The Puppet, the Professor, and the Prophet

Abadazad #3

by J.M. DeMatteis

A groundbreaking mix of fiction and full-colour comic strip following the journey of a headstrong teen named Kate into the bizarre fictional world of Abadazad to rescue her younger brother, Matt, after he went missing five years ago.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Also Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally

Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.

Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.

Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.

Reviews

[BookWormYami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew that this series was cancelled. But after reading this last book that was published, I still got disappointed that it was cancelled. I'm never going to see Kate rescue her brother and the ither kids that the Lanky Man stolen. I wish they will continue this story again. I want to continue this adventure with Kate, Martha and the others.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original series had promise, but this is the third book, and for me it's like a truck stuck in Mississippi mud - the plot wheels are spinning, but the characters are going nowhere. The book ends with the protagonist in almost the exact same state as when it began. There are too many SCREAMING CAPITAL LETTERS for me as well. The main character is incredibly annoying; I kept hoping she would get more likeable, but she hasn't. I just couldn't connect with her. And I had hoped by the third book, we would have seen more of Matt (besides dream encounters and such).

Sadly, this is the last published book in the series. Apparently, the original publisher CrossGen went bankrupt, and what with one thing and another the series was abandoned. I enjoyed the graphic novel part of the book much more than the straight text. It was kind of distracting that they had both; I wish they had simply made the entire series in graphic novel form only. Sad that the series didn't live up to its original promise.

[Alexi Babez]

I was sad because the author said that they would carry on the series but then they said they were gonna end the series there =(

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty pissed to come to the end of this volume and find out that not only is this not the end of the story, but the story was never concluded. I can't say I'm surprised. The artist, the amazing Ploog, was putting a lot of effort into this script; a script that was pretty weak. The story was yet another fantasy escape story ala Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Peter Pan, and Harry Potter. This type of story has been done better in the recent Birthright comic book series as well.

The twist on the formula is that the world of Abadazad has been serialized as a book series in the narrative's universe. The series is written by a man who was told the real story by a young girl who spent a lot of time in Abadazad (sort of like if J.M Barrie wrote Peter Pan after Wendy had told him the story).

[Kell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first two books in this series last year. Apparently, the original deal was for eight books, but only four were written and, sadly, only three published (the third isn’t available in the US). It’s a shame, because the idea is rather wonderful and the half-written, half-comic strip style works really well (the artwork is marvelous too).

This third installment doesn’t really live up to the previous two books, but it’s not bad at all. I really wish they had continued with the series, because it’s left on rather a cliff-hanger. Still, if you like comic books, fantasy and a classic-type children’s story with a twist, you may well enjoy this series.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! So glad to have finally tracked this one down. Had to go all the way to the U. K. to find it. But now that we've read it, what to do with it? Considering selling.

[Neville Ridley-smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sad this series wasn't continued...