The Count of Monte Cristo (Manga Classics) art by Nokman Poon - ADVISABLE

The Count of Monte Cristo (Manga Classics) art by Nokman Poon, 401 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Udon Entertainment, 2017. $27. 9781927925614

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

After receiving promotion to captain and less than two hours from marrying the love of his life, Edmond Dantes is arrested. Edmond spends the next several years in prison, learning from a fellow prisoner while nurturing his desire for vengeance on those who wronged him. When the death of his fellow prisoner allows Edmond to escape, Edmond inherits the dead man’s fortune and uses it to punish those who took everything away from him.

The Count of Monte Cristo is an enthralling tale full of amazing feats and impossible achievements. I understand that fitting all the details into a shortened graphic novel version of the story would equal one of said impossible achievements; still, it was a little disappointing that so much of the story had to be removed. Enough of the story remains to be exciting and make sense, but it doesn’t have the same captivating feel because there are fewer reasons to understand Edmond’s point of view and fewer details of his plans to be awestruck by. I admit, though, that the artwork is beautiful and allows for readers to both better understand the time jumps and better keep the characters straight. Furthermore, the need to use pages and dialogue more wisely in the abridgment forced the graphic novel to make some nuances more clear than the original does, which I actually appreciated. I hope that this manga version of the story inspires more people to pick up the original.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen