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.
