Literary Classics As Graphic Novels

I don't read many graphic novels, but I'm intrigued by the added dimension and new perspective they bring to texts. Over at Flavorwire Chelsea Bauch has written a piece entitled Graphic Content: 10 Literary Classics Made Better as Comic Books. Here's an excerpt.

Most of us are familiar with the inevitable anxiety that comes with seeing a beloved book turned into a movie, but some stories can actually benefit from a little cross-media reinterpretation. Amid the medium’s own rapid ascension toward highbrow acceptance, the graphic novel has proved a flexible format for literary adaptation, transforming texts into improved visual narratives without eliminating the reading process.

Now, with a spate of recently published and upcoming graphic adaptations making headlines — including Robert Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb and the sure-to-be-divisive Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel — we recommend ten classic works that have been effectively translated into comic books.

I haven't seen any of the recommended books, but think Frankenstein and Farenheit 451 look glorious. My most recent graphic novel read came last fall in the form of Edgar Allen Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia illustrated by Gris Grimly, and I found it fabulously creepy.

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to Graphic Content: 10 Literary Classics Made Better as Comic Books and check out the recommendations.