THE EXILE: First impressions
So, what did you think? Feel free to post your comments and reactions here. I'll wait to post my own reactions in detail until I read it through a second time, but I really enjoyed both the story and the artwork.
I'll put a spoiler warning here, for those of you who don't want to see the comments until you've read the book:
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Overall, I thought the artwork was very good, but Jamie's face seemed to fluctuate too much. One minute he's just as I pictured him, the next, he's a cartoon character whose face doesn't resemble the Jamie of my mental image at all.
I thought Claire came out quite well. Her hair was just as I pictured, except the color was a little darker than it's described in the books.
Murtagh comes off as a much more likeable character in this book, and I liked the way he was drawn. Sort of scruffy-looking, which seems right. <g>
I liked the backstory of the "nameless girl" very much. Very powerful.
The storyline with Geillis and Kenneth was intriguing, and I will have more to say on this later, I'm sure.
My favorite picture in the whole book is the "wedding kiss" picture in chapter 6. I think it's Just Wonderful, and Hoang did a beautiful job with it.
I loved the landscape pictures in this book. Just gorgeous!
What about the rest of you?
I'll put a spoiler warning here, for those of you who don't want to see the comments until you've read the book:
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
Overall, I thought the artwork was very good, but Jamie's face seemed to fluctuate too much. One minute he's just as I pictured him, the next, he's a cartoon character whose face doesn't resemble the Jamie of my mental image at all.
I thought Claire came out quite well. Her hair was just as I pictured, except the color was a little darker than it's described in the books.
Murtagh comes off as a much more likeable character in this book, and I liked the way he was drawn. Sort of scruffy-looking, which seems right. <g>
I liked the backstory of the "nameless girl" very much. Very powerful.
The storyline with Geillis and Kenneth was intriguing, and I will have more to say on this later, I'm sure.
My favorite picture in the whole book is the "wedding kiss" picture in chapter 6. I think it's Just Wonderful, and Hoang did a beautiful job with it.
I loved the landscape pictures in this book. Just gorgeous!
What about the rest of you?
I also agree with DG that Claire may be a bit bustier than I had envisioned.
Overall,I loved the book and can't wait for my husband to read it!!
Murtaugh was a revelation! I remember him being surly and hardly speaking a word, but he was much more likeable and an actual character in the novel, not just a grunting, wordless background person. His love for Ellen was touching.
I also agree with Annonymous poster #2...I was somewhat disappointed. Of course the art work was beautiful and there were some revelations, and overall I did enjoy the book, but I've never read a graphic novel before so it was different. I found myself wanting WAY more!!!
Karen: What is up with the Geillie/Kenneth story? Am I missing something? I was very confused. Did Kenneth appear in Outlander (I don't think so...) but I kept thinking that I was missing something....
Alli
Overall- it was ok. After picking up the Twilight GN for my 14 yr old, I was hoping for a more sophisticated, adult version of a GN, and was disappointed that while some of the art work was pretty, alot of it was more cartoonish than I had expected.
I am surprised at the missed editing though, rings, hair color, eye color, scars missing, you'd think they would have better editors. Maybe they should hire fans to do proof reading??
I canna wait to read it again. :) It was definitely worth the wait!!!
I liked it well enough. The "rear view" scene of Jamie was all I expected and more. I'm not too sure about the Kenneth/Geillie storyline. It seemed a bit too forced to me.
I agree with the previous posters that the men's features became similar towards the latter part of the book. I had trouble keeping Colum/Dougal and Murtagh apart. The scenery however, was beautiful.
Jamie and Claire? They were fine I suppose. If that is what Diana has seen the whole time then who am I to question? I've only read one other graphic novel and I can't say I'm a fan.
I look foward to the next book in the Outlander series!
I loved most of the art work in this grownup comic book. We know that women did not show that much boobage in Scotland in those days (too darn cold!) but hey--it's artist license. (Well, it's not totally like the old comics I used to gobble up as a kid.) There are pages of beautifully done pics of Jamie and Claire but not every panel is done like that. Some pages are less attention to perfect depiction of their faces and settings, but you can still see the emotions on the faces of the characters. The artist could not possibly do beautiful renderings on every page but he did a great job IMO, Overall I loved it! Oh, the whole page the breathtaking wedding scene...
I can get Diana's love for graphic novel from her work with comic books. LOL. I was a comic-a-holic as a teen. I bet I read some of Diana's Scrooge McDuck work back then.
Thanks,
Shamrock
--Amy in Atlanta