Customer Reviews

Renfield: A Tale of Madness

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

 

 

I was quite surprised by this book. I thought it would be just another Dracula story but the Count is hardly in it at all. But don't be mistaken, he is still a principle player. The story covers the patient Renfield as an inmate at the insane asylum. The writer gives a lot of information and reasons why Renfield catches flies and its not just to eat them. As the story unfolds, we see Renfield dealing with this prophecy that he has been saddled with and the decisions he must make. I picked this up because I read a review that someone wrote saying it was the most intelligent graphic novel they had ever read. I would have to agree...maybe not the most intelligent but certainly up there. The art was very good and I for one, was glad it wasn't gory. It told a lot more by being sublte. A very good book that would make a fascinating movie. hello, Hollywood? Are you listening?

I must begin by crediting this book for achieving its primary goal, which was of course to expand and further explain the character of Renfield. It does so interestingly, and at times, admirably. It also demonstrates the authors' knowledge of, and respect for, Stoker's masterpiece. Showman's artwork is effective and almost perfectly appropriate.

However, in shifting the focus of the story so greatly toward Renfield, it distorts the other characters---most notably Van Helsing---significantly. In places, it also veers more from the originally written events than I think was necessary, so I can give it only four stars. This disappoints me a bit, because the potential for a five-star book was there.

Read this, yes, but as a companion volume only, NOT as a substitute for Dracula, which I encourage you to read first.

Another great Gary Reed book. Whether it's his kid friendly stuff like SPIRIT OF THE SAMURAI or his graphic novel work for Puffin adapting such classics as FRANKENSTEIN, Gary always manages to find a new twist on something familiar. This book looks great also! I recommend it to anyone that's a fan of the mythos.

Info lifted from Amazon's description of the 1996 edition, which has a different cover (which got 4.5 stars):

190 pp.

Review
"A gothic jewel" -- Comic Buyers Guide

"One of the Best" -- Tomorrows News

"Perhaps the most intelligently written graphic novel Ive ever read." -- J.C. Vaughn, Combo Magazine

"puts a new twist to the Dracula mythos" -- Comics/Animation Newswire --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description
The saga of a mad prophet consumed by an evil darkness in this presentation of Renfield from writer Gary Reed (Deadworld, Daker Street) and artist Galen Showman (Hellboy, Justice League). As the tale of the bug eating inmate in Bram Stoker's Dracula unfolds, a man descends into passion against his own humanity.