I
am something of a snob when it comes to Harry Dresden. That isn’t to
say that I hated the television series, I just wish they would have called
something else. Anything
else, in fact, other than The Dresden
Files. It was with some
trepidation, then, that I approached the latest adaptation of the first novel,
Storm Front, into a graphic novel from Dabel Brothers. I was prepared for large chunks of
story to be missing, but I was also excited to see one of my favorite novels
rendered visually. Where I ended
up was somewhere squarely between misery and satisfaction.
I
know. That seems like such a
cop-out. It isn’t
though, trust me. There are
elements of the comic book that really nail it home and bring the words of Jim
Butcher to life. Still, there are some that make me want to pull my hair out. Frankly, I haven’t
been this torn since sophomore year when I had to decide which girl to take to
prom. Storm Front grabs its audience because Harry Dresden is ultimately
an every-man, and we can identify with something very real in him. We don’t need
to wade through a metric ton of terminology, and butcher is careful to describe
a hero who is more Peter Parker than Wolverine. Somehow, that gets lost in this project.
It isn’t just
Harry who seems to be simplified into a bad stereotype, Bob and Murphy are more
like caricatures here too. The
Harry Dresden of the comics is more of a self-aware badass than he ever has
been in the novels, and though the story follows the same plot, point for
point, it feels like watching a poorly acted remake of a classic film. This may be more the fault of the
medium than any other element.
Butcher, after all, is working with the creators on this comic, and so
has more creative input than on anything else to date. That said,
they are cramming a 322-page novel into the space of a four-issue
miniseries. Something’s
got to give, and unfortunately, the characters aren’t the only casualty
here.
Adrian Syaf, who’s artwork on another
Dabel Brothers book, Take a Chance,
has been excellent, seems to have gotten stuck on the idea that these
characters are all in Chicago.
Everyone has wide shoulders and big noses for some reason, as though
they were the cast of extras from a hitherto forgotten Humphrey Bogart
movie. Every character has a
perpetual scowl, and this might be fine for a typical noir setting, but what
many Dresden fans love about the characters, I think, is that they aren’t noir stereotypes. The fact is, Butcher’s characters all love life to the
fullest, and the world around them is what’s dark,
while they stand as beacons of happiness and hope. This is why Dresden always seems to have a witty retort or
pithy comeback. It’s
hard to sell those to an audience when it is delivered with a dour express of
gloom every single time.
Beyond that, however, I felt that the
book was a good representation of what Jim Butcher’s books have to offer. It is like an appetizer of sorts, where
your appetite will be whetted, but you can’t be
expected to sustain on this alone.
I would offer this book up to anyone hesitant to read a new series, as
it lays a lot of the groundwork of the series. It has its moments, but that seems to be because they exist
in the novel first and foremost, and longtime fans of
the series will get little bang for their buck. Pick it up if you’re a collector or
a completist, but if you’re strictly a fan of the
books and couldn’t abide by the Sci-Fi Channel series, save your dough for the
next novel.
Final
Verdict (out of 5):
