Customer Reviews

Shutter Island

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this graphic novel because I wanted a fast read before seeing the picture. 3/4 into the book, I got totally confused. One of the problems is the drawing of the characters. Most of them are undistinguishable. You can't tell one U.S. Marshall from the other (there are two) because there are no distinguishing characteristics. They are built the same, they dress the same. I'm not an artist, but surely the artist should have made their facial characters less similar. It's all drawn in dark background, and I get that there's a storm, but even the hospital is dark. As for the writing, I got lost. I couldn't tell the dream sequences from the real-life sequences. The real author, Dennis Lehane, should have taken better control of this publication.

I recently only heard of Shutter Island after seeing a barrage of commercials on TV for the movie. After a quick search on Google i realized it's based on a novel(clever,huh?). I bought the novel (of the same name) and the comic together. If your not sure which to get i strongly recommend the novel over the comic and leave the comic for fanboys and collectors. The whole thing is pretty confusing in the comic.I can't see how anyone who hasn't read the book will have a clue as to what's going on. There's simply not enough dialog. It lacks lots of the suspense of the book. As a previous review mentioned, both main characters look nearly identical and it's hard to tell one from the other sometimes. The art is pretty good but devoid of nearly all color which i guess sets the mood right about the place but it's still a little bland.

All in all i'd say read the book which is much better.

3/5

The graphic novel truly represents the movie in all ways, its amazing that a whole novel or a movie can be squeezed into a one graphic novel. It takes a little bit of time to recognize the characters in the graphic novel as at first it might appear the two main characters Daniels and Chuck are pretty much same, but the dark tones, use of few colors to novel gives an extra edge to the suspenseful nature of the story. A good read and should accompany the movie really well.

Okay. So a week before the movie came out, I Picked up the original novel by Dennis Lehane. I started to read it one morning... and finished it in a couple hours. I could not put it down no matter how hard I tried. It was suspenseful as all hell, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! It also made me go nuts as to wanting to know what would happen. I went so far as to drawing out Rachel's code on a piece of paper and trying to solve it myself I swear! One of the best books i've ever read.

Now I tried getting a copy of the graphic novel before seeing the movie however I never got the chance. The movie was great though! About 96% accurate to the book! But anyway, I finally got a chance to pick up the graphic novel today and i knocked it out in about an hour and a half. It was a VERY quick read. When it first started off, it wasn't bad at all. VERY decent. Stuff was missing but nothing totally vital, after all it is an adaptation, what do you expect? But then around halfway/3 quarters into the book... it just felt completely rushed!

WHOLE ENTIRE CHUNKS to the story were missing! Extremely IMPORTANT stuff mind you. What was a whole half of the original novel was done here in about 25 pages. Just SO MUCH information was missing! It was a huge downer being that I was actually REALLY enjoying it up until halfway/3 quarters into it. It was kind of a bummer, I was originally gonna give it 4/5 but so much info was missed that I had to drag it down.

The artwork isn't bad. Not my favorite but it isn't bad. It is a little difficult to tell the Marshals from one another. But I paid attention to the fact that Teddy was skinny with slicked back hair and Chuck was a little bit chubby with curly hair.

All in all, adapting Shutter Island into a graphic novel was a great idea... but it could've definitely been executed better. I hope they re-release this in better form cause it wasn't bad... but it still needs work. Read the original novel BEFORE reading this or seeing the movie. I HIGHLY recommend the book and film, but only suggest this if you truly love this story.

3/5

I read the reviews that it was hard to tell the two main chracters apart, well its true. The art work is OK but there in NO color for most of it. Only color is in the flashback. Buts its true to the book.

Having read the novel by Lehane (which I LOVED), the graphic novelization by de Metter and seen the Scorsese film, I suggest you stick with the original. The graphic novel isn't bad, mind you, but just a bit confusing, especially if you're not already familiar with the story. Also, just like in the film, certain key elements of the book were left out of the graphic novel (the deciphering of the codes and attempted escape on the ferry in the former and the explosion of the car and the meeting in the cave in the latter) so the reader (and/or viewer) does not get a complete picture of Lehane's original vision. Mind you, I liked the movie and enjoyed the graphic novel, but neither should be regarded as a worthy substitute for Lehane's brilliant gothic noir tale.

It's 1954. Teddy Daniels and his partner are both FBI agents investigating a missing persons report on Shutter Island, a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The missing person is a mass murderer who has escaped the mental hospital on the island. Knitting together clues, Teddy becomes convinced that the doctors and patients are all setting him up for something, but he has no clue what, until the end. And what an ending!

The graphic novel is based on the book (not the film) written by Dennis Lehane. The muddy brown & yellows are thanks to French artist Christian De Metter. The art is important to the story, to convey the depravity and depression often associated with places like this.

I have not read the book nor seen the movie, so I can only assume the ending is the same. The panels are written out like a standard comic book, with no splash pages or excitement of a thrilling ending. The story plods along in some places - the parts with no dialogue and just pictures is especially interesting and leads you on a merry mind-bending chase.

If Dennis Lehane is making some kind of commentary on psychiatric methods, he's doing a good job. Is it "therapy" to lock someone up, possibly for life, filling a patient with drugs and arcane and at times evaluative silly advice that does nothing to forward sanity?

Interesting subplots: Who is this girl that disappeared from her cell? Why are there guards around a "sanitation facility?" And what's the meaning of a code found in the missing girl's room? All artfully done, all suspenseful in reading.

There are some murder scenes, some craziness and some blood but not graphically so.

Check out the publisher's websites, at the Tokyopop and Harper Collins websites for more info on the book and its critical reception.

Wanted to buy the graphic novel as a gift, the product description definitely mentioned that it was a graphic novel as did most reviews. Misled all around :(

This was not at all what I expected - wanted a novel, got a comic book. Sent it back promptly and got a refund.

If you liked the story and you like Graphic Novels then you'll love this. Its a great adaptation to a great story.