The Call of the Wild

by Lloyd S. Wagner, Jack London, Sachin Nagar (Illustrator)

Buck, is a four year old shepherd dog, living a pampered life as an estate dog. His life changes when he is suddenly kidnapped and sold into service during the Klondike gold rush, for he is made to haul heavy sleds through the deep snow fields. Being in a new environment, he soon discovers his dominant primordial instinct. He learns not only to survive, but also flourishes in it.
    
Jack London's The Call of the Wild is a masterpiece in both its style, which set a standard for generations to come, and for its genre, raising adventure writing to the level of classic literature. While being exciting and entertaining, Buck's story is also intelligent and thought provoking - a story for all ages.

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

72 pages, Paperback

Published November 9, 2010

Reviews

[Giovanni Gelati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Campfire Comics has done a fine job with this adaptation of the Jack London novel. My focus here is on the graphic novel and not to give my thoughts on Jack London’s fine work. The story’s “wordsmith” is Lloyd S. Wagner with a strong illustration job by Sachin Nagar. I enjoyed all the information they crammed into the graphic novel including the biography on Jack London on page 3. I continue to be educated and entertained by Campfire Comics and I love it. Here is a synopsis of the story:
“Buck is a four year old shepherd dog, living a pampered life as an estate dog. His life changes when he is suddenly kidnapped and sold into service during the Klondike gold rush, for he is made to haul heavy sleds through the deep snow fields. Being in a new environment, he soon discovers his dominant primordial instinct. He learns not only to survive, but also flourishes in it. Jack London's The Call of the Wild is a masterpiece in both its style, which set a standard for generations to come, and for its genre, raising adventure writing to the level of classic literature. While being exciting and entertaining, Buck's story is also intelligent and thought provoking - a story for all ages.”
I like receiving the total package, and that is what is delivered again by Campfire. I was going to go with Moby Dick this week from Campfire but passed it off for The Call of The Wild. I will be visiting that one for next week we as do Graphic Novel Friday. Campfire is true to its mission statement, “To entertain and educate young minds by creating unique illustrated books to recount stories of human values, to arouse curiosity in the world around us, and to inspire by tales of great deeds of unforgettable people.”
They hit it on the mark again. I can see this graphic novel being a primer for anyone that hasn’t read the novel yet. If you have read it, and it has been a while, why not revisit the story in a different form, you may get some more enjoyment from it.
What are you reading today? Check us out and become our friend on Shelfari & Linkedin. Go to Goodreads and become our friend there and suggest books for us to read and post on. You can also follow us on Twitter, Wattpad and the Gelati’s Scoop Facebook Fan Page. Did you know you can shop directly on Amazon by clicking the Amazon Banner on our blog? Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com

[Sindhu Anna Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Campfire Classics have done a good job, adapting The Call of the Wild. Buck is still my favorite and my favorite part of the story is the Buck-John Thornton part.

"But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signs and sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called - called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come." - Jack London, The Call of the Wild.

[Daniel Palička · Rating 2 out of 5]

Čtenářská výzva na Goodreads 2018 (17/205)
Čtenářská výzva Lovci perel 2018 (Sedmá kniha)
Tohle se bohužel moc nepovedlo, což je obrovská škoda, protože komiksové adaptace známých literárních děl pro novou generaci čtenářů, do níž patřím i já, nejsou vůbec špatné. Pokud se ovšem adaptování chopí někdo, kdo nedokáže napsat kvalitní počin, tak jde celková snaha o vytvoření něčeho převratného do hluboké propasti zapomnění. Předem však musím zdůraznit, že původní počin od Jacka Londona jsem bohužel nečetl, takže nemůžu stoprocentně potvrdit, zda je i původní verze dobrá či ne.
Celý komiks začíná slibně a abych byl upřímný, celková první pasáž rozhodně není špatně napsaná. Tam jde aspoň vidět, že se Lloyd S. Wagner stojící za touto komiksovou adaptací snažil. Jde to poznat, protože jeho styl, jakým představuje Bucka - titulního psího hrdinu celého příběhu, působí zajímavě.
Jenže pak už přicházejí jenom problémy. V příběhu se najednou začne objevovat mnoho různých postav, které jsou ovšem tak nezajímavé, až jsou snadno zapomenutelné. Nikdo vás po celou dobu nedokáže výrazněji zaujmout (pokud nepočítám Bucka, který má samostatnou linii se vztahy jeho psích kolegů, kteří pro děj hrají výraznou roli) a abych nezapomněl, musím zmínit negativum v podobě popisovacích rámečků. Ano, jsou zde rámečky, které mají být něco na způsob vyprávění vypravěče, které mají zvýšit efektivitu plynulosti děje, avšak ty ve výsledku působí totálně zbytečně, protože pokud už po několikáté čtete rámeček, kde vám je vysvětlováno, co určitá osoba dělá na konkrétním panelu, tak si sami sobě budete pokládat otázky typu “Proč zrovna tady musí být tento hloupý rámeček?”, “Z jakého důvodu to musí být zrovna zde?” nebo “Má autor nějaké logické opodstatnění toho, proč zrovna sem přihodil ten vysvětlovací text?”. Na pár panelech by to nevadilo, ale když už čtete asi dvacátou stránku s něčím takovým, tak už vám to bude připadat nesmírně otravné.
Samostatnou kapitolou je kresba, kterou bych popsal jako takovou zvláštní anomálii, protože jak je z mnoha panelů zřejmé, kreslíř Sachin Nagar dokáže nakreslit výrazné vykreslené panely, ale kromě toho umí rovněž načrtnout stránky, které působí nedodělaně a často hodně ošklivě na pohled.
I přesto mi však přijde, že Buck byl napsán hodně zajímavě a celá jeho cesta přes všechny životní překážky je neobvyklá. Už kvůli tomu mi přišlo zajímavé zakončení, které bylo nesmírně emotivní. Bohužel, tohle nezachraňuje celkovou kvalitu díla, které je samo o sobě dost špatné. Určitě si budu chtít přečíst původní předlohu, ale i tak mám pocit, že na představení originální knížky to mohlo být mnohem kvalitnější.
2/5 (40%)

[Saul Hirshberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.9 stars! If you like books about the Klondike Gold Rush, you will like The Call of The Wild (A Graphic Novel). Buck, a very playful dog, living in a neighborhood where his neighbors would play with him. He was on the lookout because of his size, although he did not know. Later, he was kidnapped, by people on search of god from the Klondike Gold Rush. Buck went on a long journey where he did not sleep in a tent or inside, he slept outside. The gold rush journey was a long and dangerous journey. When they got there, the residents had already taken the gold, so they exchanged Buck for a lot of money! Buck went on a journey back, as he was walking, a man named John Thornton took him, and was very nice to him. Later, Thornton died. So, buck found a pack of wolves. After Thornton died, you would still see buck leading the pack of wolves.

[Apratim Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read Call of the wild in text thirty years ago.I had a nostalgic feeling while going through the pages of the graphic novel.The artists have done a wonderful job.It was the first book I read about harsh climate of Alaska and Yukon and the significance of dogs there.I really love the "ghost dog" ending which adds a mystical character to the lead character Buck.The only problem I find in the book and would never call it a classic is the treatment of Yeehats(tribes of Arctic) in the story.Its purely racist.One hundred years ago it might be a classic but its only a goodread today.

[BernieMck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This storey centers around a dog named Buck who is stolen from his home and sold numerous times to different owners for labor in the Yukon. This version of the book has beautiful illustrations and I found it to be quite an enjoyable read.

[Tanya H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adaption!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to introduce the video generation to reading some classic books.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay for the entire library.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice adaptation of the Jack London classic.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeing the brutality of man and nature in pictures was disturbing sometimes.

[Paula Greenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book about a dog named Buck and how he survive the harsh Klondike.

[Chase Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, The Call of the Wild is a good book because it is about these people that are trying to get dogs for the dog sled to be able to transport things to a different village that they travel to. And the dogs are going crazy and they have an enormous fight because the dogs are getting med because they all want to be the leader of the tribe. Buck the main character(One of the dogs) gets in a fight with a couple other dogs and get abused by a man who bought him the first time, and during that night he snuck out and escaped. Then the other guy who come and finds him and takes him with him and teaches him how to attack just in case and then they stuck together till the end of the book they both get through the story by working together to make sure none of the other dogs attack the owner.

[Cordell Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a very cool book and would definitely recommend it to anyone.

[Cassia Catterall]

Brief Review: This story is a graphic novel fictional story about a dog who went from living a very pampered life to being sold into many different conditions that broke him down. This was my first graphic novel that I read and I really liked it. It's not easy for me to read survival stories like this but the increase of pictures and not as many words on each page really helped. I think the pictures also helped bring the story to life in my mind.

Content Areas: I think it would be interesting to use this in an English class and compare the writing styles between the novel Call of the Wild and this adapted novel from the book. We could talk about the different ways that writing is used in order to increase different audience levels attention. You could also use this in intro to teaching classes at the high school level when talking abot universal design because it is a different style of writing that may pertain to a different audience.

Comprehensive Questions:
1. Why was Buck sold into slavery?
The increase of people going in search of gold led to many people looking for strong sled dogs. Manuel was a worker on Buck's masters plantation who ran into debt from gambling that he couldn't repay. He took Buck in secret and sold him to repay his debtors.
2. Who was Buck's favorite owner after the plantation and why?
John Thornton because he treated Buck with respect. He didn't overuse Buck like those before him and he genuinely cared for him. He also saved Buck's life from the owners he had previously.

Wonders:
Does Buck become pack leader to the wolf pack he joins?
Do dogs really feel emotions the way they are portrayed in the book and how will we ever know?

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I was introduced to this new imprint of Graphic Novels out of India and was very impressed with their selection and often unique titles. They are distributed here in North America through Random House and I thought I would check them out. This is from their Classics line. They also have Graphic Novel lines under Mythology, Biography & Originals.

Jack London The Call of the Wild by Lloyd S. Wagner. Illustrated by Sachin Nagar. 71 pgs. 2010. Ages 13+. A top-notch graphic adaptation of one of my favourite classic novels. This graphic version is amazingly true to the novel. It evokes the same emotions and is as powerful a story as the novel. I can not think of anything that has been left out. The beginning scenes of Buck at home with the Judge are brief though and the graphic version quickly moves to and then concentrates on his Arctic experience. Very emotional read, and hard to read at times as the graphic version keeps the brutality of the original and there are some very graphic scenes not suitable for young readers. The illustrations are highly detailed with full backgrounds, using artistic devises and a pleasure to behold. Another impressive graphic adaptation of a classic story.

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I've never read The Call of the Wild, for many reasons, but mostly because I know how harsh London's stories are generally. This completely lived up to my expectations, and encouraged my decision to never read the full book.

The gist of the story is the adventures and misadventures (mostly the latter) of Buck the dog, as he is stolen from his owners, and beaten into behaving for his new masters. Buck quickly learns his new job of sled pulling, and finds his place in the pack, but he doesn't really feel at home until he finds John Thornton. Through the whole story, even after Buck finds John he feels a call to become the leader and more so, to rejoin the wild.

Content notes: No language issues. No Sensuality issues. A lot of violence, mostly people mistreating animals, some natural troubles and a lot of animal violence, including attacking and killing people and other animals.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was decent- I am often looking for good graphic novels, and I would generally recommend it for middle school and up BUT be careful giving it to immature readers who will get emotional about dying dogs getting put down, sled dogs getting whipped, and dogs fighting each other for power (not man-organized dog fighting).

[Jessica Hollo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never read the "real" version of this, so it was a treat. Beautiful visual, made a compelling story and updates what I surely thought would be a dusty old classic

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Challenge: Classic from the 20th century.

[lu.books07 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pěkný, čtivý komiks. Bůh ví jak mě to ale nenadchlo.

[Terry]

Read. Not reviewed.