Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1

I've never read the book and I've barely watched half of the movie (I literally fell asleep lol) and this graphic novel is just meh.. I like how it's been drawn, but I guess the story is the real issue. I think I won't be giving Twilight any more chances now 😅 ( )

The art is amazing! The text, most of which is from the novel, is cleverly placed to focus solely on the budding relationship between Edward and Bella. ( )

The art is amazing! The text, most of which is from the novel, is cleverly placed to focus solely on the budding relationship between Edward and Bella. ( )

The artwork is stunning and the storyline a very true, but abbreviated version of the original. I was delighted to see the story through another medium, but disappointed by the split into volumes. Seems like a money-making gimmick. The novel in its entirety could have been placed into one book. ( )

So we all know that it is trendy to bash on Twilight and its fanatics, which is easy enough to do given the caliber of the writing and the characters in the book and cast in the movie. This particular review, though, is for the graphic novel adaptation of the first novel, and only the first volume at that.

Everyone knows the story of Twilight (and if you don’t, what rock have you been living under), so I will be brief in addressing plot elements. The text is easily summarized within the limitations of text boxes, speech bubbles, and letterboxing. The story is told primarily through dialogue, with narrative used sparingly. Bella’s inner monologue, reduced to a few scattered sentences here and there, makes her almost seem like a multi-dimensional, sympathetic character, until about halfway through, when she begins her research on vampires, and recklessly decides, whether he is interested or not, that she will sacrifice herself to be with him. Still, in this format, the high school drama and inner life of the teen girl seems to flow better than in the novel.

The story is beautifully illustrated, primarily in monotones, with color used to mark particularly pivotal scenes. The drawings are mostly realistic (if one can say that about a fantasy involving vampires and werewolves), and convey movement, motion, and emotion. If one must read Twilight, this should be the format chosen. ( )