Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (Paperback)

~ (Author), Glenn Fabry (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The complete comics adaptation of the acclaimed novel by New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman is now available in one volume!

NEVERWHERE follows the adventures of an ordinary Londoner who stops to help an enigmatic girl and is drawn into a battle to save the strange underworld kingdom of London Below from destruction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (February 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401210074
• ISBN-13: 978-1401210076
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #238,542 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Failed attempt to improve on the book, August 24, 2009

By	James I. Hales "Gaiman fan" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I tried to read the publication, but couldn't stomach it. It takes the story out of order, removes chapters, and adds dialogue and detail that contradicts the original Novel; it's worse than anything Hollywood could have done to it. Read the original novel. Also, the BBC miniseries isn't bad.

16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is THAT how they're supposed to look?, March 21, 2007

By	Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As any avid book-lover will tell you, concrete images of the characters invariably form in the reader's imagination as a story unfolds. Defined by the author only by adjectives and actions in stark black-and-white, their appearances will still become solid reality that, in some cases, cannot be jarred.

My wife is pretty unshakeable on the subject. Once she gets a picture in her head, she doesn't want any casting director or comic-book illustrator to muck about with her imagined view. So she approached the new comic-book adaptation of "Neverwhere" -- her fourth favorite Neil Gaiman novel, she told me, but the one she's read most often -- with extreme reluctance. She put it down a few pages in, disheartened by unavoidable differences in perspective.

I know how she feels, but I'm a little more fluid in my view. For me, Simon Jones and David Dixon made the perfect Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in BBC's 1981 adaptation of Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and yet I was still able to enjoy the very different look in the 2005 Hollywood version starring Martin Freeman and Mos Def in the roles. Similarly, Gary Bakewell and Laura Fraser, while they didn't match my preconceived view of "Neverwhere" characters Richard Mayhew and Door, were perfectly acceptable in the roles in that BBC miniseries. And I'm equally comfortable with artist Glenn Fabry's interpretation in the new comic-book collection.

Call me wishy-washy if you must, but I'm adaptable. Take the thuggish Croup and Vandemar, the truly evil pair that dogs Door's heels for much of the story. The BBC series and Fabry's artistic rendering couldn't be more dissimilar, and yet they're both right, in the greater context of the story. Both versions seem to suit Gaiman's vision, if not my own.

And for me, that's what matters. I don't care if they match my view of the characters, but I do care how well the story is told. And this story, adapted from Gaiman's original novel by Mike Carey and illustrated by Fabry, is told well.

Hell, it's great. Carey successfully boiled the novel down to its most necessary elements, retaining the flavor and flow of the story with far fewer pages to work with. A lot has been lost, sure, but he's retained the essence of Gaiman's narrative -- and the novel is still out there for anyone who wants to read the full work.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good version of a wonderful story, July 14, 2009

By	photondancer (Australia) - See all my reviews

I haven't seen the BBC series of Neverwhere so can't comment on how that vision of Gaiman's marvellous story differs from Fabry's but I do like Fabry's vision very much. The way his characters look has largely replaced whatever mental images I formed when first reading the novel. He does make an awful lot of minor changes to the novel though, in both dialog and narrative. Even little things like giving Angelus wings when Gaiman specifically said he didn't have wings grate because it is just unnecessary. I do love Fabry's version of Down street though, it's even better than the original.