The Last Days of Pompeii

by Classics Illustrated, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, William B. Jones Jr. (Contributor)

An evil magician attempts to stop a young woman from marrying the man she loves. They escape while a volcano destroys Pompeii.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

48 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2012

About the author

Classics Illustrated is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Les Miserables, Moby-Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1969, producing 169 issues. Following the series' demise, various companies reprinted its titles. Since then, the Classics Illustrated brand has been used to create new comic book adaptations.

Reviews

[Angel Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last days of Pompeii has been made into films, series, documentaries, exhibits and much more. For years I’ve been meaning to read the classic story behind that but never got around to it. Some months ago a friend of mine mentioned “Classics Illustrated” to me. So I decided to check them out.

I got a copy of one of the illustrated comics and then compared the story to one of the actual classic novels side by side. I found that the conversations and content was pretty much the same. Instead of all the descriptions, you just get the main story and dialogue as the images do all the describing you need.

Anyway, The last days of Pompeii was the first one I read in its entirety. I gotta tell you guys, I found this story to be pretty damn jacked up. First and foremost, the story was nothing like I expected. The actual volcano eruption has very little to do with the story. Instead it focused on following around a man named Glaucus, his love interests and a few other key individuals.

The whole story is terribly troublesome. I mean, dudes are getting away with some grimy, horrible stuff. But that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, we are talking about Ancient Rome after all. Slaves were a common thing, money and power was all that mattered to people back then. The rest of human life was insignificant. Without putting forth any spoilers, this story had me reeling as I read. I couldn’t believe what I was reading and how certain people were treated. This was a tough time to be alive and don’t you be expecting a real happy ending here. Well, for some it is, but for some who matter it really isn’t.

Damn, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, you sure were a brutal writer!

[Osama Siddique · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a love story set in the days leading to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius but that calamity only figures in the story and this graphic novel towards the end. Gloucus the dashing Greek, the beautiful Ione, Nydia the blind Thessalian, Arbaces the wicked Egyptian priest and a host of other characters populate the story where jealousy, rivalry and passion motivate various characters to plot and conspire and undo the union of Gloucus and Ione. Only Nydia proves herself to be selfless in her love for Gloucus. It is a mediocre story with mediocre illustrations.

[Mylesgorton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story and adaptation a little clunky, but ok for what it is!

[Kumar]

i want 2 read this book