Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel (Artemis Fowl Graphic Novels, #1)

by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

[celinenyx]

Summary: Based on the children's book (or YA?) Artemis Fowl, this graphic novel follows a child genius trying to kidnap a fairy for ransom.

What I liked:
- I used to absolutely love the Artemis Fowl books, and read them all when I was about nine or ten. Since that's quite a while ago now, I had mostly forgotten about the details of the story and it was lovely to revisit my childhood hero (who doesn't want to be an extremely intelligent criminal mastermind?)
- This graphic novel doesn't seem to pre-suppose any knowledge of the Artemis world. Though it might be a bit overwhelming without knowing anything about it, it's easy to follow the story without having read the book
- It's so much fun to finally see what all the characters look like!
- The art is very intricate and requested quite some attention. After the minimalistic art of Sin City this was a bit of a shock, but not necessarily a bad one
- Throughout the book there were pages with "files" where the characters get some background and other world-specific objects are explained - perfect for first-time readers

What I didn't like:
- The troll! What the hell was that? That doesn't look like a troll to me
- It was hard to distinguish the fairies when they were all wearing the same uniform
- It might just have been my edition, but the drawings sometimes got really tiny, and my crappy eyes had a hard time seeming all the details

Rant time:
There have been some reviews on Goodreads stating how shocked they are at how sexualised Holly is portrayed. At this, I can only react with "WHAT?!". Holly is a full grown fairy woman, she is not a girl. We have to keep this in mind. The entire discussion was sparked by the fact that she wears a tank top and short shorts to bed, and the fact that she's clearly naked in the shower. Well, I'm sorry, but how do you shower? In your two-piece? We don't even see any body in the shower panel, only her face and the top of her shoulders. We don't even see a silhouette or anything that could be considered sexy. And to be honest, even if it did, why would Holly as a character suddenly be considered less "kick ass" if she was attractive and feminine? There is nothing wrong with being sexy, and it doesn't subtract to your credibility or your awesomeness. Just my two cents.

Verdict: Seamless adaptation of the book, a great read for old fans and new ones alike. And one hundred percent safe for children, in opposition of what some people seem to think