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The Sign Of The Four: A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel (2010)

by Arthur Conan Doyle(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1906838046 (ISBN13: 9781906838041)

languge

English

genre

Graphic Novels & Comics

publisher

Self Made Hero

review 1: I'm not sure to what extent Culbard (the illustrator) or Ian Edginton ("Text adapted by") are responsible for the final product, whether it was more one or the other. That said, the strong points of this graphic novel are as follows: - The dialogue that was chosen conforms well (possibly word-for-word) to Conan Doyle's novel, without being stilted, out-of-place, or uninspired. It flows well.- The action scene at the end (with the boat and the river)is more exciting in graphic form than in prose.- There are a couple good scenes with Holmes shooting up or otherwise referring to his seven percent solution. Love the cocaine scenes. I don't know why, I just do.The cons: - The illustrations are not to my taste. Other people like them. The people seem a bit too cartoonish to me. ... moreThe backgrounds are lovely, but there aren't that many backgrounds--many panels are just a characters head and a solid color in the background. Also Holmes looks like a vampire with a ridiculous chin. - If you're going to do a Sherlock Holmes story in graphic novel form, I would still expect it to have a voice-over by Watson in first person. (I forget what those text boxes for internal monologue are called in comics. They have a name. But basically they're voice-overs.) This version did not, and it felt incomplete.
review 2: Many people here seem to be reviewing the story version rather than this comic version. I guess it aggregates everything.I read all the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories many years ago with much relish and enjoyment and after reading a review of this comic version (or 'Graphic Novel' as it states on the cover) on Boing Boing I picked it up from Unity books in Wellington recently. I have a novel on the go at the moment and am putting off an essay I need to write so sometimes it's nice to pick something up and finish it in one go.It's a great adaptation, picking apart the bones of the story, nailing the characters, reducing the exposition and generally entertaining. The art though is what really makes it stand out. Culbard has done a great job of visualising Conan Doyle's period London with shady hews, moody backgrounds and a fantastically chinned Holmes. The colour saturation in particular creates a lot of atmosphere. If you're not a comic reader then this is a great way to start. As a Holmes fan it makes for a nice alternative adaptation (I'm personally quite a fan of the old BBC radio drama versions) and is worth picking up. I just need to see if I can find the others. less

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