella Caputo and drawn by Nick Miller, this version draws out the satire and parody inherent in Wilde's story. Only familiar with this one through film adaptations, I got a good laugh at the stabs towards commercialism and smugness of America, and its contrast with "traditional" Britain. The adaptation is heavy on comedy, while still acknowledging the tragic nature of the lonely ghost, and the message of love delivered by the pure Virginia.

"Lord Arthur Savile's Crime - This one I had never even heard of, adapted by Rich Rainey and drawn by Stan Shaw. This short story was originally published in the same volume as "The Canterville Ghost", so it is appropriate that they are together again in Graphic Classics. A handsome young man, Arthur Savile, has his fortune told by a palm reader, and is informed that sometime in the future he will commit murder. Believing in the forcast, Savile sets about attempting to get the murder done and over with so he can marry his beautiful fiance without worry. However, none of his planned murders seem to come off right, and he keeps moving down his list of possible victims. But luck, or fate, steps in to give him a hand. Stan Shaw treats this one with the dark humor it deserves, and his style is a great fit for an amoral tale.

"Salome" - Completely different in tone than the others, this is an adaptation of a Wilde play, and keeps the somewhat stilted diction of the biblical tragedy. "Salome" is an interesting story to include, as it already has a "graphic classics adaptation" in the 1894 publication with illustrations by celebrated artist Aubrey Beardsley. Editor Tom Pomplun personally oversees this adaptation, with artist Molley Kisley. I can see why Kisley was chosen, as her thin line work is somewhat in the same style as Beardsley, but ultimately this one didn't work for me. I liked her art in the Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume 14 adaptation, but here is comes off as somewhat amateurish. And while Kisley has no problem with the female characters, her men look a bit...goofy. So, not my favorite in the series.