(Zero spoiler review)
It might seem rather strange to read this third volume only a week or so after finishing re-reading the prose version. I must admit, at times it did occasionally grate during the odd down moment here or there, but it did make for a very accurate comparison between the two. It goes without saying, Martin's magnum opus won out over the two, although it would take something truly incompetent, truly imbecilic to water down such a fantastic piece of fantasy into something unreadable. Thankfully, A Clash of Kings volume three, although not as enjoyable as other entries in this comics series, is still pretty damn good.
Again, when you are adapting ASOIAF, it's not that hard to make it outstanding, that said, I would question the pacing and plotting of this arc. I seem to remember previous volumes coming in at over 200 pages. This one is a fairly formulaic 160 odd, and the omissions and rushed nature take its toll here and there. The page is often so overcrowded with text boxes, that what little we see of the art is muted behind all that speech. Not only this, but each panel describes so much, that the art is little more than a stagnant picture framing the words. I have nothing against wordy comics, especially when adapting Martin's magnificent dialogue, but a trick has definitely been missed here. not only is the art a little hit and miss for me, but it really doesn't feel like the art is telling enough of the story either. I don't necessarily blame the artist for this, nor necessarily the adaptation. It was no mean feat squeezing all this into 160 pages, although the end result was a little underwhelming.
As stated above, the art is not particularly to my taste, although its far from bad. The variance in character face models was a little grating, and I don't like the colouring all that much. That and the character models being so different to what I have grown accustomed to over the show's 8 years. I get that they characters don't have to reflect the actors and actresses, although some are so overwhelmingly opposing from the show in their looks, that it really, really bugs me. And some are just 'generic fantasy person number fifteen'.
I'm giving this a bit of stick, but it's still pretty damn good. But again, that comes down to George and George alone, really. I'm glad these adaptations exist, if nothing else than a testament to the medium which George grew up on, but it would take a significant change in format and an upgrade in artistry to match the novels themselves. 4/5
OmniBen.