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70 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous First Graphic Novel For Twilight!, March 16, 2010
This review is from: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (The Twilight Saga) (Hardcover)
It took one hour to read this magnificent graphic novel, but oh, what a fantastic 60 minutes it was!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!
Let me just say that the artist, Young Kim, is one talented lady, and she has breathed new life into a classic vampire series. She captures the quiet beauty of Bella Swan, making her look lovely, but in an unadorned way that we have always pictured, but have never seen. She combines her own artistry with live shots, and the results are stunning. You feel as if you are truly stepping into the wet and slippery world of Forks, Washington, immersing yourself in a world where humans, werewolves and vampires co-exist unwittingly. What made this graphic novel such a easy page-turner is not just the knock-out drawings, but the layout as well, which is key to the enjoyment of any graphic novel. Kim has been able to give a face to all our favorite characters, and where she resoundingly succeeds is in her depiction of Edward. No slight to the handsome Robert Pattinson, but this is the way I had imagined Edward Cullen to look like - gorgeous and other-worldly in his male beauty.
For those of us who know the story like the back of our hand, this first volume concludes with Bella and Edward leaving the forest, with the initial secrets of vampires revealed in their pretty swath of forest. We all know how it starts, where it's going, and how it ends, but my goodness, I cannot wait for the next installment. Let's hope Stephenie Meyer will give her blessing for the three other books, because as of right now, only Twilight is getting the graphic novel treatment. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Twilight, vampire lovers, and reluctant readers who need a more aesthetically pleasing introduction to the world of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. For grades 5th and up. Enjoy!
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honestly this was waaaaay better than the movie!, March 17, 2010
This review is from: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (The Twilight Saga) (Hardcover)
I never review and I would never review on anything Twilight. But I guess there is a first for everything! I received this book in the mail today and was immediately impressed. Opening it up, I honestly didn't really know what I was expecting. I saw the movie before I read the books. First thoughts was the movie was ok, but after I read the book, I hated the movie.
After finishing the graphic novel (took about an hour) I have to say, it makes me wish they would re-do and re-cast the first movie. This is way more than even I could have imagined. Stephanie Meyer was right when she wrote that this breathed new life into the Bella and Edward story. The drawings are exactly how I would have pictured the characters for the movie should look like. The vampires are truly beautiful and Bella has that understated beauty, so well drawn out in this novel. Their love story is not rushed (like in the movie...I never understood why Bella and Edward fell in love) and is well played out. What surprised me even more was the nice little splashes of color through-out the book. This is what sets this apart from being a boring black and white manga/comic, the splashes of colors (there is a nice colored twilight scene) and the emotions certain scenes carried.
Definitely a must read, this is the way the movie SHOULD have been like!
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20 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Elegance and awkwardness, March 17, 2010
This review is from: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (The Twilight Saga) (Hardcover)
For the record: I don't like "Twilight." At all. But I decided to give "Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1" a fair shot at impressing me, especially since it's rendered into manhwa/manga-style artwork and a pared-down narrative. The artwork is sumptuous, elegant and all-around lovely, but the story is dragged down by the rather stuffy internal monologue.
Everybody knows the drill -- a girl from Phoenix named Bella Swan "exiles" herself to the rainy overcast town of Forks, so she can live with her dad. When she isn't moping, she attends the local school and is struck by the beautiful, aloof Cullen family (and particularly with the standoffish Edward, who seems to be bipolar). He also has superhuman speed and strength, as Bella discovers when he saves her from a runaway van.
In case anybody needs to be told, Eddiekins is a vampire, albeit one who doesn't adhere to any of the traditional vampirey rules... except sucking blood. And despite the danger to her person, Bella develops a Phoenix-sized crush on him despite him constantly insisting that he's ohsoverydangerous.
It's a given that any rabid fans of "Twilight" will gobble down the graphic novel adaptation of the first book's first half. As for everyone else? Well, there are still spurts of rather pompous, un-teen-girlish narrative ("I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him") and Bella still whines way too much about mundane stuff ("You could have saved yourself all this regret for not just letting that stupid van squish me!").
Fortunately, Young Kim did a pretty decent job translating the novel into comic book form, and I ended up enjoying her streamlined, sped-up version of the story. It's heavy on atmosphere and light on fluff (such as "Bella being randomly clumsy" or "Bella being chased by every boy in school"), with especial emphasis on the dreamlike landscapes, Indian legends and secretive conversations.
And Kim's artwork is simply gorgeous. Her style is a semi-realistic manga/manhwa style, full of delicate strokes, light shadows and smooth lines. Lots of flowing hair, vivid eyes and even some lightly colored scenes when the story demands it (such as when Bella faints at the smell of blood). Additionally, she does succeed in making the Cullens look very lovely and ethereal, yet also very sinister.
There are, however, some scenes that just don't work. The infamous "sparkling in the sun" scene ends up looking ridiculous -- Edward looks like he's covered in fish scales, not diamond sparkleskin.
"Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 1" is a decent graphic novel in its own right, and Young Kim's elegant artwork distracts from some of the story's flaws. Worth reading if you're enamored with the book, or really like beautifully-drawn manhwa/manga.
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by Stephenie Meyer
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