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Nosferatu
Nosferatu is a dark, edgy tale inspired by the film of the same name. This modern spin on the timeless horror story follows Tommy and her roommate Elle as the nefarious vampire Count Orlok draws them into his obsession with death and disease. Old-world magic combines with technology and terror alerts when Orlok, the Nosferatu, pays our shores a visit.(110pgs)
- GenresGraphic NovelsVampires
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 3, 2012
I know what you're thinking. Right now, you're looking at the cover of this book, and you're thinking something uncharitable and sarcastic; something along the lines of, "Gee, I always felt that FW Murnau's 1921 classic 'Nosferatu' would've been so much better if only it were set in the modern day and the two young lovers at its heart had been played by a pair of Suicide Girls." I know, because I thought exactly the same thing, and, accordingly, resolved not to buy it.
Well, shame on me. I ended up caving, because my love of Murnau's film is such that I can't help but be curious about anything relating to it. And it turns out...it's good. In fact, it's VERY good. Contrary to what that cover might have you think, the young lovers Hutter and Ellie (here reimagined as an inner-city lesbian couple) aren't at all portrayed as figures of softcore titillation either in the writing or the interior art; they're genuinely likable, intelligently-written characters, and you believe in the strength of their relationship from the very first page. (Also, the comic's Hutter is, beyond question, more charismatic than Gustav von Wangenheim's.) The reimagined versions of the film's characters and famous sequences are imaginatively done, and feel fresh and inventive - though no attempt has been made, thankfully, to update Orlock, who is pleasingly in-character throughout. (Though he - also thankfully - is for the most part not portrayed as a Romantic Vampire [TM], there's a funny moment wherein his interior monologue reveals his belief that Ellie's soul "longs for his kiss", when we, the readers, know that her soul does nothing of the sort.)
It's not perfect; there are some pop culture references here and there that are a tad groanworthy, and the reimagined Bullner (a hardassed homeland-security officer) is a stock figure whose presence, ultimately, doesn't have much impact on the outcome (though, in fairness, this latter complaint applies to the film's Bullner as well). Most notably, though it has plenty of heart, the book lacks the poetry of its model (or, for that matter, of the Herzog remake); Orlock's demise is reconfigured here as a vaguely slapstick action sequence rather than the haunting, dreamy conflagration of the film. (The book's coda is also a bit of a cop-out, but I'm willing to let that slide, because, as I said, I found myself liking the two young lovers so much that I actually really wanted them to have a happy ending.) On the whole, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives; it won't replace Murnau's achievement in my or anyone else's heart, but it's an intriguing, vastly entertaining companion piece with two really strong, well-written female leads, and therefore recommended.
(If the book ever gets reissued, though, they really, really should invest in a new cover; the current one is crass and cheap, completely fails to accurately represent the book's tone and the way its heroines are presented, and has likely already repelled more than a few potential readers. Unless the idea behind the cover was to lower expectations of the book and allow said readers to be pleasantly surprised, in which case, hey, mission accomplished.)
Well, shame on me. I ended up caving, because my love of Murnau's film is such that I can't help but be curious about anything relating to it. And it turns out...it's good. In fact, it's VERY good. Contrary to what that cover might have you think, the young lovers Hutter and Ellie (here reimagined as an inner-city lesbian couple) aren't at all portrayed as figures of softcore titillation either in the writing or the interior art; they're genuinely likable, intelligently-written characters, and you believe in the strength of their relationship from the very first page. (Also, the comic's Hutter is, beyond question, more charismatic than Gustav von Wangenheim's.) The reimagined versions of the film's characters and famous sequences are imaginatively done, and feel fresh and inventive - though no attempt has been made, thankfully, to update Orlock, who is pleasingly in-character throughout. (Though he - also thankfully - is for the most part not portrayed as a Romantic Vampire [TM], there's a funny moment wherein his interior monologue reveals his belief that Ellie's soul "longs for his kiss", when we, the readers, know that her soul does nothing of the sort.)
It's not perfect; there are some pop culture references here and there that are a tad groanworthy, and the reimagined Bullner (a hardassed homeland-security officer) is a stock figure whose presence, ultimately, doesn't have much impact on the outcome (though, in fairness, this latter complaint applies to the film's Bullner as well). Most notably, though it has plenty of heart, the book lacks the poetry of its model (or, for that matter, of the Herzog remake); Orlock's demise is reconfigured here as a vaguely slapstick action sequence rather than the haunting, dreamy conflagration of the film. (The book's coda is also a bit of a cop-out, but I'm willing to let that slide, because, as I said, I found myself liking the two young lovers so much that I actually really wanted them to have a happy ending.) On the whole, though, the positives far outweigh the negatives; it won't replace Murnau's achievement in my or anyone else's heart, but it's an intriguing, vastly entertaining companion piece with two really strong, well-written female leads, and therefore recommended.
(If the book ever gets reissued, though, they really, really should invest in a new cover; the current one is crass and cheap, completely fails to accurately represent the book's tone and the way its heroines are presented, and has likely already repelled more than a few potential readers. Unless the idea behind the cover was to lower expectations of the book and allow said readers to be pleasantly surprised, in which case, hey, mission accomplished.)
January 5, 2013
A rather good retelling of the Nosferatu story made famous in F.W. Murnau's classic silent film.
I'm no connoisseur of the artwork in graphic novels or the merits of the artists who draw/ink them but I thought Justin Wayne's went well with Wolf's story.
I'm no connoisseur of the artwork in graphic novels or the merits of the artists who draw/ink them but I thought Justin Wayne's went well with Wolf's story.
July 1, 2017
Found this in discount bin at Half Price Books. An interesting modern retelling of the classic silent film (if you don't know the history, look it up. Basically it was an unlicensed rip off of the book Dracula about a decade before the 1932 film.) in graphic novel form.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews