Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, a story about a man who seeks revenge against those who ruined his life, has been adapted again, this time by Crystal S. Chan with illustrations by Nokman Poon. I was pretty impressed with what I read, and I've been fortunate to have previously read two other illustrated adaptations of this novel (an ancient Illustrated Classics version that belonged to my father, and a version published by Moby Books/Playmore in 1979, which was illustrated by Mitsu Yamamoto).
Edmond Dantes has everything going for him. He is about to become captain of the merchant ship, The Pharaon, and is about to be married to Mercedes, when he is arrested, thrown into prison, and forgotten. During that time, he meets a fellow prisoner, Abbe Faria, who helps him figure out why he has been imprisoned, and who his enemies are. The religious man passes on, but not before he bequeaths a secret treasure to Edmond, one which Edmond can use to bring vengeance upon those who had ruined his life for their own gain...if only he can escape from the prison, Chateau D'If.
Here's where I confess that I haven't read the original novel...however, Manga Classics' version of the Count of Monte Cristo appears to be a more complete adaptation than the other two versions that I mentioned earlier. Upon reading the end of Manga Classics version, the Count's words, "Wait and hope," made more sense to me than when I had read them at the end of the other versions. In fact, this version has probably made me more inclined to actually read the original. There are appendices at the end of the book where Crystal Chan explains the process that was used to adapt the novel into the manga version, which was quite fascinating to read.
The drawing style appears to be a mix of shoujo and shonen. The content and plot of the Count of Monte Cristo does not lend itself to a lot of humour, and I did not notice any chibi, so if any did appear, I completely missed it. There are a couple of pages in the appendices that show character design sketches. I also appreciated see the character map, which showed the relationships between many of the characters that appeared in this story.
There's something about this type of media that makes it a great avenue for presenting classical literature. I was caught up with Edmond's quest for revenge, and the path of self-destruction that he embarked upon. In my opinion, Manga Classics' version of The Count of Monte Cristo is a great gateway book to capture young (and maybe not so young) readers' interest in reading a classic story.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Manga Classics' The Count of Monte Cristo, adapted by Crystal S. Chan and illustrated by Nokman Poon from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Saturday 14 July 2018
Sunday 1 July 2018
Review: Draw Manga: Step-By-Steps, Character Construction, and Projects from the Masters by Sweatdrop Studios
The title of this book is a mouthful, but it does basically cover what it says that it will do. Various artists from Sweatdrop Studios have collaborated together to put out Draw Manga: Step-by-Steps, Character Construction, and Projects from the Masters. The introduction of the book states that its purpose is to teach the reader how to draw in this unique comic style, and reveals that its target audience is beginners of all ages.
The introduction also explains that the book is organized into three sections, beginning with drawing tutorials (e.g. how to draw eyes, hair, facial expressions, anatomy, proportion, human form, action lines, etc.) in Part 1. Part 2 covers character construction (e.g. showing the differences in drawing a female child vs. a male teenager or female adult). Part 3 contains specific projects which may focus on different aspects to consider while drawing manga, such as the use of watercolours, colouring pencils, markers, etc.
Although the book says that it will show readers how to create manga step by step, it means this more in a general sense of a recipe. There are drawing books that will tell readers each stroke that must be drawn and the order in which these must appear. This is not that kind of book. Instead, this book provides examples of what one can create, and leaves readers to go off on their own to draw their own characters. For example, for the description in sketching the proportions for a shonen figure, the book shows a completed diagram with the rendered circles/balloons in place. However, it does not tell the reader how to draw these circles or the order in which to draw them. Because I have some limited experience in drawing, it isn't too daunting to me to follow the book's instructions. However, if a reader is looking for something more detailed, with more minute-by-minute instructions, then this book does not fall into that category.
There are approximately 140 illustrations in the book, and they form enough of a base for a beginning manga artist to start creating their own work. There are examples of shouju, shonen, chibi, and fantasy figures (elves, vampire) If there is a concern about exposing children to occult figures, I only saw a couple of figures that fit under that category (e.g. a vampiric chibi). As for overtly sexualized images, this book seems to be fairly safe in that area. I recall only one figure showing cleavage because of a low neckline, but generally, the figures in the drawings are dressed (although the females seem to favour miniskirts a lot), except for the illustrations showing proportional dimensions. For these, if the drawings are detailed, the figures are generally covered. There are other illustrations that show proportion, but with the circles filling out space. If you have an issue with roughed in circles showing the curves for balloon figures...well, the book does cover anatomical drawings, so please consider yourself warned.
I tried to view galleys for this title for computer and for Kindle. I don't know if it was because they were galleys that I had problems viewing the PDFs, especially for the computer. I could only view a handful of drawings, and couldn't read any text. For the Kindle format, I was able to view most of the text and drawings, but there were some images under the "Tools and Equipment" section that I was not able to see...I don't know if what I saw were place holders for the final images that would fill those spots, or if there was something wrong with the file that affected what I could see.
I like this book, and think that it does an adequate job in presenting instructions on how to draw in the manga style. However, the illustrations are not exactly the most beautiful looking manga that I've seen. Instead...it's just okay. I do think that the content that the artists are trying to convey is quite valuable, especially to a beginner who wants to create manga.
Disclaimer: I received e-copies of "Draw Manga: Step-By-Steps, Character Construction, and Projects from the Masters" from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
The introduction also explains that the book is organized into three sections, beginning with drawing tutorials (e.g. how to draw eyes, hair, facial expressions, anatomy, proportion, human form, action lines, etc.) in Part 1. Part 2 covers character construction (e.g. showing the differences in drawing a female child vs. a male teenager or female adult). Part 3 contains specific projects which may focus on different aspects to consider while drawing manga, such as the use of watercolours, colouring pencils, markers, etc.
Although the book says that it will show readers how to create manga step by step, it means this more in a general sense of a recipe. There are drawing books that will tell readers each stroke that must be drawn and the order in which these must appear. This is not that kind of book. Instead, this book provides examples of what one can create, and leaves readers to go off on their own to draw their own characters. For example, for the description in sketching the proportions for a shonen figure, the book shows a completed diagram with the rendered circles/balloons in place. However, it does not tell the reader how to draw these circles or the order in which to draw them. Because I have some limited experience in drawing, it isn't too daunting to me to follow the book's instructions. However, if a reader is looking for something more detailed, with more minute-by-minute instructions, then this book does not fall into that category.
There are approximately 140 illustrations in the book, and they form enough of a base for a beginning manga artist to start creating their own work. There are examples of shouju, shonen, chibi, and fantasy figures (elves, vampire) If there is a concern about exposing children to occult figures, I only saw a couple of figures that fit under that category (e.g. a vampiric chibi). As for overtly sexualized images, this book seems to be fairly safe in that area. I recall only one figure showing cleavage because of a low neckline, but generally, the figures in the drawings are dressed (although the females seem to favour miniskirts a lot), except for the illustrations showing proportional dimensions. For these, if the drawings are detailed, the figures are generally covered. There are other illustrations that show proportion, but with the circles filling out space. If you have an issue with roughed in circles showing the curves for balloon figures...well, the book does cover anatomical drawings, so please consider yourself warned.
I tried to view galleys for this title for computer and for Kindle. I don't know if it was because they were galleys that I had problems viewing the PDFs, especially for the computer. I could only view a handful of drawings, and couldn't read any text. For the Kindle format, I was able to view most of the text and drawings, but there were some images under the "Tools and Equipment" section that I was not able to see...I don't know if what I saw were place holders for the final images that would fill those spots, or if there was something wrong with the file that affected what I could see.
I like this book, and think that it does an adequate job in presenting instructions on how to draw in the manga style. However, the illustrations are not exactly the most beautiful looking manga that I've seen. Instead...it's just okay. I do think that the content that the artists are trying to convey is quite valuable, especially to a beginner who wants to create manga.
Disclaimer: I received e-copies of "Draw Manga: Step-By-Steps, Character Construction, and Projects from the Masters" from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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