*Originally published on 12/22/09
It was announced yesterday that Marvel Comics would release a graphic adaptation of Stephen King's short story, N.
You may remember that the story got a motion comic adaptation that was released last year. This will be done by the same crew of Marc Guggenheim and Alex Maleev. I praised the artwork on that series and I expect it will be just as good in comic form.
The first issue comes out in March, but no specific date has been announced yet. N will be a four issue series.
Issue 1
As was stated when the comic was first announced, the team behind it would be the same one that created the 25 episode motion comic series. As such, I was confident that this would turn out well, and it did.
Since many had already seen this story adapted into the aforementioned web series, they tried to add more material so that it didn't just seem like a note for note rehash. There is a little more, some added dialogue and a prologue that isn't featured in the series or the original story, but by and large it's very similar to the series.
It was really weird reading because I'd reach a page and say in my head, "this is where episode 1 ended" and so on.
The artwork, as it was in the series, is amazing. It's done in the same style, which isn't all that surprising, but it still looks really good.
This comic felt a little thin. Picking it up, it felt much lighter than a regular comic, and yet it still costs 4 bucks. That's bullcrap. For those unaware, I know 4 dollars isn't a lot of money in general, but for a comic, it's quite expensive. There is some supplemental material, but it still could've sold for 3. Heck, I would've been willing to meet you half way and pay you $3.50. It would be a better deal for consumers and it would allow people to make the old "tree fitty" joke.
I'm also not sure why they bothered with the individual issues. It's a self contained story that's only four issues long. I think it would've been better (not to mention pretty cool) to go straight to trade and release it as a graphic novel. While we're on the topic, Guggenheim first refers to this as a comic adaptation and then apologizes to refer to it as a graphic novel. Only, it was a comic book. I know the general consensus is that the two terms are synonymous, but they're not. A comic book and a graphic novel are two different things. I'm rambling, let's move on.
This was an enjoyable comic, even though I already knew most of the major plot points (I can't really fault Guggenheim for that, there's only so much wiggle room you can get when adapting an already existing work) I still found myself getting pulled into the story. There is some new material so you are getting a little something extra and it's another solid adaptation of the author's work. My only real gripe is with the fact that they jacked up the price. Beyond that, I recommend checking it out.
Issue 2
Whereas last issue you could clearly tell where one episode ended and another began, this time they did a fairly good job of masking that effect. This is done through a subplot regarding the guardian who preceded N, an old woman only known as N. Acker. We get shown a letter from an attorney offering his condolences for the death of her parents. As she was still a child at this point, they say that they will hold the money in trust until she's 18. The letter states that after estate taxes and lawyer fees, she'll be receiving a whopping twelve dollars.
I know that dollar figures back then were vastly different from what they are today and I have no clue what that would equate to in today's dollars, so maybe 12 dollars was a significant inheritance back in the day, but it still read weird. The letter still read to me like, "Oh hai! Sorry your parents are dead, but we're gonna go ahead and take all your money. K? Thanks bye!".
Remember when N says that he heard someone call his name? The implication was that it was Cthun (gesundheit), it was actually someone else calling out to him, which was an interesting touch.
We also get N's real name, Nathan N. Nance. His first name is revealed when the aforementioned character calls out to him, and we get the full name in his obituary. Having just his first or last initial be N would've been fine, but all three? I mean, who does that?
Even with the new material, the comic is still fairly ahead of schedule in terms of the story. The issue ends around where episode 14 finished. It'll be interesting to see what other material they add in to the latter half.
Again, the artwork is excellent and the writing for both the dialogue and narration is well done. They didn't just follow the script from the web series verbatim, but they still stuck pretty close to it so you get a little of the best of both worlds in that regard.
There aren't any commentaries or interview, but there are a few pages that showcase some of the storyboards from the web series.
Overall, this was an enjoyable comic and I'm enjoying the series a good deal.
Issue 3
Issue 4
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