Graphic Novel Review – Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer , Andrew Donkin , Giovanni Rigano (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Size: 112 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: October 2, 2007
ISBN: 978-0786848829
Stand Alone or Series: 6th book in the Mythos Academy series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
I’ve been wanting to read this for some time. I have read all of the Artemis Fowl books up to The Atlantis Complex and enjoyed them. This was a well done adaptation of the first full length Artemis Fowl novel into graphic novel format.
This graphic novel covers the first Artemis Fowl book. That is the novel where Artemis manages to trap Holly and gain access to some of the Fairy’s technology. There are dossiers of the characters and places at the end of each chapter that add quite a bit to the story.
The illustrations are full color and well done, I thought some of the characters were a bit over-characterized (especially Butler) in the way they were drawn…but it was still well done. Holly wasn’t drawn at all how I pictured her when I read the book. A lot of the faeries like Mulch Diggums and Foaly are very cartoonish (again not really what I pictured when I read the book series). Still I enjoyed the illustration overall, it’s very detailed and easy to follow who is who.
I would recommend reading the book first since that adds a lot more background to the story. However, this graphic novel is set up in such a way that I think you could read and follow the story without having to read the novel first. This pretty much tells exactly the same story as the first Artemis Fowl book, but in less detail.
Artemis Fowl comes off as a bit less evil in this graphic novel retelling. Foaly was a bit goofier than I thought he was in the book. So some of the character interpretations are definitely different in the graphic novel.
Overall it was fun to revisit this story in graphic novel format. The illustration is well done and the story remains true to the original book. There are some small changes in how the characters are represented, but this was an action packed and entertaining read. Recommended to fans of fantasy graphic novel and definitely recommended to Artemis Fowl fans. I plan on picking up the next on in the series soon.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge
