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Dante's Inferno
Based on the upcoming EA video game of the same name, this classic epic poem is brought to life as never before, courtesy of writer Christos Gage (WILDCATS, X-Men/Spider-Man) and hot new artist Diego Latorre. Dante Alighieri is re-imagined as a holy warrior who has returned from the Crusades to find his beloved fiancée Beatrice murdered. When her soul is ensnared by Lucifer, only Dante has the strength and courage to break open the gates of Hell and save her. But at what cost to his own immortal soul? And is Dante himself pure enough for this impossible task? Find out in this sizzling new series!
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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About the author
Christos Gage
1,533 books128 followersChris N. Gage is a writer for comic books and television.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 7, 2018
Adaptar un videojuego es muy difícil por muchas razones que van desde la inmersión de un jugador en la obra y dentro de un personaje a la extensión de ella entre otros factores. El Dante's Inferno no es una excepción y a pesar de ser una historia fantástica (sabiendo que adaptar de la Divina Comedia de Dante y que añadir nuevo material como convertir al poeta en un cruzado que lucha por el alma de su amada) el cómic fracasa en su intento.
Primero porque a pesar de la fuerza de sus escenas, el ritmo es apresurado, las batallas simples, los elementos que aparecen en el juego pasan de puntillas por las viñetas (especialmente grave lo de Virgilio) y sin asomo de épica. Parece más el viaje de Beatriz por el infierno y como perdona y comprende la naturaleza pecadora de Dante, que un épico combate contra el demonio.
El dibujo trata de imitar al juego y difuminar a los personajes. Aunque a mucha gente le ha gustado, a mí me confunde en las batallas (que en ocasiones se limitan a dos o tres viñetas y eso contra los grandes jefes) y entorpece el relato. ¿Lo bueno? He recordado grandes momentos del juego. ¡Algo es algo!
Primero porque a pesar de la fuerza de sus escenas, el ritmo es apresurado, las batallas simples, los elementos que aparecen en el juego pasan de puntillas por las viñetas (especialmente grave lo de Virgilio) y sin asomo de épica. Parece más el viaje de Beatriz por el infierno y como perdona y comprende la naturaleza pecadora de Dante, que un épico combate contra el demonio.
El dibujo trata de imitar al juego y difuminar a los personajes. Aunque a mucha gente le ha gustado, a mí me confunde en las batallas (que en ocasiones se limitan a dos o tres viñetas y eso contra los grandes jefes) y entorpece el relato. ¿Lo bueno? He recordado grandes momentos del juego. ¡Algo es algo!
July 2, 2020
This story is more than the main character's quest to save his lover. It questions topics like religion, honor, love, devotion. Below all the many slayings, it's a story of undying love. The artwork is all sorts of confusing, but still interesting in its grotesque lines. It's certainly a unique and unusual style for the comic genre.
Dante is away on a crusade, leaving his lover Beatrice behind. She and her family are slain by an enemy soldier who invades their home. Beatrice is welcomed by Lucifer who tries to sway her into loving him by showing her images of Dante killing children. Lucifer thus manipulates Beatrice into a wager that she loses, forfeiting her soul. Though he has to travel through the circles of hell to try to save her soul, Dante does not hesitate.
Dante is away on a crusade, leaving his lover Beatrice behind. She and her family are slain by an enemy soldier who invades their home. Beatrice is welcomed by Lucifer who tries to sway her into loving him by showing her images of Dante killing children. Lucifer thus manipulates Beatrice into a wager that she loses, forfeiting her soul. Though he has to travel through the circles of hell to try to save her soul, Dante does not hesitate.
October 12, 2010
The art is amazing, the storyline a bit off the mark for Dante's Inferno. I expected a little more original text. But I could look at this all day. Really disturbingly beautiful...
December 28, 2022
Some decent artwork cannot save a bad idea. Which is such a shame, because there was the occasional interesting moment (mostly at the beginning mind you). They were a rare diamond in a very dirty and unpleasant swamp, and finding them was a real slog.
I'm a lover of the original poem, did my dissertation on it at university. Of course, this being based on a game, it was never going to be Dante's original poem. I am a bit resentful of them trying to market both this, the game, and the anime as such when they aren't anything like Dante's work in any real way. Yes the setting is the same (I guess, they are more similar than the same really) but the setting alone does not make Dante Alighieri's poem Inferno the same as this 'Dante's Inferno'. The structure is backwards, Beatrice saves Dante in the poem and not the other way around, the whole conception of how the universe works here either is either not Dante Alighieri's or it actually doesn't make sense. At one point Dante is told this is not the hell for non-Christians when he met Saladin only a few pages earlier and is met a few times by Virgil, this book is either implying they were both secretly Christian which is a bit silly (I guess with Virgil there is maybe, maybe, an argument to be made there for Dante Alighieri) or it is contradicting itself.
There were moments when obviously exciting stuff happened between panels, which seemed like a let down.
There is something to this, though. It was almost a decent execution and re-interpretation of Dante's original poem. If it had been better thought out, with more care and research, this whole thing could have been really good. But unfortunately they were planted too quickly and never given time to grow before whoever was behind all this tried to pick the fruit - and the fruit wasn't there.
This isn't even a slight recommendation though. Despite me thinking the project had potential, everything about it was rushed and so badly thought out that was not worth the time.
I'm a lover of the original poem, did my dissertation on it at university. Of course, this being based on a game, it was never going to be Dante's original poem. I am a bit resentful of them trying to market both this, the game, and the anime as such when they aren't anything like Dante's work in any real way. Yes the setting is the same (I guess, they are more similar than the same really) but the setting alone does not make Dante Alighieri's poem Inferno the same as this 'Dante's Inferno'. The structure is backwards, Beatrice saves Dante in the poem and not the other way around, the whole conception of how the universe works here either is either not Dante Alighieri's or it actually doesn't make sense. At one point Dante is told this is not the hell for non-Christians when he met Saladin only a few pages earlier and is met a few times by Virgil, this book is either implying they were both secretly Christian which is a bit silly (I guess with Virgil there is maybe, maybe, an argument to be made there for Dante Alighieri) or it is contradicting itself.
There were moments when obviously exciting stuff happened between panels, which seemed like a let down.
There is something to this, though. It was almost a decent execution and re-interpretation of Dante's original poem. If it had been better thought out, with more care and research, this whole thing could have been really good. But unfortunately they were planted too quickly and never given time to grow before whoever was behind all this tried to pick the fruit - and the fruit wasn't there.
This isn't even a slight recommendation though. Despite me thinking the project had potential, everything about it was rushed and so badly thought out that was not worth the time.
November 16, 2021
DNF, couldn't stand the artwork and the story was lacking. Obviously, this is an adaptation from the video game, not actual Dante's Divine Comedy so the quality was never going to be to Dante's lofty status. But the video game is interesting at the very least and the anime movie adaptation is quite good. The comic is not however and this one is not worth reading.
August 8, 2018
Read in parallel with the wiki synopsis, for sense-making.
August 14, 2020
Awesome concept, poorly done. It was all over the place, both the story, dialogue, and artwork. Rushed and forced, no real depth.
October 15, 2012
Комикс, созданный по мотивам игры, которая, в свою очередь, была сделана по мотивам книги. Тем не менее, я постараюсь оценить комикс, не оглядываясь на его собратьев, рассматривая его как отдельный, самостоятельный продукт.
Ветеран крестовых походов, Данте, отправляется в ад, вслед за Люцифером, который похитил возлюбленную крестоносца. Главного героя ждут девять кругов ада, каждый из которых несет в себе несчетное количество опасностей и существ, населяющих ад за свои ужасные грехи.
Как раз ради сюжета и стоит читать этот комикс, ведь именно он является главной жемчужиной. Последний, но вовсе не крестовый, поход рыцаря, увлекает и заставляет читателя быть с Данте до самого конца и каждый новый персонаж только усиливает желание продолжать читать, ведь действительно: замученные души, различные, отвратительные существа, да и вообще все существа, которых встретит на своем пути главный герой, очень интересны и оригинальны, они действительно заслуживают свое право быть увиденными и услышанными. Это потрясающая история, с прекрасными героями, красивыми диалогами и неплохим финалом, который одновременно и потрясает и огорчает. Огорчает он лишь потому, что это, по сути и не финал вовсе, а конец первой части. История не закончена, она только набирает ход и об этом почти напрямую говорят в финале тома.
Отдельного упоминания заслуживает и очень стильный рисунок, на котором люди похожи на живых людей с фотографий, а не нарисованных. Кроме того, рисунок полностью передает атмосферу девяти кругов ада. Каждый круг – это стилистически разные решения и находки. Каждый человек, или существо, которое уже потеряло свою человечность – это нечто невероятное, нечто гениальное, чего удалось достичь поистине умопомрачительным идеям и задумкам. На страницах нет серых и обыденных героев, тут почти каждый персонаж вызывает интерес читателя не только из-за своих особенностей, характера или речи, но и благодаря оригинальному дизайну. К примеру, царь Минос по версии создателей Dante’s Inferno, очень сильно впечатляет, как своим внешним видом, так и функциями, которые он исполняет в аду.
Но и рисунок, как и сюжет, заслуживает критики и касается она многочисленных сражений. Видно сразу, художник абсолютно не умеет рисовать батальные сцены. Ни один из боев нельзя назвать, не то что бы красивым или эффектным, бои даже понятными назвать нельзя. Все размазано и абсолютно непонятно, что именно происходит в комиксе. Аналогию можно привести с работой оператора в кинематографе: если оператор неумело работает с камерой, у него трясутся руки, он трясет камеру, то и изображение будет отвратительным, в котором трудно что то разобрать и которое неприятно смотреть. Так же и тут: есть настолько нечеткие моменты, что вообще в них ничего не получается разобрать.
Да, в произведении присутствуют минусы и в довольно важных моментах, но в то же время, это не отменяет ни одного сильно плюса этого комикса, который все так же сильно потрясает, вызывает сильные эмоции и заставляет читателя с нетерпением переворачивать страницу за страницей, с целью узнать, что же будет дальше.
Ветеран крестовых походов, Данте, отправляется в ад, вслед за Люцифером, который похитил возлюбленную крестоносца. Главного героя ждут девять кругов ада, каждый из которых несет в себе несчетное количество опасностей и существ, населяющих ад за свои ужасные грехи.
Как раз ради сюжета и стоит читать этот комикс, ведь именно он является главной жемчужиной. Последний, но вовсе не крестовый, поход рыцаря, увлекает и заставляет читателя быть с Данте до самого конца и каждый новый персонаж только усиливает желание продолжать читать, ведь действительно: замученные души, различные, отвратительные существа, да и вообще все существа, которых встретит на своем пути главный герой, очень интересны и оригинальны, они действительно заслуживают свое право быть увиденными и услышанными. Это потрясающая история, с прекрасными героями, красивыми диалогами и неплохим финалом, который одновременно и потрясает и огорчает. Огорчает он лишь потому, что это, по сути и не финал вовсе, а конец первой части. История не закончена, она только набирает ход и об этом почти напрямую говорят в финале тома.
Отдельного упоминания заслуживает и очень стильный рисунок, на котором люди похожи на живых людей с фотографий, а не нарисованных. Кроме того, рисунок полностью передает атмосферу девяти кругов ада. Каждый круг – это стилистически разные решения и находки. Каждый человек, или существо, которое уже потеряло свою человечность – это нечто невероятное, нечто гениальное, чего удалось достичь поистине умопомрачительным идеям и задумкам. На страницах нет серых и обыденных героев, тут почти каждый персонаж вызывает интерес читателя не только из-за своих особенностей, характера или речи, но и благодаря оригинальному дизайну. К примеру, царь Минос по версии создателей Dante’s Inferno, очень сильно впечатляет, как своим внешним видом, так и функциями, которые он исполняет в аду.
Но и рисунок, как и сюжет, заслуживает критики и касается она многочисленных сражений. Видно сразу, художник абсолютно не умеет рисовать батальные сцены. Ни один из боев нельзя назвать, не то что бы красивым или эффектным, бои даже понятными назвать нельзя. Все размазано и абсолютно непонятно, что именно происходит в комиксе. Аналогию можно привести с работой оператора в кинематографе: если оператор неумело работает с камерой, у него трясутся руки, он трясет камеру, то и изображение будет отвратительным, в котором трудно что то разобрать и которое неприятно смотреть. Так же и тут: есть настолько нечеткие моменты, что вообще в них ничего не получается разобрать.
Да, в произведении присутствуют минусы и в довольно важных моментах, но в то же время, это не отменяет ни одного сильно плюса этого комикса, который все так же сильно потрясает, вызывает сильные эмоции и заставляет читателя с нетерпением переворачивать страницу за страницей, с целью узнать, что же будет дальше.
November 27, 2011
Stunningly lush artwork marred by lack of clarity at times. The semi-abstract style requires a patient eye to take it in, which I found was often helped by turning away and then looking at it anew. Faces appear, shapes form into figures, seemingly random strokes coalesce into strands of hair and streams of blood... "beautifully disturbing" is how another reviewer put it.
As far as the writing is concerned, the previous complaints are valid, particularly given the iconic stature of the source material. While I appreciate the attempt to pay tribute to the masterwork that is the Inferno, a more poetic rendering would have been appropriate.
In re-envisioning Dante's story, the author takes poetic license (I guess that's where the poetry comes in), and overall it works well. Hell is the devil's playground, after all, and Dante himself was re-inventing the underwork to suit his own needs.
Story choices are for the most part justified, and while the characters are somewhat shallow given their plight, it's not entirely out of line with medieval storytelling methods, which were more often than not populated with character types representing social classes or moral values. Deep psychological character development is a relatively modern practice in fiction.
And this is, after all, a graphic novel based on a video game.
Still, I give it four stars for originality in visual conception. It is one of the most uniquely gorgeous collections of comic art I've seen in recent years. A breath of fresh air in a field I feel has grown stagnant of late.
As far as the writing is concerned, the previous complaints are valid, particularly given the iconic stature of the source material. While I appreciate the attempt to pay tribute to the masterwork that is the Inferno, a more poetic rendering would have been appropriate.
In re-envisioning Dante's story, the author takes poetic license (I guess that's where the poetry comes in), and overall it works well. Hell is the devil's playground, after all, and Dante himself was re-inventing the underwork to suit his own needs.
Story choices are for the most part justified, and while the characters are somewhat shallow given their plight, it's not entirely out of line with medieval storytelling methods, which were more often than not populated with character types representing social classes or moral values. Deep psychological character development is a relatively modern practice in fiction.
And this is, after all, a graphic novel based on a video game.
Still, I give it four stars for originality in visual conception. It is one of the most uniquely gorgeous collections of comic art I've seen in recent years. A breath of fresh air in a field I feel has grown stagnant of late.
September 30, 2010
I have to say the artstyle is amazing. Partly a bit confusing but all in all very creative and beautiful.
Something I can't say about the writing. While the story itself is quite good (although not the most creative one which is okay), the way it is written is terrible.
The characters are very shallow and the way they speak is horrible. The author can't make his mind if he wants to have them speak quite modern or rather old fashioned and the mix just doesn't fit. It's just awkward.
The dialogs are horrible.
You don't get a lot of explainations to all the people and creatures Dante's fighting and since the art style is very hectic it's sometimes hard to understand what is happening.
The story is quite fast paced which does not always work very well.
I read the German translation and I'm not sure if the bad writing is the fault of the author or rather that of the translator.
All in all I don't regret reading it and I'll have a look in the next issue. But it's one of the weaker comics/graphic novels I've read in a while.
Lost potential all the way.
Something I can't say about the writing. While the story itself is quite good (although not the most creative one which is okay), the way it is written is terrible.
The characters are very shallow and the way they speak is horrible. The author can't make his mind if he wants to have them speak quite modern or rather old fashioned and the mix just doesn't fit. It's just awkward.
The dialogs are horrible.
You don't get a lot of explainations to all the people and creatures Dante's fighting and since the art style is very hectic it's sometimes hard to understand what is happening.
The story is quite fast paced which does not always work very well.
I read the German translation and I'm not sure if the bad writing is the fault of the author or rather that of the translator.
All in all I don't regret reading it and I'll have a look in the next issue. But it's one of the weaker comics/graphic novels I've read in a while.
Lost potential all the way.
July 18, 2017
My Rating: Somewhere between a 1.5 and a 2
I think it's safe to say that I agree with most of the reviews here. The artwork is phenomenal, hands down it deserves no less than five stars. But, the storyline was quite hard to follow at times. The writing is the reason this gets a one-star rating from me. I think if the writing was better this book could've been something amazing.
Overall: I liked the illustrations, but the writing completely ruined this book.
I think it's safe to say that I agree with most of the reviews here. The artwork is phenomenal, hands down it deserves no less than five stars. But, the storyline was quite hard to follow at times. The writing is the reason this gets a one-star rating from me. I think if the writing was better this book could've been something amazing.
Overall: I liked the illustrations, but the writing completely ruined this book.
September 15, 2011
Simply put, the writing deserves 0/5 stars and the illustrations deserve 5/5 stars.
If you've played the game, I think you'll have a little more appreciation for the graphic novel than those who haven't read it.
If you've played the game, I think you'll have a little more appreciation for the graphic novel than those who haven't read it.
June 16, 2015
I have read the other reviews and I have to disagree with them.
If you haven't played the game you can't completely appreciate it.
The dialogues translated in Italian are quite good.
We only agree that the art is amazing!
If you haven't played the game you can't completely appreciate it.
The dialogues translated in Italian are quite good.
We only agree that the art is amazing!
April 23, 2011
Beautiful illustrations. Writing was ok, but I wasn't really expecting anything great.
September 15, 2011
I didn't like the graphics at all.... and I couldn't get through it.....
Read
July 26, 2013Great graphic novel, however inaccurate.
December 11, 2010
Gorgeous artwork, terrible writing.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews