genre: fantasy. graphic novel.
The Review
So, when I do reviews on graphic novels interpretations, I like to rate them while keeping the reference material in mind. In other words, this will not be a review of Beagle’s original novel from 1968, but will look at how Peter B. Gillis adapted this work into a graphic novel and how Renae de Liz and Ray Dillon illustrated the work.
faithfulness to the original:
This is an absolutely gorgeous interpretation of the Last Unicorn. I certainly recommend this to anyone has either seen or read the Last Unicorn. One of my favorite things about the graphic novel is that it seems to be sort of a mix between the 1982 film adaptation and the novel. Although the art is not exactly the same as the film, it brought back a lot of the same memories of watching this movie as a child. Also, the graphic novel doesn’t just include dialogue, but narration and descriptions right from the original book. These parts turned out to be some of my favorites! They add a little extra to the illustrations that you wouldn’t get just by watching the movie version.
adaptation:
The only thing I didn’t like about this graphic novel interpretation (why it’s getting the rating it is), is that it was hard to keep track of how things were progressing. It jumped around a lot. On one page you’d be in a nice conversation between characters and you’d turn the page and they were in a completely different place with no transition. It seemed the connection between scenes and time gaps was hard to grasp or maybe I was just missing it. There were a lot of scenes that I wished were just a little bit longer and that I think were cut short. Even simple things that I think were skipped over or not highlighted enough to really make the story as amazing as it actually is.
art:
I don’t even know what to say here. The art in the graphic novel is just astounding and really captures the magic of Peter S. Beagle’s novel. The story panels are just as beautiful as the chapter covers.
approx read time: 1 day (you could do it in one sitting if you’re trying)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Screems™
ownership: I borrowed this from my local library