Frankenstein

June 15, 2010

Mary Shelley's horror classic is a story meant to be illustrated. With language so richly vivid, readers can't help but picture the horrors that emerge from her sharpened quill. What young reader wouldn't want to see Dr. Frankenstein, reeling from the loss of his mother, patch together a quilt of human body parts? Whittling down the story to its most basic elements, Wagner achieves much success in adapting the slim volume with a good mix of action and emotion. Paired to Kumar's haunting artwork, the adaptation will transport readers into the eeriest reaches of Frankenstein's memory. The urgent pace of the original lends itself to comic format, and the illustrator runs with it: The muted palette evokes a spooky atmosphere, and, while most of the gore happens behind the scenes, his depiction of the creature is adequately grotesque. The edition includes an introduction to the author at its outset and an endnote about body snatching in the 1800s. A satisfyingly haunting introduction to a masterwork of English literature, likely to inspire further interest in all things Frankenstein. (Graphic classic. 10 & up)

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