Review: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A Graphic Novel

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A Graphic Novel
Stevenson – Klimowski – Schejbal
Series: Illustrated Classics
Publisher: Sterling
Release Date: April 18, 2009
Goodreads – Amazon

The idea for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde famously came to Robert Louis Stevenson one night in a dream. This graphic novel adaptation by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal has transformed that dream into an exquisite nightmare. Their faithful adaptation combines an already-chilling tale with truly haunting artwork.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the story of a respectable London doctor who ends up leading a dreadful double life—as a doctor, and as a cold-blooded murderer. Fans of Stevenson’s original novel and new readers will be riveted by this fascinating moral thriller.

Review

I wanted to read at least one horror classic this Halloween season. When I saw the graphic novel version of Jekyll and Hyde I got very excited! I had listened to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a few years ago and found it a bit boring, but it may have been the narrator, or even my mood at the time. I really wanted to try this story in a different medium to give it another chance in book form. I don’t know of anyone who isn’t familiar with this story either through book, movie, or even cartoon. So I wont be spending a lot of time reviewing the written story except to say I do enjoy the concept of this story in almost all its forms, but I do want to talk about how the art in this GN worked for me .

 

I really enjoyed black and white monochrome art that was used to tell this classic story. If you are like me around this time of year you start to have less and less reading time. This version Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is told so much more in picture than word so you really get to set the pace as to how quick the book is. I have actually now gone through it twice:)

As I was going from page to page I appreciated the detail that was invested in Jekyll and Hyde. Hyde’s lines are blurred and really put out a since of wrongness while Jekyll is drawn with clean clear lines. I liked how this went along with the moral dilemma that was being told through Jekyll’s point of view.  

My very favorite part of this book is the last page. As Jekyll is trying to convey his story in a letter that will be the last thing he writes as himself. I love how the letter is written out and how it really does look like Jekyll struggled to actually put pin to page. The emotion shows through in the style it is written out and it really grabbed me.

If you have been wanting to try this classic and have just never picked it up you should give this format a try.

Happy Reading,

   

4 Moons

I liked this enough to have already gone through it two times.