Phantom of the Opera: Innovation

by Mitchell Perkins

Paperback

Reviews

[Sean Mccambridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate graphic novels. There, I said it. This is the third one I have read. Comic books just are not my thing. That being said, The Phantom of the Opera is an obsession of mine. If I see something Phantom related, I snatch it up. I don't regret buying this, as the artwork is certainly attractive. Gaston Leroux's novel may not be the greatest piece of french literature, but it has withstood the test of time. It has been around since 1911 and has had countless adaptations made from it. The trouble is very few of the adaptations remain faithful to the novel. This does stray a bit from the novel, it embellishes certain events, and cuts out all of the subplots, but really isn't too bad. I don't think I could recommend this to a student, even in the unlikely event that we were reading the original work in class. There just isn't enough of the novel present in this graphic novel to make it a good companion piece.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story = **
It's just not adapted well. The plot jumps forward without exposition of important happenings and what it focuses on is very often confusing. It's all so over->the->top that it can't be taken as seriously as the story demands.

Art = **
Too blurry and inexact with ever-changing tone that just looks wrong. It tries to be ethereal at all times for some reason which is annoying and fails- it just looks weird and doesn't allow the effect to have any weight.