The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher
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Book Reviews of The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
Book Review: great dresden grafic novel
Summary: 5 Stars
A Great start to the dresden series. cant wait for the rest of the graphic novels.Book Review: It's a jungle out there
Summary: 4 Stars
"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.
Book Review: Great adaptation, fairly mindless fun
Summary: 4 Stars
A prequel to the first Dresden Files novel, "Welcome to the Jungle" is the first graphic novel addition to the series - a full adaptation of the first novel, Storm Front, is to come shortly. The comic's plot is boilerplate Dresden Files: a gruesome murder, this time at the zoo, has Lt. Karrin Murphy of Chicago PD's Special Investigations calling in Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the phonebook. Harry has 24 hours to uncover the killer, and, of course, has no idea where to start; in the meantime, the murder has been pinned on one of the zoo's prized (and innocent) gorillas, lending extra urgency to Harry's search for the real culprit.
Unsurprisingly, the Dresden Files, with their spectacular action scenes, car chases, and colorful magical rituals, translate perfectly to comic-book form, with quick panels here capably taking the place of the lengthy descriptions required in the book. Indeed, Butcher explains in his introduction that his storytelling is strongly influenced by the multitude of comics that he read when young (something that I definitely sympathize with).
For the most part, I really enjoyed artist Ardian Syaf's work: he has dynamic paneling and slick coloring that perfectly captures the Dresden Files' noirish ambiance. Crucially, he also renders action scenes well, leading to some spectacular doses of slavering beasties, crashing masonry, and explosions galore. There are some enjoyably subtle touches thrown in, too, like a potion label sloppily applied with bits of Scotch tape in Harry's lab. My only quibbles were that Harry, though saved from the realm of lantern-jawed superherodom by a generous helping of stubble and eye-rolling, seemed too buff for my tastes - I'd like more gangling with my wizard, please. Likewise, an improbably flowing-tressed Murphy seems a bit out of line with the books' button-nosed, pony-tailed Murph. Otherwise, many of the creatures and scenes in the comic could have been pulled directly from my imaginings of the novel, which is all that a fan can ask for. I especially liked the scene in which Harry walks the crime scene while imagining potential paranormal culprits, which gives the reader a great visual overview of the series' bestiary.
A few sprinkled flashbacks also fill the reader in on Harry's childhood, making this as good an entrypoint as any into the series for any unfamiliar readers (and arguably much more newbie-friendly than the increasingly complicated later books in the series). Overall, this is classic Dresden Files, with Harry brawling, detecting, and quipping his way to the final showdown in wizardly style. By turns irreverent and gruesome, snarky and slightly cheesily heartfelt, it's what I like to call brain candy: consummate entertainment paired with a modicum of emotional and intellectual content. "Welcome to the Jungle" is a decent addition to the collection of a Dresden fan, and a good taste of the series for those curious about starting it, though it lacks the stronger emotional draw and character development of the novels. The hardcover edition also has a number of fun goodies tucked in the end - the original issues' covers, Syaf's concept sketches for the characters and creatures, along with Butcher's notes, and some previews of iconic scenes from the upcoming Storm Front adaptation.
Book Review: An Answer to Complaints
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Harry Dresden Graphic Novel Prequel
Summary: 4 Stars
Jim Butcher's blue collar wizard for hire Harry Dresden continues his career in novels, has taken a brief tour through television, and now has a branch office opening in comics and graphic novels. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE was a four-issue arc in comics that has now come out as a hardcover graphic novel. In coming months, the books are supposed to be serialized as comics, then gathered again as graphic novels.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is an original story set earlier in Harry Dresden's career as a wizard. It's sort of a prequel, which is a good thing because Dresden's life has gotten larger and more complicated as the novel series has progressed. Butcher admits to writing the comics as a personal desire to do new material and explore some of the character's backstory.
The Dresden novels are a fun mashup of noir private eye novels and urban fantasy. Dresden drives a heavily used Volkswagen Beetle, consults for the Chicago Police Department when they run into magical trouble, and barely keeps his bills paid. The concept feels familiar but offers something different and occasionally distinct.
In this story, Dresden's relationship with the police department again comes to the forefront when a mysterious mauling at the Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo turns magical. Detective Kerrin Murphy (a regular from the book series) pulls Dresden into the case, and the wizard's senses start tingling immediately, though he doesn't know what precisely causes the reaction.
The story is straightforward and enjoyable without being a strain. Although the first three issues end on cliffhangers, I didn't feel compelled to finish the book in a single sitting. The breaks are natural and give the reader a chance to read the whole story in bits and pieces without demanding too much.
The narrative sections were a little heavy for the graphic novel medium, but Butcher was also telling the story in first person, which lends itself to a lot of verbiage, but none of it's truly wasted. They offer interiors of character and backstory.
Ardian Syaf's art is really good. He lays out the panels with strong, clean lines and manages to bring muscular action to the page. As I was reading, I often found myself flipping back through pages of a scene just to re-experience the art without dealing with the dialogue and narrative. I enjoyed his viewpoint shifts a lot, and there is more than enough variety to keep the story from turning into a montage of similar drawings. His supernatural creatures looked amazing and menacing at the same time.
Although regular readers of the Dresden series may be frustrated with the fact that Butcher backtracks on his story in a big way, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE offers a good detour and a great way for new readers to jump into the books with both feet . This is a younger, less cynical Harry Dresden, but all the action and danger is still there.