A graphic novel is, in form, a bound book with material similar to full novels. They can be hardcover or card stock and include topics of fiction and non-fiction, or even such things as anthologies or collections.
The graphic novel is distinguished from comics or comic books even though the bulk of the material consists of art work. Comic books are printed on inexpensive bulk paper and graphic novels are printed on much higher quality of paper. Some are truly beautiful with glossy pages and beautiful illustrations. Moreover, comics contain advertising whereas graphic novels do not. Also, graphic novels invariably contain a story line that has a beginning, middle, and end; comic books tend to be episodic in nature. Comic books are much, much, shorter than graphic novels (some graphic novels I've seen approach 150 pages--an average seems to be around 100 pages.
I mention these attributes to graphic novels because some purported-to-be graphic novels are nothing more than a few comics put together with a card stock cover. It is so disappointing when a title is described and billed as a graphic novel and you spend your money expecting to get a graphic novel, but end up with a glorified comic book. Now, let's take a look at All You Need Is Kill, Graphic Novel to see how it stands up under scrutiny.
All You Need Is Kill, Graphic Novel has 96 pages--more than a comic book, so it does fit into the size of a graphic novel. The cover is card stock. Again, not something a comic book usually has, so good, so far.
The only advertising I saw was on the last page--the author advertising his own original novel, All You Need Is Kill (and one other novel by him); so that's very good. The cover art and the illustrations inside, by Lee Ferguson, are beautifully rendered and colored and the art is on glossy paper that is, indeed, beautiful to look at. Additionally, its dimensions are 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.2 inches, weighs 4.8 oz. (shipping), and it is in the English Language [ISBN-10: 142156081X; ISBN-13: 978-1421560816].
The story is adapted by Nick Mamatas, and it is clear that the story is adapted from All You Need Is Kill (the novel). Remembering that it is a graphic novel, we know that not everything can be included from a full size book--this one (including the "After- ward") is 269 pages; distilling the book down to 96 pages of art, it seems that the requirement of having a complete story arc is met. And, while the adaptor does a good job selecting what to include in the graphic novel and includes all of the critical story elements, the dialog and scene descriptions fall far short of what I consider good. To me, it just looks as if they rushed this graphic novel into production too fast to get it right. Disappointing.
It is terrible that this brand new book is already falling apart! At the spine, the whole spine seems to be starting to come loose as well as the individual pages. I LOVE my books and I have gently read the book and handled it, only to see this happen. I really don't like it that some publishers permit shoddy craftsmanship like this. This is factored into my review of the book.
Technically, all the elements appear to be met to consider this a graphic novel. I did love the beautiful art, the cover, and the story line, but thought that the execution of the dialog and scene descriptions were far below what I'd consider to be good. Moreover, I've only read the book once and opened it a second time to take pictures. It is disappointing that the book is already falling apart.
What had started out as a 5 star graphic novel has dropped to 2.5 but I round off the number, because of these failings. My advice is to skip the graphic novel and go straight for the novel. Save your $8.75--I'm sorry I bought it. I can't show it here, but my book is falling apart; the pages coming out and the binding loosening from the book. I'm very unhappy with it.