The Dresden Files: Storm Front (Jim Butcher's Dresden Files) (A graphic novel)

I love all of the Dresden books. Look forward to reading this one, I am waiting for the part two before I read it. But I know I will love it as much as all the rest.

Following the relatively recent release of 'Welcome to the Jungle,' this graphic novel is the first adaptation of one of Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' novel. In fact, it is the first novel in the series. As far as adaptations go, this one is pretty good. It does an excellent job capturing the dark, gritty feeling and imagery of the series (and of Chicago in general, in fact). For those not in the know, the story follows the adventures of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing wizard, as he helps the Chicago police solve a bloody murder in which two people's hearts exploded out of their chests! Along the way, he runs afoul of a Chicago mob boss, a brothel-owning vampiress, an acid-spewing demon, and ultimately a drug-selling practitioner of the dark arts. This is urban fantasy at it's best, detective pulp meets occult fiction. This volume only gets you half way through the story, so you'll have to wait for volume two to come out (or, better yet, read the novels). But still, the graphic novel follows Butcher's writings as faithfully as it can. Everything in it is excellent! Artist Ardian Syaf captures all of the characters and elements, from Harry Dresden in his signature blazer to the sword-wielding Morgan to Gentleman Johnnie Marcone to seductive journalist Susan Rodriguez, they are all captured just as I would have imagined them to look. Every the scenery is appropriately dark and ominous, like Chicago in storm season. I am a huge fan of the Dresden Files, and I really have enjoyed the comic adaptations of them so far. If you are a fan of the whole occult/horror/fantasy genere and are looking for a good read, the Dresden Files are absolutely essential. Either this volume or the graphic novel-exclusive 'Welcome to the Jungle' would be a good place to start. Those of you who are already fans of the novels will find this to be a good and faithful adaptation and probably don't need much more incentive than that to check this out. Also, as a sort of added bonus, not only do we get a gallery of sketches and covers in the back, but there is also another adaptation of the short story 'Restoration of Faith,' featuring a young Harry Dresden and his first meeting with Murphy. Good stuff. Like I said, this is a great place to start the Dresden Files, and good reading to boot. What more could you ask for?

I can't get over how faithful the Dabel Brothers and their team are to the original prose novel this graphic novel is based off. Jim Butcher may not have been the one to adapt the script, but it's a faithful, concise adaptation, covering the major plot points and neatly telescoping the details. And the visuals are almost the same as what I had in my mind as I read Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) for the very first time. Even the preternatural beasties (the diminutive faery Toot-toot, Bianca in her vampire form, and the toad-demon who attacks Harry and his reporter girlfriend Susan) look like how I imagined them to appear. Ardian Syaf brings an appropriately noirish feeling to the illustrations and the penciling adds just the right amount of gothic shadows to the images; he's has definitely tapped into the same vein of imagination Jim Butcher has been mining from! Based on this volume and it's predecessor The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files (del Rey)) I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and whatever else that Jim and the Dabels have in the works. Also included in this volume is the short prequel comic "Restoration of Faith, based on a short story available on Jim Butcher's website and featuring a very young Harry Dresden on one of his first cases, which the Dabel Brothers and their team rendered in visual form for this year's Free Comic Book Day.

On Harry Dresden's Earth, beings such as fairies, trolls, and vampires roam the planet. Wizards also exist, as Harry knows firsthand, being such a creature. Harry has listed himself in the yellow pages as the only in the open practicing wizard in the country. Harry has even helped the Chicago police on a case or two though most officers reject the arcane. Harry is in bad standing with the White Council that governs wizards because he survived an incident in which he killed someone in self-defense using magic. He is under the Doom of Damocles in which if he breaks any rules, he will be executed. This makes his present situation a bit touchy. He is working a case involving the use of deadly magic that requires Harry to reconstruct the original spell in order to identify the murderer. If his watchdog who loathes him catches him performing an inkling of dark magic, he will be obliterated. Feeling he has no choice, Harry soon finds himself on the abyss by the dark magic he encounters. This is a fine graphic comic book of the first Dresden urban fantasy originally released in 2000. Mark Powers' story line feels fresh yet adheres nicely to the original thriller, but also seems so much darker; partly because of the Ardian Syaf arcane vision of Dresden's Chicago. Fans of the saga especially of the TV series will relish Dresden goes comic book as this series converts superbly. Harriet Klausner