Customer Reviews

Illustrated Zelazny

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Roger Zelazny was one of the earliest of the so-called new wave science fiction writers. He helped tell science fiction differently from the early masters of science fiction, including bringing aspects of fantasy into his science fiction. Perhaps his most famous books were the ten books dealing with Amber.

In 1978, well before comics became more tuned to an adult audience, Roger Zelazny worked with artist Gray Morrow and editor Byron Preiss to create a graphic collection of short stories. Four short stories are represented in this collection, one of which was written especially for the collection. In addition is a very brief story, "Rock Collector," two groups of art, and commentary by Zelazny.

The new short story is titled "Shadowjack." This story is the best reason for owning this collection as it is the only new story in it. While I enjoyed reading and having the art from "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," the value of the rest of the collection was just okay. The art quality is fair, but not breakthrough and not of the quality of today's graphic novels.

The two groups of art are titled "The Amber Worlds" and "A Zelazny Tapestry," which has images of "Doorways in the Sand" and "Damnation Alley." I was less than impressed with the quality and style of the art. I felt my mental imagery of Amber and the novels depicted by "A Zelazny Tapestry" was sharper and more mature than the art of Gray Morrow. I'm sure that Gray Morrow is an excellent artist, but he was aiming for a young audience and not the sophisticated audience of 25+ years after he created this collection.

I did enjoy the art and story of the two page graphic story "Rock Collector;" an interesting story with a fun ending that could have done with a bit more development.

Another good aspect of this collection is the introductions provided by Zelazny. Authors rarely take the opportunity to write about their writing, and the few things that we from Zelazny are valuable as Zelazny passed away in 1995. I think he was frank with us, his readers, as he explained that this collection was an experiment to see how well illustration could complement his prose. Apparently the experiment must not have gone well because I believe this was Zelazny's only attempt at a graphic book. I do not count "Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber" since that book illustrated locations and did not attempt to tell a story.

I am glad I have this book because I am a huge Zelazny fan, and I particularly enjoyed Zelazny's comments, and a couple of the stories I thought were enhanced by the illustrations. However, I can recommend this book only to avid Zelazny fans that are looking to augment their collection. Certainly long-time fans, along with the previously mentioned "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth", will already know "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" and "The Furies." Thus, only the graphics, the new short story and the Zelazny commentary will be of much interest to long-term fans. If you are new to Zelazny, and enjoy science fiction and fantasy with a bit of a skewed approach, then you should get this collection. Just keep your expectations for the graphics low.

It's a nice book for the Zelazny enthusiast. It contains several short stories and lots of pictures. The best things about this book are (1) the Shadow Jack story which isn't part of the "Jack of Shadows" novel, and (2) the Amber artwork.

Be careful, however, because there are two versions of the book: paperback sized and magazine sized. The magazine sized book is clearly the better of the two because it is pretty much all in color and easier to read. The paperback version isn't as nice because they cut out parts of the stories to make them fit in the smaller format, plus much of the book is black and white.

I've heard of The Illustrated Roger Zelazny tome back in the early days of Heavy Metal Magazine. I saw the original advertisement, but never purchase a copy of this book. Years,later I find myself a fan of Gray Morrow and interested in Zelazny's novels. Most people don't seem to understand,that this was an experiment in graphic storytelling.

Just consider this volume, the forerunner of today's graphic
novel or anthology. Gray Morrow shows his skill in a unique
way, that makes his layouts seem like retro or classic
illustrations done for commercial storyboards. All of his
spot illustrations are excellent, and there are plenty of
them. Of course, Mr.Morrow has done work for comics as
well, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, just to name a few.

Shadow Jack is my favorite section of the book, but
A Rose for Ecclesiastes is coming in second, at the moment.

Other tales are great,too... The Doors of his Face, The
Lamps of his mouth,etc. This is stuff for Sword and Sorcery
lovers. If you are open to that idea, then I think you
will enjoy it. I know I did...VERY MUCH!!

A mixed bag. There are a few comic book adaptation of his stories (Halfjack) while others are re-printed with color illustrations. These are quite garish and don't hold up that well on the glossy paper.

Maybe for the completist but offers nothing new to those already familiar with Zelazny's work.