Moby Dick: The Whale

by Classics Illustrated, Herman Melville, Louis Zansk (Illustrator)

Herman Melville's classic tale of Ishmael, Captain Ahab, and the White Whale comes to life through stark drawings in this graphic novel adaptation. Ishmael, a young merchant marine, decides to embark with his friend Queequeg on a voyage on the whaling ship the "Pequod," helmed by Captain Ahab. They soon discover that the strange captain's true mission is to find and kill Moby Dick, a great white whale who tore off Ahab's leg. Ahab's quest for revenge, a quintessential case of man against nature and good against evil, remains an enduring story that has captivated readers for generations. In this edition, Denis Deprez's haunting graphics set a dark, menacing tone for the narrative. "La historia clasica de Herman Melville de Ismael, el capitan Ahab y la ballena blanca cobra vida a traves de dibujos severos en esta adaptacion grafica. Ismael, un joven marino mercante, decide embarcarse junto con su amigo Queequeg en un viaje en el barco ballenero "Pequod," dirigido por el capitan Ahab. Pronto descubren que la verdadera mision del extrano capitan es encontrar y matar a Moby Dick, una gran ballena blanca que le arranco la pierna a Ahab. Su busqueda de venganza, un caso por excelencia del hombre contra la naturaleza y del bien contra el mal, sigue siendo una historia perdurable que ha cautivado a los lectores por generaciones. En esta edicion, los graficos inquietantes de Denis Deprez crean un tono oscuro y amenazante para la narrativa."

Genres: Comics, Classics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Adventure

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1942

About the author

Classics Illustrated is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Les Miserables, Moby-Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1969, producing 169 issues. Following the series' demise, various companies reprinted its titles. Since then, the Classics Illustrated brand has been used to create new comic book adaptations.

Reviews

[Menia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isbn 9789604368709 εκδόσεις Οξυ

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could now, in all honesty, say that I have read Moby Dick. Well, the comic book version, published at a time a comic book sold for fifteen cents, 1943. Comic book classics plus Cliff Notes is all that got my generation through college English, I think. All in all, not bad. Forty-eight color pages (reduced from sixty-four, to conserve paper during the war). I especially loved seeing Ahab's wildly manic face.

[Osama Siddique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herman Melville's epic tale of a man's obsession with a giant whale has been very well illustrated. Obviously this format can't capture the metaphorical richness and philosophical depth and nuance of the original. However, it captures the mood, atmosphere and action very well as Ishmael narrates Captain Ahab's manic search for Moby Dick in an already highly risk world of whaling on the open seas during the grand age of sailing ships. The illustrations are drawn well and from multiple perspectives, conveying the gigantic size of the whale in proportion to the ship and the boars, the choppy seas and the desperate battle between man and beast to the very last. The Classics Illustrated series reproduced original text and dialogue and that enhances the reading experience.

[Anchit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations and print was very good. I'm giving it a 2 star because the story felt quite ordinary.

This story, "Moby Dick" was partially based on Herman's own experiences aboard a whaling ship. He published a few other books first (one where he survived with canibals on an island, one which brought out life in a marine ship) which made him famous. Moby Dick was NOT a hit in that era.

However, come 1920s, the literary world declared this book a masterpiece (which it definitely isn't IMO, at least not today). One thing that the literary world really liked about the original classic was the multiple POVs of narration. That was something new at that time. However, calling this book "a deep study in psychology", a story of "man vs nature", a masterpiece in symbolism is going too far! Please! We're at an age where we have books like Da Vinci Code / Game of Thrones and a bunch of Fantasies / Psychological Thrillers. This book is nowhere close to them. Even if we discount the fact that there's too many digressions in story.

This book was neither popular then (when it was written) nor I believe it has a place now.

Coming to the main review - the story felt quite ordinary. The pacing was slow. The characters were okay. Not so memorable. I felt the narrator was quite a neutral person while his friend (Queequeg ) had a more distinct, somewhat memorable personality. Captain Ahab on the other hand - the most famous character apparently in literature - not memorable.

I'd heard "Captain Ahab" being quoted in various places so I knew he's going to be a strong character. But by today's standards of storytelling it wasn't that great. "The Prestige" shows some pretty strong characters. This book is like picking up a bodybuilder from the 1800s and going all gaga over their achievements. Just like how the memes get famous in today's world - I can never predict what odd image is suddenly going to become the next herd favorite, similarily I can never understand why would this book have been famous every anytime.

Overall, I would recommend skipping this book unless you

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic read about the world of New England whaling, and American life at the time, but also a portrait of how an obsessive quest for revenge can drive someone (Capt. Ahab) to throw caution to the wind and risk the lives of others who depended on him to get home safely to their homes and families. Amazing diversity for the day with multiple Africans and even a cannibal as part of the crew. The white whale (Moby Dick) -- thought to be demon-possessed at the time -- in hindsight gives a window into the true intelligence of whales. Horrific details about whale slaughter and harvesting of the oil included in the story a little hard to take especially the draining of the oil from the head. A little stilted to read as includes lots of "ye" and "thee" (hence my 4 stars) but an excellent historical interpretation of back in the day. The action and chase kept me and my 12-year-old son engaged in reading it though despite the old speak. The stories of the crew, where they came from, and their superstitions were also interesting. Why read these old stories? Why read the classics? Why bother? They are part of our history and we need to know it. It also gives us an appreciation of just how far we have come as a society as we no longer brutally butcher these magnificent creatures to light our cities and homes. Nice illustrations but black and white.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

HRN 71 = Eleventh Printing = No Date / No Price
+Melville Biography
+Illustrated "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Story: *****
Adapted expertly. Great choices and pacing-> that kind of thing.

Art: *****
Louis Zansky wowed me both ways- he is rock solid rendering the needs of the plot and his trimmings are a constant ethos to the heightened atmosphere. Two or three pages drew an instant "Wow" out of me from being paneled so intelligently and interestingly. Beautiful work borne through respect and dedication.

Lettering: *****
Fred Eng did a FANTASTIC job! All of the elaborate first letters are magnificent and the rest is strictly capital letters with an italic slant.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call me Ishmael ! Just love the old artwork ... brings back so many memories.

[Gopal Sadagopal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a hard time reading the original. So read the illustrated!

[Dale Muckerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good artwork which can really be enjoyed with the panel zoom feature. A lot of characters are left out, but the spirit of the tale and main storyline remain intact. Very enjoyable and a good introduction to Moby Dick to readers unacquainted with it.

[Molly Fiddler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek Edition

Δεν υπήρχε περίπτωση να διαβάσω το βιβλίο, οπότε όταν βρήκα αυτήν την προσαρμογή δεν το σκέφτηκα δεύτερη φορά. Χαίρομαι που το διάβασα έστω κι έτσι, αλλά σίγουρα δεν είναι ιστορία για μένα.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a bunch of these back in the day and loved them. Date read is a guess. The Trajectory thing must be a re-publishing thing. Good job!

[Luís Bandeira]

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