Jane Austen… MARVEL style?
Author: Nancy Butler (both novels)
Illustrator: Hugo Petrus (Pride & Prejudice), Sonny Liew (Sense & Sensibility)
As I’ve admitted before I’m a bit of a Jane Austen FREAK! I love her books, the movies, the retellings/continuations, etc… So you can imagine how intrigued I was when I saw the Marvel edition of Pride & Prejudice. It was all wrapped up in plastic so I couldn’t look through it but that didn’t stop me from buying it. I mean, look at that GORGEOUS cover?!? When I got home I was slightly disappointed to see that the cover illustrator was not the same as the person who illustrated the novel adaptation. I was expecting the whimsical and, I don’t know… airy? art from the cover but it was much more superhero type art. It just didn’t have the feel I expected for the book. Also, I felt like the Bennet sisters looked a bit manly! What do you think?
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| The Bennet Sisters |
Thankfully Marvel seemed to understand that Austen fans were not necessarily the same as Superman fans. The illustrator of Sense & Sensibility is the same person who did the cover of Pride & Prejudice. It was everything I’d hoped Pride & Prejudice would be!
As far as the text goes it is obviously parsed down. You should expect that going in. Nancy Butler did the adaptations for both books. She has written a number of award winning regency romance novels of her own. I think she did a wonderful job of capturing the tone of the stories in a limited format. Yes, “big” things were left out. No, you should not read the graphic novel and think it’s like reading the book. Still, I found them both to be enjoyable. Sense & Sensibility is definitely my favorite of the two. The illustrations and the text are both fabulous. If you’re a lover of Jane Austen (but not an Austen purist!) you should give these a try.
Stephanie
I love it when a favorite book gets turned into a graphic novel. It’s just another way to appreciate the story. I’m a huge Austen fan so these look right up my alley!
lisa :)
Very cool! I actually like both styles of artwork. The second is lovely and definitely fits with Austen but the first to me is also very intriguing. I think it’s the juxtaposition of the Superman style with something as feminine as P&P that I find really unique and surprising.
Cayla Kluver
How interesting! I had no idea they were doing graphic-type novels of the classics now. (And I agree… the Bennett sisters look a little like the German Olympians depicted in the movie Top Secret…)
Ricki
This was what got me to finally read Pride & Prejudice.
Alex (A Girl, Books, OtherThings)
Mmmhmm, I will probably give these a try if I can find them – I love Austen but I’m not a purist, in fact I love re-tellings and adaptations.
But I am a little disappointed at the artwork – the Bennett sisters do look kind of manly and the Dashwoods look a little too simplified, maybe I’m too spoiled by Manga and anime artwork. I was hoping for something more like the cover of P&P, that is lovely.