Adapting Holmes: The Graphic Novels

A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of The Four, by I.N.J. Culbard and Ian Edginton. Based on the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Published by Self-Made Hero.

These are very faithful adaptations to the source material, containing almost exclusively Doyle's own words. Although there are many necessary compressions, there is very little additional material or substantial changes from the source material. The trick that the writer had to pull off was to decide which portions of each story to include, how to abridge the story in such a way as to manage to still tell the entire story.

One of the best part of the adaptation of A Study inScarlet is the way in which the long stretch in Utah is covered. In the original, Doyle tells this in as an omniscient narrator, while this adaptation makes the story more clearly as Jefferson's Hope's words. This enables the art to bounce back and forth between Hope telling the story, with reaction shots of Holmes and Watson, and the actual flashback scenes in Utah. The artist is then able to give us many "camera angles" from which to show this action, which makes it easier to read in graphic form than in Doyle's prose. This is a very good use of the sequential art medium, and is an example of using the form in a way that prose cannot be used.

The iconic meeting between Holmes and Watson is handled well, and the choices that the writer made in what to leave out and leave in made sense.

There is less "work" to be done in adapting The Sign of the Four, as the original story moves at a terrific pace and tells an entertaining tale, start to finish. The only part of the adaptation that I don't think I would have followed without the original fresh in my mind was the "blind alley" that the dog leads Holmes and Watson on. But other than that one scene, the story was easy to follow, and the adaptation very enjoyable.

It must be hard for an artist to have a "new take" on Holmes and Watson, who must have been portrayed more than a hundred times in various forms. I immediately liked the look of Watson, but it took me forty to fifty pages (each work is approximately 120 pages) to get used to this look of Holmes. I could not reference him to any other Holmes that I was used to seeing, but this is actually a testament to the strength of the character design. The artist also does a fine job distinguishing the many supporting and side characters that populate these books.

source: public library

Book Review #21

The Bone Bed, by Patricia Cornwell. Unabridged audio.

A famous paleontologist vanishes in a Canadian excavation site, and a bizarre email message leads Scarpetta to believe that the case may soon land in her office in Boston. When it does, she is faced with more danger than she ever could have expected. There is also a body found in a river, booby-trapped to rip apart when moved. But Scarpetta is able to retrieve the body, and then use her forensic skills to determine the perpetrator.

I love the fact that the main action of the book take places over less than 72 hours. This gives the novel a sense of pacing that is exciting. As readers, we experience the same sense of not being able to catch our breath that the main characters are also experiencing. Scarpetta's busy-ness becomes a plot point in the novel. She is tardy to a courtroom appointment, and is dressed down mercilessly by the judge for valuing her time and job above everyone else involved in the trial. We are meant to sympathize with Scarpetta in this scene, but I can't help but notice that the judge is actually making a pretty good point. Due to some clever computer hacking, Marino is implicated in the crime, adding another level of stress to Scarpetta.

This is the 20th Kay Scarpetta story that has Cornwell has written, and the 20th that I have read (prior reviews are here and here). I have followed her from Richmond to Miami, and now to Boston. It seems a little unlikely that all of her cast of characters would follow her around the country, but the advantages of having everyone together outweighs that consideration.

This novel pushes the characterizations forward: Scarpetta and Benton are both tempted to cheat, Marino's marriage may be dying, and Lucy has re-connected with an old flame. I like that a tawdry incident from Marino's past, which Scarpetta thought would be hidden forever, comes to light. All of this reminds us how long we have spent with these characters, and how much of their lives we have seen. There is a nice sense of continuity here, although the specific mystery being solved is a stand-alone story.

source: public library

Book Review #20

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, by J.D. Greear. Hardcover.

There has long been a fixation in American evangelical culture on the "decision," the act of leading someone into a relationship with Christ via an altar call, or reciting the "sinner's prayer." But discipleship is not a one-time event, and this focus on the "decision" leaves many potential believers confused and adrift.

On the other hand, the impulse among some Christians, in some congregations, is to "come to Jesus" over and over. The author puts himself in this camp, saying in the first chapter that by the time he had turned eighteen, "I had probably 'asked Jesus into my heart' five thousand times."

Using his own life experiences as a Christian, and his experiences as a pastor, Greear focuses on the tension between these two extreme positions, and how neither represents a healthy view of salvation. He walks through the dual theological issues of repentance and assurance. It is a short book and quite readable, but it manages to move through these difficult issues in a thorough manner.

I like Greear's contention that salvation cannot always be traced to a particular moment in time, and a discussion of what repentance is and (more importantly) what it is not. Also, his example of relationship with God to sitting in a chair in insightful: it doesn't matter whether or not one can remember when they first sat in the chair, the only thing that matters is that one is currently sitting in that chair.

Although I don't always agree with Greear's answers to some of the knotty theological problems presented here, I can heartily recommend this book. I was glad to read a book for laymen that addressed the issues, and there is much wisdom contained here.

Source: LibraryThing's early reviewer program.

Between Audiobooks

I used to have a habit of listening to a few episodes of PodCastle or Escape Pod in between audiobooks -- short story palate cleansers between novels. But I noticed that it had been a while since I had listened to short fiction (I'm about 9 months behind on these podcasts), so I listened to a bunch of Escape Pods last weekend, in between Time Travelers Strictly Cash and The Bone Bed. I listened to these episodes:

347. Next Time, Scales, by John Moran. Read by Josh Roseman. Body-swapping, space cops, and lizard girls. 'nuff said.

348. Nemesis, by Nathaniel Lee. Read by Matt Weller. When a middle-school superhero's best friend discovers a new source of power, he has a choice to make. Will he become a sidekick, or become an enemy?

349. Origin, by Ari Goelman. Read by Veronica Giguere. When a superhero's girlfriend becomes pregnant, many questions arise. And when the doctor is a reformed enemy, even more questions arise.

350. Observer Effects, by Tim Pratt. Read by A Kovacs. The third of a three-episode series about super-powered beings, this one also  touches on the effects of universal surveillance.

351. 113 Feet, by Josh Roseman. Read by Mur Lafferty. A father disappears in a bizarre diving accident, and his notes reflect that he may have found a portal to another land. His daughter makes it her life's mission to find him, wherever or whenever he may be.

352. Food For Thought, by Laura Lee McArdle. Read by Christiana Ellis. Talking cows and time-traveling reality TV. 'nuff said.

353. Talking to the Enemy, by Don Webb. Read by John Mireau. In order to negotiate an end to the war, some attempt to become like the enemy. But how far is too far?

354. The Caretaker, by Ken Liu. Read by Tom Rockwell (Devo Spice). The robot seems too human -- do you want to find out just how human the robot is?

Walking Dead, issues 49-60.

The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard.

Our heroes have scattered after the shocking events of issue 48. Lori and Judith are dead. Tyreese is dead. The prison is not safe after the battle with the Governor, and the crew breaks off into different cliques, some of which meet back up in further issues. Being mostly on foot, there is only so far that the crew can wander off, even in different directions. The coincidence of them meeting back up again can be overlooked. 

We see that everyone is going more than a little bit crazy, even Rick. Especially Rick, in this volume. He spends the first few issues having imaginary conversations with his dead wife on a broken phone, shades of Michonne ever since her introduction. The responsibility of leading this ragtag band have left him mentally vulnerable, and the berakdown he suffers in response to his wife's and daughter's death are not unexpected. Writer Robert Kirkman does an excellent job of making Rick's instability believable.

The scenes following on, where Rick takes too many painkillers and drops into a delirium, were very interesting. Even as a veteran comic book reader, I was not sure exactly when he had awoken. For a while, I was not dismissing the possibility that three complete issues were Rick's dream-state, but that was not the case.

The biggest plot movement in this series of issues is Rick and his crew finding Abraham and his scientist buddy, who believes he knows what caused the zombie outbreak. This small group is heading to Washington, and Rick and his ever-shrinking crew team up with them. But life on the road is inherently unsafe, especially now that the zombies are moving in herds. 

This change in zombie behavior, the notion that they may be learning or at the very least adapting, is interesting. I don't know if Kirkman has an idea of what the "origin story" of the outbreak was, or if he ever plans to disclose it us. But these changes in zombie behavior do not bode well for our heroes.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:
Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Chapter 3 of The Bone Bed, a Scarpetta novel by Patricia Cornwell: "I've magnified the image as much as I can without its deconstructing into a blur, and the visible edges of the incised wound appear sharp and regular. I see no paleness or any hint that the incised tissue is everted or collapsed, which is what I might expect in a dismemberment that occurs long after death."

Books 17-19

Left Behind: The Kids #26-28, by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B Jenkins, & Chris Fabry. Paperbacks.

I grab these books from the library in batches, 2 to 3 at a time, a few times a year. The completist in me needs to finish this series (40 books total), which meands I will have read the entire Left Behind oeuvre. A cultural phenomenon for a time, reflective of evangelical culture of the 1990's, the series was originally intended to be a trilogy, then a seven-book series, and ended as a 12-book series with a trilogy of prequels and a final sequel. And these 40 young adult books. And I am so close to wrapping it all up.