Eagle Strike: An Alex Rider Graphic Novel

Alex Rider: The Graphic Novels #4

by Antony Johnston (adapter), Anthony Horowitz, Kanako (Illustrations)

Teen superspy Alex Rider faces a pop star bent on world destruction and a lethal group of assassins in graphic novel adaptations of two of his thrilling adventures.
When his relaxing holiday with Sabine Pleasure and her family is interrupted by a ruthless attack, teenage MI6 agent Alex Rider knows it s no accident. Determined to hunt down the hit man who sent Sabine s father into a coma, Alex plunges headfirst into a world of violence and mystery, uncovering a sinister plan to start a nuclear war. And once the missiles are launched, Alex has just ninety minutes to save the world. . . ."

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Comics, Fiction, Adventure, Action, Thriller

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2012

About the author

** Sign up for Antony's newsletter at http://ajwriter.substack.com **

Antony Johnston is a multi-award-winning author, a New York Times bestseller, and one of the most versatile writers of the modern era.

The Charlize Theron movie Atomic Blonde was based on his graphic novel. His murder mystery series The Dog Sitter Detective won the Barker Book Award. His crime puzzle novel Can You Solve the Murder? reinvented choose-your-own-story books for a mainstream audience and was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year. And his productivity guide The Organised Writer has helped authors all over the world take control of their workload.

Antony is a celebrated videogames writer, with genre-defining titles including Dead Space, Shadow of Mordor, and Resident Evil Village to his credit. His work on Silent Hill Ascension made him the only writer in the world to have contributed to all of gaming’s ‘big three’ horror franchises.

His immense body of work also includes Marvel superheroes such as Daredevil and Shang-Chi, the award-winning Alex Rider graphic novels, the post-apocalypse epic Wasteland, and more. He wrote and directed the film Crossover Point, made entirely in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic.

An experienced podcaster and public speaker, he also frequently writes articles on the life of an author, and is a prolific musician.

Antony is a former vice chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, a member of International Thriller Writers and the Society of Authors, a Shore Scripts screenwriting judge, and sits on the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s videogames committee. He lives and works in England.

Reviews

[Isaac Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living with a half dozen teenagers has me revisiting childhood books. It’s been a mixed bag.

[Flan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying these graphic novels and really coming to like the illustrations. From what I've read under the acknowledgements, the artists are sisters who live seas apart yet collaborate seamlessly which to me is a pretty amazing feat. The artists captured facial expressions really well in this volume.

At first, I couldn't quite understand the significance of the words in bold because it seemed like unnecessary emphasis. However, as the story went on, the words in bold fit in with the character dialogue. Also having only done basic french in secondary school, I couldn't understand what Alex was saying in some scenes; there really ought to be some sort of translation somewhere.

Overall a good adaptation. Looking forward to picking more of these in the future.

[Theo · Rating 2 out of 5]

JACK DOESN'T HAVE BLONDE HAIR SHE HAS RED HAIR
That was even mentioned in the books so why have they got it wrong??? I am disappointed.

[Annelies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this isn't at all how I pictured Damian Cray, but it does suit him.
Knocking down an entire star because the graphic novels follow the books like Stormbreaker the movie.

[Jaden C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

[Nacho Patiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

GGGGGGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD!

[Panashe]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Rider Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz is a Spy fiction graphic Novel. In the book it starts out with Alex on vacation with his friend. But then he sees a yacht pull up and sees someone he knows someone bad. He follows them and overhears him talking to someone very famous. He then gets word that his friends villa exploded. Alex already knows who it is. He tells the cops but no one believes him since the person he is exclusion is very famous and has donated huge amounts of money as well as met the president. Alex then hears about how they are having a production reveal and he decides to go. The person who Alex is looking for is Cray. Cray yells to the crowd is their any teenagers out there who want to volunteer Alex gets picked by someone else and since the two of them know each other Cray made a game that is the character gets hurt you can feel it. So Cray tricks Alex into hurting himself and Alex goes back to his house. Alex sneaks into Crays mansion and finds a USB card that holds a plan that can shoot missiles into the air. Alex and his friend get kidnapped by cray and Alex is put into the game. Alex finds a way out but they are soon caught. Since Cray is famous he can go onto the airfield. Cray uses his pane to fake a fire so everyone is gone. When Cray met the president he had a cast that molded the fingerprints of the president onto it. Cray then can use it to launch the missiles. Alex and cray fight and Alex then pushes Cray off the flying plane. Alex stops the missiles and the plane lands. Everyone who didn’t believe Alex is now shocked and Alex and his friend go their ways.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that this exciting adventure series by Anthony Horowitz is finding a new life in a graphic novel format. Teenage spy prodigy Alex is on vacation in France with a friend/girlfriend when he sees a shady figure from his past. Things get rough pretty quickly as bombs explode, and Alex is forced to fight a bull and play a virtual reality game invented by a mad man. The James Bond-like spy gadgets are fun. I used to explain in reference interviews that Alex Rider is like a teen aged James Bond, with the same high adrenaline escapades, but without the romance.

In the original series it is believable that this adolescent is crucial to high level international espionage. In this adaptation he just keeps happening on bad guys. There is a lack of substance to his character and to any of the supporting characters. The dialogue is trite and unbelievable. Also, there is a giant snake with eyelashes.

This might work as a hi/lo reader for teens. It is possible that this could introduce 10-12 yr olds to the fiction series.

[Roz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super fun and just what the doctor ordered after some serious reading.

I actually bought this for school, to read with the kids who are miles behind where they should be with reading skills. Pictures help them to work out the story, so it makes them more open to giving the book (or should I say 'words') a try. Anyhow, as it is Alex Rider and I am a huge fan of the series, I just had to read it first.

I think, if memory serves me correctly, that this follows the movie version of book 1, and not the written version. I don't think Sabina had a role in Stormbreaker. But then it has been a while.

Bright colours, easy to follow. Oh, and it definitely sets the reader up to wanting to read 'Scorpia', the fifth book.

[Maggie Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was never going to like this book, so if you're a fan of the Alex Rider series good for you feel free to disregard this review. It was what it was, Alex Rider boy spy, is trying to be on vacation from his spy life with his teen girl friend and her family at a french villa- like you do. When he sees an evil assassin/spy arrives on a yacht standing on the, standing at the very front of the yacht like well trained spies surely do. and the adventure takes of from there. I found it unbelievable and a bit silly, but that's the point right? The illustrations were good, clearly going for a manga look and executed proficiently.

[Mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the graphic novel, although some characters were not how I was expecting them to look. I wasn't really expecting Damian Cray to look like the illustrations. And Jack. There are a few mistakes though. First of all, Jack has red hair, not blonde. There were some things that didn't happen in the real book. The madman in the first book was "Harrod" Sayle, not Darrius. There were some other minor things, but overall it was great! The illustrations are awesome! Pretty good, minus the minor mistakes.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed story with vivid supporting graphics make this a strong candidate for struggling/reluctant readers. Although it is not the first in the series, there was enough information given to easily follow the story line. May also be an inducement for readers who enjoy it to pick up the text version next.

Alex is on vacation when an unexpected attack drives him to track down the dangerous hit man without support from the MI-6.

[Dean]

This book was action-packed and Alex got himself into a real big problem this time. Alex found out that a famous singer is completely evil. Alex gets caught at one of his concerts and plays the new video game the Damian cray created. Damian found out he was a spy and tried to kill him in a real-life version of the game and that is not it.

[Donna Luu · Rating 3 out of 5]

New to the graphic novel genre: got this for my kids and decided to try it out. A quick introduction to this series (though this is #4) of novels, I'm glad the ending is not too explicit or graphic, ironically.

[Amelia Lavigne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi6 agent Alex Rider who still a young teenager had gone on a holiday with his school friend, Sabrina. However, a mystery attack on the south of France makes Alex Rider alert and which it ruin his holiday. What is the secret behind the attack?

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful. learnt wonderous and plentiful things. googled "What colour is snake blood" "burma" and "bird strike wikipedia" learnt a lot i assume is true about air force 1. I didnt realize the US President could launch the nukes from his private jet.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta give 4 stars to my favorite Alex Rider book in graphic novel form. So sad that my bae died in this one though :(

[Ellyn → Allonsythornraxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good, definitely my favourite so far!

[Tim Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable teen spy series.

[Cartoonluk · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my favorite graphic novel of all times

[Wonu ヽ(ಥ益ಥ;) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s alright

[Akshat]

The book was nice although i felt the characters from the previous books were retconed.

[Max S]

good

[19pearsonM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book was good and very interesting and teaches you a lot about young people.

[Deja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this one. Point Blanc (the second book) is still and will probably always remain my favorite

[brody]

IT WAS GREAT!

[laaibahhh :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a great adaptation of the book and i really loved the illustrations, though i wish jack was a redhead :)

[D E X · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO. GOOD

[Joey Gaudino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illustrations were okay, some grainy. Some word bubbles were cut off on pages