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[Peaceful Warrior: The Graphic Novel (Peaceful Warrior Saga)] [Author: Millman, Dan] [December, 2010]
In this bold, visual reinterpretation of "Way of the Peaceful Warrior," his unique saga of growth and enlightenment, Millman and artist Winegarner started from scratch, melding the peaceful warrior story to the style and dynamism of the graphic novel.
Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
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321 people want to read
About the author
Dan Millman
115 books1,173 followersDaniel Jay Millman is an American author and lecturer in the personal development field. He is best-known for the movie Peaceful Warrior, which is based on his own life and taken from one of his books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 15, 2021
'Life isn't about success or failure. It's about testing your limits.'
October 23, 2018
A book picked up in a mad frenzy called Bookfair. I bet I fell for the cover and the words graphic novel and didn't bother reading the blurb. Three years later it is haunting me.
Apparently adapted from a famous book, which has been dubbed classic. This is part autobiographical and fictional story of spiritual coming of age story of an young athlete called Dan, who meets a weird old man in a gas station who changed his being.
Karate Kid plot meets Robin Sharma spiritualism meets Paulo Coelho's language meets White Man's idea of eastern philosophy meets armature art in a poorly constructed storyboard.
Dan loses his father, he does poorly at the gymnastic finals, dreams about an old man, with whom he has a chance meeting when he goes super biker mode and runs out of gas. Finds him jumping from roof to ground in seconds, Dan ends up calling the old man Socrates. Meets a lively girl called Joy who serves nothing to the plot beyond romantic interest and vanishes from Dan's life without an explanation and with a sunset goodbye.
Art is amateur, the pen and ink needed more balance, some panels were beautiful when they were drawn around nature, the athletes performing were drawn well, but overall it was very schoolbook oriented art. It didn't help the story anyway.
If eating vegetarian and fasting, running, abstaining from sex made one a peaceful being, the whole world would've been a better place. The sycophancy of self-help authors with cosmic harmony, and fighting evil within is nauseating. From fighting imaginary samurai to sewing to maintaining a journal to calm one's mind in graphic novel form was torturous. But I ain't no quitter, so I finished the book with an angry mind and sadly not with a peaceful heart. This was borderline a bad reading companion.
Apparently adapted from a famous book, which has been dubbed classic. This is part autobiographical and fictional story of spiritual coming of age story of an young athlete called Dan, who meets a weird old man in a gas station who changed his being.
Karate Kid plot meets Robin Sharma spiritualism meets Paulo Coelho's language meets White Man's idea of eastern philosophy meets armature art in a poorly constructed storyboard.
Dan loses his father, he does poorly at the gymnastic finals, dreams about an old man, with whom he has a chance meeting when he goes super biker mode and runs out of gas. Finds him jumping from roof to ground in seconds, Dan ends up calling the old man Socrates. Meets a lively girl called Joy who serves nothing to the plot beyond romantic interest and vanishes from Dan's life without an explanation and with a sunset goodbye.
Art is amateur, the pen and ink needed more balance, some panels were beautiful when they were drawn around nature, the athletes performing were drawn well, but overall it was very schoolbook oriented art. It didn't help the story anyway.
If eating vegetarian and fasting, running, abstaining from sex made one a peaceful being, the whole world would've been a better place. The sycophancy of self-help authors with cosmic harmony, and fighting evil within is nauseating. From fighting imaginary samurai to sewing to maintaining a journal to calm one's mind in graphic novel form was torturous. But I ain't no quitter, so I finished the book with an angry mind and sadly not with a peaceful heart. This was borderline a bad reading companion.
March 20, 2019
This story is a great read in the matters of philosophy and modern knowledge through the mistakes we make every day, I understood that there are no ordinary moments in time. It casts the story of a combination between Way of and Journey of a Peaceful Warrior. The Peaceful Warrior series has proven to leave a positive impact in my daily life. I am glad this series was introduced to my life while I was young and my brain still maturing and growing. This series of books, (so far that I have read,) has changed my life for the better.
June 23, 2011
This was terrible, as a graphic novel. Perhaps it's better as a book--I haven't read it, and am unlikely to based on this version--but the dialogue is stilted, the "revelations" ham-handed, and the art is insufficient to make up for the poor storyboarding and script. One of the few books in the last couple of years I've actually put away unfinished. I expected more based on others' reviews.
January 2, 2015
I haven't read the full book but I have watched the movie. This is a great story about searching within yourself and finding strength and courage to achieve a peaceful mind and body. A moving story about overcoming obstacles and a great read for teens.
October 5, 2021
Motivational story but a bit cliche.
May 16, 2019
Great graphic novel with many deep meaningful messages. Live it.
Here’s my takeways from this book:
It’s ok to be afraid, we all feel scared sometimes, but you can’t let fear stop you.
You’re full of what you think you know. And you think more than you know. But knowledge isn’t the same as wisdom.
Body wisdom - You lose your mind. You come to your senses.
The world is a school. If you don’t learn the easy lessons, they get harder.
Your muscles store past emotions as tension, that’s what hurts.
Meditation - Breathe deeply into your belly. When you notice any thoughts or feelings come up. Just let them flow by like a river. No need to cling to anything. Just let it be.
To truly help others, first understand yourself, then you’ll know how to exert the right leverages, in the right place, at the right time.
If you get too serious about your purity and discipline, the stress is going to kill you.
Don’t take your thoughts seriously.
When you have an angry thought, you automatically become angry. You get a sad thought, you feel depressed. You’re still driven by illusions, reacting to every stray thoughts like a puppet on a string.
Notice what passes throguh your awareness - the snippets of inner dialouge, the pictures.
There are no ordinary moments, give everything you do - walking, breathing, eating - the same attention you give to a double somersault, that is the warrior’s way and that is the key to your gateway.
The gateway is right here, right now.
Meditation has value, but we don’t live in a sitting position. Eventually, you have to open your eyes, take out the garbage, sweep the floor. Action is the heart of the warrior’s way. Make the here and now your meditation.
What are you doing now? Are you relaxed? Are you breathing? Notice the sounds of your words, the shape of your lips.
Look upward to the core of thought...Feel the energy rising to the sky of mind...Enter the space between waking and sleeping...between life and death. Find the gateway. Begin the journey now, but beware - the mind is a trickster wearing many masks...and the gateway is guarded by a demon called fear. Past and future are illusions. Give them no energy. only the present moment is real. Discover your real adversary and maybe next time you’ll fare better.
Lifr appears out of mystery. Not controllable or predictable.
Everything that begins also ends, make peace with that, and all will be well.
Life is not about success or failure. It’s avout testing your limits.
Wherever you step, the path will appear.
We can’t control anyoutcomes in life, only our efforts. All we can do is show up and do our best.
Aim for excellence in the moment.
Once we climb a mountain, it is human nature to look for another mountain to climb.
Repay others by passing it on.
All the time he was fighting only himself.
Know less and less for certain. Come to embrace Paradox, Humor, and Change - and to appreciate that life is a mystery we can only live one moment at a time.
The journey continues, without end, but now the path is filled with light, and that makes all the difference.
Here’s my takeways from this book:
It’s ok to be afraid, we all feel scared sometimes, but you can’t let fear stop you.
You’re full of what you think you know. And you think more than you know. But knowledge isn’t the same as wisdom.
Body wisdom - You lose your mind. You come to your senses.
The world is a school. If you don’t learn the easy lessons, they get harder.
Your muscles store past emotions as tension, that’s what hurts.
Meditation - Breathe deeply into your belly. When you notice any thoughts or feelings come up. Just let them flow by like a river. No need to cling to anything. Just let it be.
To truly help others, first understand yourself, then you’ll know how to exert the right leverages, in the right place, at the right time.
If you get too serious about your purity and discipline, the stress is going to kill you.
Don’t take your thoughts seriously.
When you have an angry thought, you automatically become angry. You get a sad thought, you feel depressed. You’re still driven by illusions, reacting to every stray thoughts like a puppet on a string.
Notice what passes throguh your awareness - the snippets of inner dialouge, the pictures.
There are no ordinary moments, give everything you do - walking, breathing, eating - the same attention you give to a double somersault, that is the warrior’s way and that is the key to your gateway.
The gateway is right here, right now.
Meditation has value, but we don’t live in a sitting position. Eventually, you have to open your eyes, take out the garbage, sweep the floor. Action is the heart of the warrior’s way. Make the here and now your meditation.
What are you doing now? Are you relaxed? Are you breathing? Notice the sounds of your words, the shape of your lips.
Look upward to the core of thought...Feel the energy rising to the sky of mind...Enter the space between waking and sleeping...between life and death. Find the gateway. Begin the journey now, but beware - the mind is a trickster wearing many masks...and the gateway is guarded by a demon called fear. Past and future are illusions. Give them no energy. only the present moment is real. Discover your real adversary and maybe next time you’ll fare better.
Lifr appears out of mystery. Not controllable or predictable.
Everything that begins also ends, make peace with that, and all will be well.
Life is not about success or failure. It’s avout testing your limits.
Wherever you step, the path will appear.
We can’t control anyoutcomes in life, only our efforts. All we can do is show up and do our best.
Aim for excellence in the moment.
Once we climb a mountain, it is human nature to look for another mountain to climb.
Repay others by passing it on.
All the time he was fighting only himself.
Know less and less for certain. Come to embrace Paradox, Humor, and Change - and to appreciate that life is a mystery we can only live one moment at a time.
The journey continues, without end, but now the path is filled with light, and that makes all the difference.
March 22, 2017
I'm not sure what that was. It was good. The art was good. The guy's life story was interesting. This is the graphic novelization of the popular book(s), but not the same as the movie version. I would summarize it thusly: athlete has accident, questions everything, meets guru, spends life searching for transcendence, thinks he finds it, teaches others. I'm not sure what you might take from that, but go ahead and take it for all it's worth! As Woody Allen wrote in Annie Hall, “I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.”
September 12, 2022
I wasn’t expecting this book to drop philosophical nuggets on me one after the other that too in such an engaging way. It was good. I liked all the parts where Socrates was speaking. I wish I had a mentor like what Dan Milman had in the story. I’ve highlighted some of the Socrates’ dialogues. I’m going to revisit them later.
September 3, 2022
This reminded me of the books from Richard Bach that I read many years ago. It is interesting, and the comic format should suit well to the story, but in this case it feels rushed to pass too many messages and ideas. There is a text only version that I might read in the future.
September 16, 2018
I wish that everyone would read this book. Its message is too important to ignore. Highly recommended!
December 21, 2020
Nice to see it and enjoy it in graphic novel format but enjoyed the book more.
May 13, 2021
Holds fairly true to the book
August 17, 2021
Death is always safe...
October 14, 2022
Cobra Kai s2
November 27, 2023
Predobro.
January 20, 2024
Great Book, provides us with a life changing experience and gives us a more enlightened way of living our life. Nice and immersive artwork. Give it a Try.
December 21, 2016
Book about how to life. Give attention to the present you.
Read
December 10, 2010Dan is a young man in college, a gymnast determined to make the team for Nationals. After he loses his father to a heart attack, Dan has the same nightmare over and over, and his workouts and schoolwork begin to suffer. While out on his motorcycle, Dan stops to fill up the tank and meets a strange man who turns out to be the same man who appears in his nightmares. Dan calls the man Socrates and discovers that he wishes to teach Dan about life.
One night after leaving Socrates at the gas station, Dan is hit by a car and his femur is shattered. Miserable that he can no longer compete in gymnastics, Dan goes back to Socrates for help. Socrates gives it but explains to Dan that he needs to think of the bigger picture. Dan follows the instructions he is given to get stronger again and falls in love with Joy, who is also learning from Socrates. After finally recovering so he can compete for Nationals, Dan decides it’s time to take what he learned from Socrates further. He spends years travelling the world learning all he can from others so he can find himself and the purpose of his life. Dan Millman has written a wonderfully inspiring story in Peaceful Warrior. Based somewhat on his novel Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Millman has expanded on his collection of spiritual stories with his first graphic novel. It is a well-written story with a touch of the supernatural and is complemented nicely by some great artwork by Andrew Winegarner. I think this is a story that will be enjoyed by adults and young adults alike. I also think Dan Millman has gotten his message of the individual being a part of something much larger very nicely without being preachy. Recommended. Reviewed by: Colleen Wanglund
One night after leaving Socrates at the gas station, Dan is hit by a car and his femur is shattered. Miserable that he can no longer compete in gymnastics, Dan goes back to Socrates for help. Socrates gives it but explains to Dan that he needs to think of the bigger picture. Dan follows the instructions he is given to get stronger again and falls in love with Joy, who is also learning from Socrates. After finally recovering so he can compete for Nationals, Dan decides it’s time to take what he learned from Socrates further. He spends years travelling the world learning all he can from others so he can find himself and the purpose of his life. Dan Millman has written a wonderfully inspiring story in Peaceful Warrior. Based somewhat on his novel Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Millman has expanded on his collection of spiritual stories with his first graphic novel. It is a well-written story with a touch of the supernatural and is complemented nicely by some great artwork by Andrew Winegarner. I think this is a story that will be enjoyed by adults and young adults alike. I also think Dan Millman has gotten his message of the individual being a part of something much larger very nicely without being preachy. Recommended. Reviewed by: Colleen Wanglund
Read
February 16, 2017Great Book. felt so challenged after reading this book.
March 26, 2011
I read the original prose-only version of this book way back my freshman year of college, alongside some other similar titles like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Doors of Perception, etc etc. Taken as a story it's a great metaphor for leading of life of peace, health, and thoughtful reflection. Taken as a memoir it's an interesting new-age treatise. This adaptation does a fairly good job in bringing all those elements together, and while Winegarner's art is fairly simple (for some reason I kept thinking of a simpler Scott McCloud while reading it) it does a good job in getting the story across in a very direct way. Even the crazy psychedelic sections.
My only problem with this is I think most teens and 20-somethings who might read the comic version would be just as likely to pick up and read the traditional prose version. Maybe it's my own preconceptions of what teens read creeping in, but I don't see someone who reads Captain America, Naruto or even Thompson's Blankets picking this up in place of the prose work. I hope I'm wrong, because it is a story with a lot to say.
My only problem with this is I think most teens and 20-somethings who might read the comic version would be just as likely to pick up and read the traditional prose version. Maybe it's my own preconceptions of what teens read creeping in, but I don't see someone who reads Captain America, Naruto or even Thompson's Blankets picking this up in place of the prose work. I hope I'm wrong, because it is a story with a lot to say.
January 26, 2016
"There are no ordinary Moments" Is an one line for this book which is about finding yourself.
Among the everyday busy, chaos of life, we forget to listen to our inner self. We forget to focus on the little things that bring us health and happiness. Millman takes you through a small narrative with just couple of characters and shows you the way of peaceful warrior and briefly incepts in you its spiritual techniques. Like he says “The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.” and shows you his path in his search for inner peace, he emphasizes on people to take control and be in the present. He instructs us to enjoy the complete moment it may be from the way you breath to having a cup of coffee when the early morning sun pricks you with its beam of lights. Don't give yourself into the confusion, disguise and bigotry of life. A must read for beginners to look at life differently and what to take from life, I will leave you with his one last quote
“Where are you? Here
What time is it? Now
What are you? This moment.”
Among the everyday busy, chaos of life, we forget to listen to our inner self. We forget to focus on the little things that bring us health and happiness. Millman takes you through a small narrative with just couple of characters and shows you the way of peaceful warrior and briefly incepts in you its spiritual techniques. Like he says “The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.” and shows you his path in his search for inner peace, he emphasizes on people to take control and be in the present. He instructs us to enjoy the complete moment it may be from the way you breath to having a cup of coffee when the early morning sun pricks you with its beam of lights. Don't give yourself into the confusion, disguise and bigotry of life. A must read for beginners to look at life differently and what to take from life, I will leave you with his one last quote
“Where are you? Here
What time is it? Now
What are you? This moment.”
April 11, 2015
This morning I looked at my "someday" shelf of books and decided today was a good day to start one of them. Although it sounds cliché, once I picked up this book and started reading, I couldn't put it down. There is an engaging storyline and I was drawn into the protagonist's journey. I wasn't familiar with this author and haven't read any of this other works but by the end of the book I was very satisfied with it as both a work of literature and as a graphic novel. In my opinion, some pieces don't work well as graphic novels but this book exceeded my expectations for graphic presentation of this subject material.
A quick word about my Goodreads shelf choices for this book - parts of it do have an autobiographical flavor and some parts of the main character's journey strike me as pure fiction. No disrespect to the author is intended, this was merely my impression of the book. For this reason I feel it is most accurately classified as "philosophy".
A quick word about my Goodreads shelf choices for this book - parts of it do have an autobiographical flavor and some parts of the main character's journey strike me as pure fiction. No disrespect to the author is intended, this was merely my impression of the book. For this reason I feel it is most accurately classified as "philosophy".
April 15, 2012
Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman is now available as a graphic novel. The graphic novel is the exact same inspirational story presented by Millman in a wide variety of media stemming from the original book. Essentially, lost and stuck, Millman finds a mentor in the oddest of places, a gas station. Midnight conversations spark a whole new way of thinking and being.
While I’m all for making good books available to a wider audience, I worry about overexposure eating away at the power of the message of this story. Personally, I wish I had read the story once perhaps as a graphic novel such as this as it seems to best suit the feel of the experience- mysterious and a little ironic.
While I’m all for making good books available to a wider audience, I worry about overexposure eating away at the power of the message of this story. Personally, I wish I had read the story once perhaps as a graphic novel such as this as it seems to best suit the feel of the experience- mysterious and a little ironic.
April 23, 2016
Dan Millman's Peaceful Warrior in the form of a graphic novel works. The message is a simple one, but the journey helps us understand the point. The message is to practice mindfulness, and the reasons why we should practice mindfulness is what the graphic novel illustrates to us. Illustrated in black & white, the artwork is good and does a good job of telling the story. I thought the story was a good one too. The graphic novel seems to be geared towards a younger audience, although parents might want to preview the novel ahead of time since it does discuss sex.
February 10, 2011
Not going to finish ... sub par artwork.
December 4, 2012
Dan Millman, gymnast, and his spiritual quest.
May 28, 2013
A great story that teaches the lessons of self in an entertaining and inspiring spirit of an athlete, a warrior.
December 28, 2013
Mediocre art. Sweet storyline. Will try to catch the movie version! Will donate this graphic novel to the middle school, it seems to be written at that level.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews