Customer Reviews

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (The Twilight Saga)

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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!

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!

Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a very impressive graphic novel. It is extremely well done, but seems thin, not only in size, but in content. The interesting part for me was that scenes that I didn't really think much about while reading the books are extremely well drawn here, such as when Bella arrives and her father picks her up and they drive home. There's one illustration in the scene that's so well done, you can practically see the car driving and the rain pouring down. It's amazing! However, the disappointing aspect for me was that other scenes that I loved so much, such as the blood typing scene, were barely touched upon.

The graphic novel is basically the dialogue from the novel, with a few quotes from the book thrown in. Some of the magic of knowing what Bella's feeling or thinking is sadly lacking. And Bella herself, the average, clumsy girl, has been transformed into a teen beauty, tall and slim with flowing locks of hair that always seem perfect. The images, however, are brilliant and extremely well done. I did feel, however, that the other characters were better brought to images in the graphic novel than were cast in the movie.

I am an ESL teacher and the graphic novel is a perfect format for lower level readers to be able to pick up a popular book and read and enjoy it just like their peers. Finding that Twilight has been transformed into a graphic novel was big news in my classroom. We have such a huge demand that I need to purchase two more.

Overall, it's an amazing book and worth the purchase even if you've already read the novel. It's a completely new take on the presentation of the story.

The graphic novel version of Twilight is beautifully drawn and the expressions for Bella and Edward are done very well. The first volume ends after the Lion and Lamb scene with Edward running with Bella in the forest. As a graphic novel, the 224 pages of conversation fly by when reading, but the enjoyable part is to slow down and enjoy the experience with the drawings.

I enjoyed the graphic novel version which is another way to experience Twilight; however, personally I like Stephenie Meyer's long winded descriptions that suck you in and transport you to the world of Twilight. The graphic novel and pictures did not create this emotional and all lost feeling that the actuall novel does.

The second volume's date has not been release yet, and there has not been any information that I can find that they are definitely doing the whole series.

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I am a fan of the book series, but I dispise the horible acting from the movies -- the main cast is as flat as death. Which is why I bought this book. I wanted a visual reference that I could belive in, something real yet not real (which is what I like about the story itself).

There are some minor changes to the story (Bella doesn't seem to have overwhelming self-esteem issues), but these changes aren't a big deal for me, though they might be for fanatics. The artwork is amazing, although I was hoping for a few more colored pages ... but I have been a manga fan most of my life, so I'm used to black and white.

The only true disapointment I felt was when the book ended half way through. I'm eager to get my hands on the next volume, and I hope that the other books in the saga will also be converted into graphic novel form.
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I have to say that this was not worth 20 dollars, but I got it for under ten with the Amazon pre-order price, since that's about the same as a manga (and this one is in slight color and hardback) I Figured it was a great price. I'm really glad I bought it. Looking at the artwork and the facial expressions brought back how I first felt about Twilight when it came out five years ago. I really loved how Young Kim brought the Cullens and especially Bella to life. I have to say I actually liked this graphic novel better than the movie I thought that Bella looked beautiful, and the drawn Edward had so many expressions.

I almost wish they would have made this into an anime, it would be gorgeous especially once we get into Italy and the Werewolves. Ah, one can wish, still the price is now at ten dollars so if you're hesitating I say go for it, it's a beautiful book. The only thing is that it's short (not in artwork but the amount of plot covered) the last page is Edward 'showing' Bella how he travels in the forest. I hope the next one comes out soon.

This graphic novel is gorgeously rendered and very high quality. The story itself is not on par with other graphic novels (say Watchmen, for example). But this version of the book made for a much better interpretation of Twilight than the first movie did. I thorougly enjoyed taking this book on, and intend to buy a number of them as gifts for people I know who adore the series. Volume 2 is equally wonderful!

OH. MY. GOD. When I first read the Twilight series, I adored it. I was blinded by the intense love and devotion that are what teenage fantasies are made of. So blinded that I didn't even notice the sub-par writing, lack of plot and, and the Mary Sue protagonist with absolutely no redeeming qualities. Bella is referred to as a heroine, but what type of heroine is she? WHO did she save? Herself. She didn't save the general public from anything (that she didn't bring on herself).

These are the reasons why I wasn't sure about reading the new Twilight Graphic Novels. I debated buying it for a while, but yesterday finally I conceded due to the newfound love I've found in graphic novels. After paying amazon for local express delivery (meaning I ordered it at 5 AM and got it at 3 PM) I sat down earlier today with not so high hopes. Although the story is the same, this novel is AMAZING! All the text is paraphrased from the original book, which is good because we don't have to deal with pages and pages of unnecessary descriptions of how Hot and Sexy Edward is (without ever having an actual, clear description of him). What made me fall in love with this book is the BEAUTIFUL artwork! Young Kim is an amazing artist, I'm now scouring for more of his beautiful work. Although some of his characterizations of the characters are based off the movie's actors there's still something so beautifully unique about them. I got the hardcover (not sure if theres a paperback) and the whole bookbinding is just gorgeous. I definitely recommend this, even if your not a fan of Twilight itself.

Go out and buy this book, that way you can be ready for Volume 2 this october.

When this book first came out my first thought was, what's the point? It's not a new story. It's not adding anything to The Saga. Maybe I'm cynical but I saw it purely as a money making endeavor. It's hardcover first of all, so I guess that's how the $19.99 price tag can be justified. But aside from that - it's not even the entire first book. It's Vol 1 which means we will be getting a Vol 2 and who knows - maybe even a Vol 3? Twilight is, by a small margin, the shortest one in the Saga. If the entire series is to be published as graphic novels we maybe looking at, what, at least 8 books if not more?

I'm sure some of my cynicism comes from the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the Twilight Saga in general. Yes, I did read all the books but I still don't know why they are so popular. The story is ok, the writing is average and the characters are, for me at least, pretty unlikable. BUT millions of people adore Bella and Edward SO this new series of graphic novels, I'm sure, is a true delight for die hard fans. But $19.99? Really?

Ok - enough about that!

In Twilight The Graphic Novel Vol 1 we get the same story as in Twilight but with graphics (duh). Have to say though, I very much enjoyed the graphics. Young Kim did a fabulous job. Rich textures with lots of details. I found myself looking at the graphics more then I was paying attention to the story line and dialog.

For me, reading Twilight as a graphic novel, didn't do anything to improve my opinion of the story. If anything, it made me realize just how ridiculous Bella and Edward's relationship is. Sure they got to know each other as the series progressed and yes, their feelings for each other developed and grew. But in the beginning? Edward loves Bella because she smells good and Bella loves Edward because he's different and pretty. My interpretation only - I know tons of people out there (including you?) would disagree with me using loud voices and possibly rotten fruit.

Final verdict:
So, was it worth my time reading Twilight The Graphic Novel Vol 1? Considering it only took me about 20 minutes I would have to say yes. The graphics alone are worth it.

If you're a fan of Bella and Edward, this book is for you. It's a beautiful addition to the series. If you're not that big of a fan, like me, but you enjoy graphic novels, I would still recommend picking this one up. I can't stress enough how beautiful Young Kim's illustrations are.

Book Acquisition: bought my own copy

When I picked up my copy, I was blown away by the drawings. I appreciated how close the manga followed the story, but didn't repeat it 100%. The story was depicted very well in a manga format the move it along smoothly.

My biggest gripe from the whole volume was the use of photographs in a lot of the backgrounds. I am an art student and I learned how to take photographs and apply filters to them to make them very comic/cartoonish, but there is no replacement for photographs and actual drawings of backgrounds. While Young Kim did her best to blend the two together, it was hard to look past the placement of the characters into a photograph.

A few panels showed obvious signs of a drawing placed in a photo because they characters stuck out like paper dolls. The scene the was the most bothersome was Bella's dream about Edward and the Quileute Wolves, the wolf was obviously a photograph. Later when Bella is the forest thinking about that dream Kim tried drawing over a photo and it was obvious a photo with a drawn version of fur over the muzzle and the mouth of the wolf.

If Kim had drawn the background herself I would have found the manga even more enjoyable. However, because of the use of photographs, I found them very distracting with the character detached from the scene instead of part of it.

I'm more of a 2.5/5, I would have given a 3 at the least, however, after giving up how many times photos were used it's a 2 on Amazon, 2.5 personally.