Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another quality entry in the Dresden Files, October 19, 2008
First, I'd like to address some of these more negative reviews.
Yes, it is a comic book, not a novel. But the idea that Amazon "hoodwinked" anyone is ridiculous. The book has listings of its sales ranks and has for a while, and it is listed under "graphic novels". Additionally, it has TWO authors listed, not just Butcher, and the picture used to advertise the product has it clearly depicted at the bottom "ILLUSTRATED BY..."
So you whiners who think Amazon pulled one over on you are just too lazy or stupid to read the product description.
Additionally, this is a PREQUEL, so people whining about this and that not looking right or not addressing larger issues brought up later in the series, it is as it should be based on his Pre-Stormfront days.
It is also funny people whining about how it looks, maybe Butcher is just a liar and he writes forwards to sell his product, but according to his own introduction to the book, much of what is depicted is close to how HE sees it in his mind. So he seems to like it and being that he created the characters that is good enough for me.
It is a joke to say that "comics are for kids and books are for adults". Come on, the Dresden Files is good, but it isn't as if you have to be above the age of 10 to read and enjoy them, and Harry Dresden (and Jim Butcher) are comic fans (Butcher himself even says he has always seen the Dresden Files as an Animated Cartoon) so Harry translates well to the medium.
As to the product itself: I found it a thoroughly enjoyable Dresden Files mini-adventure. It is 132 Illustrated pages detailing a Dresden adventure just prior to the start of Stormfront.
It has all the fun and action that you expect from a Dresden Files story, just on a slightly smaller scale, more in line with the early books than the later "heavier" fare. I like the art for the most part, there are some complaints with how the illustrator draws his women, they just don't seem as attractive as they should. The guy has a real Steve Dillion style, and I think faces are his weakest point, everything else looks really good.
Even with the illustrations, there is a LOT of text for a comic book, so the story still is comparable in length to a long short story.
In all it is worthwhile, especially considering individual issues cost $4 and you can get it all hardback for $12. At the very least it is a nice little Dresden snack that, combined with Backup, will take the edge off the wait for Turn Coat.
Not just that, but Dresden quotes from Big Trouble In Little China, it doesn't get any better than that!
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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's a jungle out there, October 13, 2008
"Like any jungle, it is a world of predators and prey. Some of the most dangerous creatures in the world live here. Very few of them are in cages..."
Having appeared in bestselling books and on TV, detective/wizard Harry Dresden now has his own comic book series, the four-part "Welcome To the Jungle". And it loses nothing in translation -- author Jim Butcher wonderfully preserves the sharp, witty, literate fantasy-noir flavour of his books, which is brought to colorful life with Ardian Syaf's solid artwork. This is one to keep an eye on.
A mangled corpse is found outside the monkey house, but the facts don't add to the "gorilla attack" the city wants. So Murphy calls in Harry Dresden (who was killing a Rawhead and Bloody Bones), and after casting a spell to see what killed the man, Harry knows it definitely wasn't a gorilla, especially since the man filled his opponent with bullets before dying.
Unfortunately Harry only has twenty-four hours to find the culprit. And as he starts poking around the gorilla house, he and nervy zookeeper Wil are attacked by bespelled jungle cats, and later by the Big Bad Black Spectral Dog. Harry suspects the mysterious Dr. Watson, but has no idea of her true plans -- or her true monstrous nature.
I'll give it to Jim Butcher -- not only can the man pen two vastly different series and assorted short stories, but he can turn out a pretty thrilling graphic novel prequel. Though "Welcome to the Jungle" is a short work, it's still crammed with action, monsters, magic, and a unique new supernatural threat that Harry alone can deal with. Basically, what one expects of the Dresden Files.
The plot is a pretty straightforward one, and most of the first quarter involves Harry poking around at the zoo. But soon it speeds up as Butcher introduces lots of splattered blood, glowy eyes, monstrous hags, and some solid action scenes involving train tracks, car chases and flying boulders. By the time Harry rushes into the underground lair (complete with bubbling cauldron), Butcher is officially on an action-packed roll.
Since this is Jim Butcher, there's a hefty dose of humor (Harry getting whacked in the head with a notebook, or chatting with a lecherous talking skull), and also some wonderfully snappy dialogue ("I've taken your staff. I've taken your rod." "You should have taken my gun"). But there are also moments of poignancy, such as Harry recognizing the accused gorilla's grief over his human friend's death.
And Ardian Syaf does a simply lovely job with this book's art. Lots of shadows, blurry corners and just enough gritty fantasy realism -- one stunning image portrays the hags as hooded clawed creatures reaching to a blood-tinted moon. Harry is the tall, rangy, stubbly guy you'd expect, and though Murphy doesn't look quite as "cute" as you'd expect, she's a convincing hard-edged cop.
Butcher's anti-hero is no stereotypical wizard -- he's rough, a little sarcastic, and just trying to make the rent with his magical powers. And in the story's quieter moments, we get to see how Harry became such a cynical loner. And on the ordinary-people front, Wil... acts the way you'd expect an ordinary gal suddenly confronted by magic fire and evil hags to act.
"The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle" is a primo example of what graphic novel spinoffs should be -- fast, sharp and action-packed. Definitely a good read.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Answer to Complaints, October 21, 2008
I wasn't going to write a review for this book originally, but seeing the pile of unfair negative reviews, I thought I'd add my two cents to bring the rating back up.
The primary complaint people seem to have is that this is a graphic novel. Yes, readers, this book really is a graphic novel compilation of an original 4 issue comic series by Jim Butcher. If you don't like graphic novels, don't buy it. And if you categorically don't like graphic novels, please stop reviewing it. I hate rap. I don't write reviews on rap music. I would be horribly biased and wouldn't know what I was talking about. Any item should be evaluated on its own terms, not based on flaws with the company selling it. If you feel you were misled, then return the product.
Complaint number two seems to be that the book has no ties to the current Dresden Files plot lines. This book is a prequal. It is set before the beginning of the series. Butcher did it as a side project for a bit of a break, he hasn't forgotten his current plotline. As a prequal, the book stands well on its own, and introduces the characters of Harry, Murphy, and Bob reasonably well. The story is tightly contained, and the only possible flaw is that Harry & Murphy's relationship seems better than it was in the first few books where she was always arresting him for something.
The illustrations are beautiful. I'm not fond of the cover art, but that's not the style used on the interior, which is more lush and less photoshop-ish. I have one small problem with the artist representations in that Harry is drawn too short and Murphy is drawn too tall. This is most noticible when they're in the same frame together. Murph is 1-1/2 feet shorter than Harry, but in the comic she's as tall as his shoulder, about 1/2 foot shorter than he is. I suspect the artist tinkered with the heights so that he could fit Harry & Murphy's faces together in the comic frames more often, but it can be irritating to know Harry is an almost freakishly tall 6 foot 9, but in the book he is merely tall. I would suggest the artist pick up Back to the Future and study how the movie managed to fit the small Michael Fox and tall Christopher Lloyd in the same scenes together.
Butcher has a nice intro to the book, talking about his love for comics, and he clearly learned well from them. The number of narrative boxes is high, but somehow the story still flows and they don't overwhelm the pictures. The end result has me considering purchasing Storm Front's graphic novel version despite already owning the standard novel. If nothing else, it makes me hope he'll write a graphic prequal to book 3.
Extras!: Yes, there's additional stuff in this book. The standard and varient covers are included, as are some concept art and writer's notes on the characters. And of course there's the lovely introduction/homage to comics.
The book is worth it if you're a Dresden fan. It's high quality, beautiful, and fun.
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