Black: The Birth of Evil

The Circle: The Graphic Novel #1

by Ted Dekker

Black. The Birth of Evil.

While fleeing a hit man through the deserted alleys of Denver, a bullet clips Thomas Hunter's head. He escapes with his life, but later passes out from his wounds . . . and his world is swallowed by black.

From the dark comes an amazing reality of another world-a world where evil is contained. A world where Thomas is in love with a beautiful woman. A world that stands on the brink of annihilation.

Where does the dream end and reality begin? Every time he falls asleep in one world, he awakens in the other-each facing unimaginable evil, an each with a fate unknowingly tied to the other.

Some say the world hangs in the balance of every choice we make. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choice.

That is, if he can live to see the end of the day.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Christian, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Comics

ebook

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Ted Dekker is known for novels that combine adrenaline-laced stories with unexpected plot twists, unforgettable characters, and incredible confrontations between good and evil. Ted lives in Austin with his wife LeeAnn and their four children.

Reviews

[Jasmine (Jazzie) [Jesus Loves You!!] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a graphic reader, so lowkey this was more confusing than the actual book was, but it was a fine read I suppose.

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, 10 years ago or whenever I read the original novels, I absolutely LOVED them. Of course, I was super fundy Christian girl so finding books that were somewhat decently written and wouldn't send me to hell for reading them (Yeah, I'm talking to you Harry Potter!) wasn't the easiest thing in the world for a girl who read 300+ books a year.

So enter the Circle Trilogy: Fantasy, Speculative and bio-thriller all rolled together with Christian Allegory.

However, fast-forward 10 years. No longer super or fundy, the story didn't seem as original and exciting and the allegory was way too "in your face". So, I can't even pretend to be at all objective in my rating. Sadly, I will probably read the other two because I just can't help myself.

[Heather Ingemar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really.... unusual. While the premise was interesting, I felt completely disoriented for the entire book. Too bad.

[Arnela · Rating 2 out of 5]

THERE IS LIKE MAYBE 2 SPOILERS WHILE I WAS RANTING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I'll be honest, not a fan of the art, at all. The coloring work done on it was nice but didn't have a redeeming affect on the art. The only reason I powered through the book itself was the story aspect, and I've got issues with that too.

The reason I don't like the art comes in 2 parts. The first part has to do with the actual representation that art is supposed to do; at times, especially in an angle shot, the characters bodies are too distorted, the faces look static and too cartoony at the same time. Emotions fall flat and the anatomy is wonky in a few places. When you catch a few panels that look off, not only does it affect the reading experience, it can make you question how this got past editing. The second part is personal to me, I feel that the art has the match the story being told, to me it makes the story that much better, more immersive. A serious detective story should be gritty, a superhero story should have a lot of motion to it. The plot of this comic is sort of an end of humanity thriller and fantasy rolled in one, but the art supports neither of those aspects.

The plot on the other hand is very interesting. Thomas is being hunted down by some loan sharks and upon passing out after a nasty run in wakes up in some medieval style forest with a bunch of scary monster bats. Every time he falls asleep he wakes up in the medieval world or our modern world, and he's trying very hard to save both. I know the comic is based on a novel, and like almost every comic that is, it suffers in entertainment value because it feels like we're summarizing the story, and it all feels very rushed, instead of actually showing the story pan out. A little more buildup wouldn't hurt, especially to raise tension in those rescue parts.

I refuse to believe that a 432 page novel is adequately retold in 136 comic pages.

Another issue is with the referencing to the bible. Don't get your nickers in a twist I ain't knocking your holy book, or any holy book for that matter, I'm just saying the use if a fruit of knowledge, the lion and the lamb, a disembodied voice speaking as your creator, some creature tempting you to eat from a forbidden fruit. It feels cliche, like there was no attempt to be creative with these representation, the bat is the devil, eat it and you are cast from the colorful forest, travel through the desert until finding safety, Thomas and Rachelle play the part of Adam and Eve basically, at the end of it. It just feels a little shoved in your face you know, like we're just trying to slap a fun modern cover on the bible.

And another thing [it's 2 a.m. I'm just gunna complain] I don't like that the black bat is just stated as overall evil, like I believe you, but it's the fact that we the audience are just told he is bad, we're not shown it until the end. The literal point of a comic is to run home the fact of SHOW DON'T TELL. Show me he's bad, use flashbacks of him doing bad things, show him doing evil that the character can't see but we can, make the audience actually hate the villain, don't just point him out to us. I feel that a story is, at times, only as good as it's villain. If you can write a good villain, make the audience really hate them, then trust me they'll just keep reading to see what happens to him. Ok, trust me, I've read some really shitty [bad plot, bad characters, bad everything] books all because the story made me hate the villain, and I was hell bent on making sure he got what was coming to him by the end of the story. I mean I still want you to build your world, and expand your characters, but goddamn SHOW ME a villain worth my hate.

There are only 2 more comics [I believe] in this series, and I will be giving them a go.

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this book was intriguing. A guy starts to see another world when he gets shot in the head. Every time he falls asleep he wakes up in the other world. Both worlds depend on his choices. There are lots of weird undertones though that don't really make sense until you read the other two books.
I don't really remember the level of violence or language aside from Thomas getting shot and hunted by various parties. There might be some language, but it is probably more for affect because Dekker is a Christian author. I don't remember any sex or innuendo, but there was at least a kiss and talk of the Great Romance.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was well done as a graphic novel. I did feel as though there were a few gaps/quick change overs between scenes but overall very good. Excellent cliff hanger of an ending! I look forward to reading the next in the series.

[Monique the Book Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Ted Dekker read and I look forward to reading more of his books.

3.75 stars - I'm not the biggest fan of comics/manga/graphic novels, however the plot of this story intrigued me. I'd really like to read the original "Black" novel and the rest of its "Circle" series.

[Ara Stepanian · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was so boring, after reading 60 pages, I couldn't continue. The story's rhythm was too slow, and the writer doesn't introduce the characters clearly.

[Alexis Hewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very 2007, but a cool addition to this trilogy

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise…

[Josh Olds · Rating 2 out of 5]

2007 was a big year for Other Earth. It’s three years after Ted Dekker’s breakout Circle Trilogy—about a million copies sold—and he’s just about to release the first two in what will eventually become a six-book young adult series that expands the Circle mythos. It only made sense, then, to ride the Other Earth wave into new kinds of media with a graphic novel series.

The Circle Trilogy: Visual Edition was first published in three separate volumes in October 2007, then combined into an omnibus version in December 2009. While the omnibus has the perk of being a hardcover and being one book rather than three, it’s also smaller in size. The originals were printed on large 6.5”x10.25” panels while the omnibus has a smaller
5.5”x8.5”. For general readability, I like the originals better.

I shouldn’t need to say much about the story, but if you aren’t familiar with the novels these comics were adapted from, then check out my reviews here—Black, Red, White. In graphic novel form, there are things that have to go. Each 400+ page book gets trimmed into a 130-page graphic novel. That’s a lot of trimming. Different people on Dekker’s team took on different roles throughout the process. Here are some of the major players:

• Black. Adapted by Bob Strachan and Matthew Hansen; edited by Kevin Kaiser; art by Big Jack Studios.
• Red. Adapted by Matthew Hansen; edited by Kevin Kaiser and Bob Strachan; art by Jack Studios.
• White. Adapted by J.S. Earls and Mike S. Miller; edited by Mike S. Miller and Kevin Kaiser; art by Mike S. Miller.

Some things that you’ll notice immediately just from this list: White has a significantly different team than either Black or Red. I have no details on what predicated that change, but it was a good one. It’s super evident reading the omnibus version that the artistic vision of White is much different—and much better. Looking at the first two volumes, there’s a lot of odd angles and character poses. Body proportions are sometimes, well, comical. The colorists are pretty jarring as well, using some very sharp shading that creates a harsh tone. The characters seem to be always in motion and always hyper-dramatically frustrated. This seems to the doing of lead Big Jack artist, Ig Barros. Notably, while the rest of the Big Jack team worked on the later adaptation of the Lost Books, Barros did not—and a quick look at his other work confirms a long of angular poses with constipated-looking faces.

In White, Mike S. Miller takes over. Mike had previously done work on graphic novels from material written by George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan and worked for both Marvel and DC. Miller takes a much softer tone, making the characters more lifelike, particularly in facial details. Having one artist—someone also involved in the adaptation and editing—seems to have made for a much better product.

In terms of story, Matthew Hansen—current Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics/Dabel Brothers Productions—handled some adaptation duties, before handing over the reigns to J.S. Earls, while Kevin Kaiser handled editing duties. It’s always difficult translating a full-length novel into a relatively short graphic novel and a lot of character depth is missing. To Kaiser’s credit, every major plot point and every major character make an appearance in the graphic novel. There seems to have been an understanding that most readers would be coming from the novels and have a working knowledge of the story. The visual edition is here to add a visual layer to the story, not be its foundation.

Overall, I’d give Black and Red a 2.5 out of 5 and bump White up to a 4. The art of the first two volumes is just really distracting and that’s the whole reason why this version exists. White understands that a bit better, but has the weakest storyline of the three books.

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 1 out of 5]

This trilogy was recommended to me by one of the students enrolled in my World Religion class in fall 2009.

A couple of interesting ideas couldn't make up for the poor writing and graphics. Alan Moore has said that film and comics are diametrically opposed art forms, and this graphic novel supports that assertion; Ted Dekker writes like Dan Brown, translating all the cliches of American blockbuster cinema into print, and the artwork mimics the conventions of film rather than using the power of the image to supplement and subvert the accompanying prose.

The story is about a young man on the run from mobsters (an irrelevant detail that only seems to start the story off in media res) who discovers that he exists in two worlds at once--the contemporary world and a fantastic far future world where talking bats have cleanly divided the Earth into a good half and an evil half. He unbelievably manages to convince a famous biochemist (after kidnapping her, no less) that he has insight into the future and knows that her company has developed a new vaccine that will instead mutate into an apocalyptic plague. (No wonder so many folks are now afraid of being vaccinated against swine flu.) Unfortunately his good intentions are used by the agencies of evil to prepare the ground for unleashing the plague, and, in the other world, forbidden fruit is consumed, unleashing the forces of evil onto the good half of the planet.

I began the second installment in the graphic novel trilogy after I finished volume one, but I just couldn't go on after the first couple of pages. I've got a lot of other things I'd much rather read than a poorly written re-hashing of the Bible-as-rewritten-by-C.S.Lewis.

[Aaron Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Hunter is finds himself trapped between two different times, the current and the future. In which both time, the world is facing a possible destruction. The current world is facing a virus threat that will sweep the world's entire population. And in the future world where good and evil is clearly separated by a river that runs around the whole earth, the evil half or the Shaitaki is about to invade the good half.

It was really an interesting premise but the cardboard characters, bad graphics, poor dialogues and poor writing did not helped the book lived up to its potentials. Having a hero saving one world is a great deal but two is epic so somehow I admire Thomas for that but he was really far from being true. He is a kind of hero that puts his mission on top of his head and himself under his toes. Patriotic yet stupid.

If I will base my writing from the storyline and the intention, I will give it 5 stars. Its sort of rare having a suspense-thriller sci-fi with a dash of allegories on Christian beliefs. Maybe it was a wrong choice reading the graphic novel-adaptation instead of the novel itself.

Still, Black got me interested enough to read the second installment, Red, but not soon and certainly not the graphic novel adaptation.

In a somehow unrelated topic, I was glad that the third book of this series is called white and not blue because that would make me feel uncomfortable. Look at the titles: Black, Red, White and the covers for my dearest The Hunger Games. It was not really fun having that kind of resemblance.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ted Dekker has written another incredible story of the immortal battle between good and evil. The best part of this story is the way he has two simultaneous story lines going on with one main character; one in the future and one during the present. A couple of times he actually had me guessing wrong on twists that might occur.

While reading this story I could immediately recognize the similarities between his future religion and current ones. Even so, it is a fabulous story that had me eagerly reading till the end. The one slightly annoying part was the end being an obvious cliffhanger. I knew going in it was the first of a trilogy, but I believed it would be 3 self contained stories. In actuality the story arcs through 3 stories. Many great fantasy and science fiction series do this, so it isn't enough to lower the rating.

I would highly recommend Black.

[alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is adapted from Dekker's book Black...which I haven't read. The adaptation results in a choppy story that (presumably) skips over lots of details that would smooth out the transitions between scenes and fills in the significant plot holes. Unlike other graphic novels that are conceived with the visual aspects playing a key role in the storytelling, Black's illustrations fill uninspired overall -- focusing heavily on the characters in action rather than creating mood, tension, or a since of time passing. However, the bats are fabulous! Soft, white, fuzzy "good" bats and creepy, dark, "evil" bats. Woo!

I think for young adult readers who are, well, reluctant to read, this book might possibly serve to pull them in to read the full length story. However, the constant gardner meets labyrinth hybrid seems to lack that YA-aura of "now."

[Crystal Ben-ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the novels. I've read them a couple times, so I know the story well. When I saw the graphic novels, I was pretty excited, not because I love graphic novels, I'm not a big graphic novel fan usually, but because I LOVE Ted Dekker's stories. Being a big fan, it's unfortunate that I have to say that I think the adaptation is very poorly done. If I didn't already know the story, I don't think I'd have any clue what in the world was happening or why or care one bit about anyone in the story. I will admit, I haven't read a lot of graphic novels (a little bit of Sandman and something by Joss Whedon, I think), so maybe I don't know the medium very well, but it felt choppy and completely void of emotion. If it were twice as long and filled with real content, I would have been absolutely in love.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

An adaptation of the novel Black: The Birth of Evil, by Ted Dekker, this graphic novel didn't do it for me.

The plot and characters were condensed to their bare bones, and most of the characterization was left out. Everything about Thomas and Kara's backstory, Rachelle and Thomas' connection, Gabil and Michal's funny and interesting personalities, and more was excised. What was left was an obvious Garden of Eden parallel, an instantaneous romance that was totally unbelievable, and an incredibly rushed ending. The writing that made Thomas and the others interesting vanished and the art wasn't really good enough to replace it.

The proportions were odd, and the artist drew the characters in odd poses and angles that made them look very off. I like the original book, but I paid five dollars for this graphic novel and that was more than enough.

[Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Ted Dekker and I thought he wrote horror novels. Black is for sure not a horror novel.

The horrific idea of a virus that can take out the world in days is scary and hopefully will always only be part of the fiction world. The character of Thomas Hunter was excellent. A quirky, funny guy who gets caught inbetween two worlds, literally! The interaction between him and his sister is good for a few laughs that help pull the story along.

All the jumping between realities got to be too much for me and I did lose interest and skimmed to the end. It's a book about good vs evil and how the choices that we make touch so many people.

If you want to read something different with a strong Christian theme give Black a try.

[Jamin Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife and my brother spent forever trying to get me to read the Circle Trilogy and though I really wanted to, I happen to be a bit of a slow reader and spend most of my time reading non-fiction. However, I also love to read graphic novels and comic books so when I got around to reading these, I was left in awe.

The Circle Trilogy is an amazing story. I'm sure it's even better as a book, but the graphic novels are great as well and offer amazing art. I don't think I have seen any other writer do such a good job with creating such a powerfully symbolic fantasy/sci-fi story in relation to Jesus. Absolutely awesome, all three of these books.

I don't think there's a graphic novel for Green as of yet, so I may actually have to read that one.

[NaTaya Hastings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was okay. It was only the first installment of the story, of course, so it didn't really end with any kind of closure, but it was a decent read. I enjoyed the back and forth between the modern day world and the future (past?). Ha. (That will make sense if you read the story. I also like how it doesn't let you know for sure which leader is being completely honest with Hunter. I mean, yes, the ending of the story leads me to believe that Elyon was the honest one and that the ruler of the black forest is deceitful and evil, but I can't know 100% for sure. I like that. However, parts of the story were simply silly, especially the whole "great romance" bit. ...eyeroll... Absolutely ridiculous. But, as I said, it was okay.

[Jonathan Chitaya]

Black, Book I of three of a circle trilogy graphic novel, follows the story of a man, Thomas Hunter, who discovers his ability to shift between two incredible realities of two worlds. Thomas uses his gift in order to attempt to save the reality of the world he was in originally to begin with. I absolutely loved the adventure portrayed by this book. From the moment where he started to fall asleep and wake up in another world, to the point where he tried to save them. Throughout the book, there were so many climate switches between the two realities, which made wonder even if myself, Could someone possibly have the same ability as Thomas Hunter? This is theoretically speaking of course. Overall, This book was great. Loved every single minute of it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the story of a man that lives in two worlds. One world while he is "awake" another world when he is "dreaming". One of the problems is he is not sure which one is the "real" world. But regardless, both seem real and he is living two separate lives in both worlds. And each of his lives is dependent on what happens in each world! It has has a religious twist to it which very closely is tied to the creation with Adam and Eve, Satan, and the Savior. It was very interesting and kept my attention. It is a trilogy and be prepared to read all three. It is hard to read just one! Read them in order.

[Olivermagnus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the illustrated graphic novel of the first book in the Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. It introduces us to Thomas Hunter, a man who becomes trapped between two realities that keep switching on him. Every time he falls asleep, he wakes up in the other. One world is modern day America while the other is a fantasy reality.

I read this to fulfill a graphic novel challenge and to be honest, it's not really my cup of tea. I see that the trilogy has gotten great reviews so I recommend anyone who has an interest read them for themselves. I'm sure they are really good but I'm giving it the most generous score I can, given I am not a fan of the genre.

[Rochelle Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uh....that's sort of the first thought when first beginning a Ted Dekker book. To me, this is similar to Chronicles of Narnia but on a more graphic level. It is most definitely Christian without being a watered-down book written in substandard quality. It is fast-paced, intense, and yet, it somehow manages to be refreshing and even comforting! Ted Dekker has done an outstanding job with this book and I am anxious to read the entire series. I finished BLACK and picked up RED in the same hour.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! I recommend you begin with the book Green or skip reading Green altogether!

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Hunter lives in two worlds, and people from each world try to convince him that the other is a dream. So, he is not sure of which is real, and which actually is a dream.
In one "reality", he is in Bangkok in 2010, trying to stop a vaccine from becoming a fatal airborne virus. In the other, he is being taught the importance of trust and belief in Elyon.
-------------------
Dekker does a wonderful job or creating both worlds, and making them both believable. And, the art is amazing, too. I checked out the trilogy from the library, and I am enjoying them.

[Stephen Newell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little read if you're such a huge fan of the series (like me). It is actually amazing to see how well some of the aspects of Dekker's world, such as the Roush, translate into the visual form. The art in general works well with the story, transitioning well in between Thomas' separat dream states. That being said, the story is greatly condensed (as to be expected), and the art style isn't especially eye-catching in most situations. Definitely recommend for any fan of the novel series, but it is not likely to be anything special for an outside reader. 3.5/5 Stars

[Rachel Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

My bestie gave me the set of these for Christmas. The Circle series is her favorite, and she knows I don't have time to read the full novels right now... So this is my gateway drug. ;) I have to say, it's working...

This adaptation was well-done, and the plot is clear and easy to understand. The world-building is a bit thin due to the nature of graphic novels. My friend had given me a rundown of the series before I started, so I was able to fill in the blanks, but I am not sure how enjoyable they'd be for someone who doesn't know anything about the books.

[David Finger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept was very ambitious and promising, but the execution was somewhat clunky. I had trouble believing that everyone would just buy into Hunter’s story, particularly as he escalated his actions and took more extreme measures to try and stop the virus. But the second half of the graphic novel did seem to find itself and the story become less convoluted. By the end you feel tied into Dekker’s world building and are left wanting to follow up with Red.

[Chris Novitzke · Rating 3 out of 5]

My relatives raved about this book, but maybe I just didn't get it. I know there are supposed to be religious undertones hear, but again I just didn't get them. The idea about waking up in an alternate universe when you fall asleep on earth though, and vice versa is a pretty original idea I'd have to say. The book moved much too slow for my taste though.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this short graphic novel a lot. It was intriguing, to say the least. Two worlds, two lives, both you can only reach when you fall asleep on the other, and two worlds at stake--with only you as it's savior? Oh, count me in for that interesting book ride. I want to read the novels. Now.