User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Graphic adaptations on beloved novels are always a difficult transition, much like with film. Particularly a book where the lore and exposition do a lot of heavy lifting and internal dialogue is critical to the storytelling such as with
Dune. I was pleasantly surpirsed how effective this adaptation was. At worst it is a visual sparknotes for the book, but also that is more or less what you would be looking for here. There is nothing new, but also there is very little missing from the original novel and it seems that being a faithful translation is the primary goal. This book only covers Part 1 of the original novel, with a full 3 volumes planned. This is a fun and accessible way to get into Dune, especially for those who might be wary about jumping into such a long novel. After this, you’ll be hooked.
The art is this is alright. Nothing really to write home about, but it does have kind of a cool 80s vibe particularly in the color palettes. Honestly the cover art is better than what is inside, and it isn't as sleek as the art in the prequel graphic novels like Dune: House Atreides Vol. 1. But it does capture the epic scale of things.
Something I really enjoyed was the way the internal dialogue is expressed in blocks of text on the page. Each character gets assigned a different color text square for their internal dialogue so you don't get confused who is currently interior monologuing. It makes the pages very text heavy, but also seems necessary for the story. What doesn't work as well is the actual dialogue. Simplifying the scenes makes a lot of the menacing dialogue come across as corny and the Baron especially seems like a laughable cartoon villain more than the frightening figure of the books.
This is a mostly successful adaptation that remains very faithful to the original book. It gets a lot of the history and storyline across very well including the characters insights into everything though it doesn't always get the vibe right. The creeping dread that builds once they land of Arrakis is very present in this edition at least. A decent book, especially if you want to brush up on Dune before or after seeing the film. I look forward to the other two volumes.
3/5
Rating: really liked it
This is the faithful comicbook adaptation of Frank Herbert's immensely popular (and in my humble opinion fantastic) science fiction novel.
Since the original novel is divided into three parts, there will also be three volumes to this graphic novel. The one reviewed here, is the first volume.
Arrakis, Dune, the desert planet. We arrive together with the members of House Atreides as they make Arrakis their new home amids political intrigues and some harsh lessons about this very unique planet's ecology. The story within this 1st volume goes from the preparations to leave Caladan to (view spoiler)
[Paul and Jessica being stranded in the desert and Jessica realizing her son actually is the Kwisatz Haderach> (hide spoiler)].
The story itself offers nothing new as it is "just" a visual version of Frank Herbert's original. However, I liked exactly that. The details are there, though sadly more within conversations than through the images, and how the desert planet was brought to life wasn't bad at all.
Besides, I hate when there are story adaptations in a new medium and the creators feel the need to "make it their own". *shudders* I'm glad Brian Herbert and the rest of the team didn't do that here.
If you want to know more about the actual story, read the book! ;) For anyone further interested,
*here* is my review of the novel.
Now, what I hinted at before is that the graphic novel relies too much on conversations and too little on the story being told visually. That was a shame. The art was quite good though also nothing exceptional:
I very much liked the colour palettes but so much more could have been done with this medium (as seen in many other recent comicbook adaptations of great novels).
All in all not bad but also not as great as I had hoped. At least this (along with the new movie adaptation) might serve to make more people fans of the original story.
Rating: really liked it
So! Here's a graphic adaptation of Dune. there have been others, of course. I even have some of the originals that came out of the eighties as a tie-in to the Lynch movie.
I kinda expected this one to be gorgeous and lush and of the high-quality standards that you might see in, say King's Dark Tower, but alas. It wasn't to be.
The artwork is kinda... boring? Usual? Sometimes the coloring is off like it was mass-produced in the eighties? Well, I wasn't all that impressed. Not with all those gorgeous comics coming out these days.
So, there is the writing to fall back on, at least.
Right? Well, yes. Kinda. I've seen the Lynch movie, extended version, like a billion times back before there was a TV adaptation and looooong before we ever dreamed of getting a couple of movies.
So why is this almost cribbed, line by line, from the Lynch screenplay? Probably because there's only so much one can do. So was I horribly disappointed? Actually, no.
There is one thing that this comic does pretty darn well. It leaves out very few important scenes in the first half of the book. It captures the spirit, if not the kinds of lush visuals I would have died to see.
We have lots of text. Pages crammed full of text. I'm not complaining, because it's necessary, but it's still breaking one of the cardinal rules of comics. Gaiman, this is not. But if you're a fan of Dune, or fan enough that you want a pretty good refresher, then this does a fine job.
Rating: really liked it
No.
I came into this with bundles of enthusiasm.
Back in the 1980's I watched the movie - you know, the one with Sting (why?), and I hated it. I spent the whole couple of hours totally miffed.
Now, with the release of the new movie
Dune, I thought I'd do a little preparation prior to watching it on the BIG SCREEN. Yes, we do have these in Tropical Far North Queensland. I thought this study combined with the fact I am more mature, sensible and a little bit brainier (to be externally verified), I'd nail it.
Alas, this graphic novel was dull and boring, nothing resonated with me. Not the story, the art, the beginning, the middle bit or the ending. It was tedious and picking it up made my mouth go dry and my stomach churn. My Pup even walked with his tail between his legs and looked at me with "Cow Eyes" when I was reading it. Dogs can sense this type of thing.
I will save my $20 and not see the movie. Instead, I might stay at home and make cushions out of yogurt.
1-Star
Rating: really liked it
man fuck this book ðŸ˜
Rating: really liked it
It's a good volume, not spectacular, but after just rereading the book and watching the movie, it's hard to be surprised.
The illustrations could have been done better; Paul looks like he's 40 in some. And everything on Arrakis is too red.
At least the story is kept true to the original, and captured everything of importance. It ends after Jessica and Paul escaped and were rescued by Duncan. I guess that the three parts of this graphic novel will be all from the first book in the series.
Rating: really liked it
This was fabulous! The art was stunning, and the story was perfectly adapted to the format, giving you the story without huge blocks of text or leaving out anything important.
Rating: really liked it
Frank Herbert's "Dune" is a seminal work in the annals of sci-fi novels. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson decided to do a comic book that :
"..we decided from the outset that this must be a definitive graphic novel treatment......We weren't interested in doing our interpretation of Dune or modifying the story to add our own special stamp. We wanted this to be pure Dune-Chapter for Chapter, scene for scene..."
Book One does a creditable adaptation of the novel. Raul Allen and Patricia Martin's art is good and suits the story well. Bill Sienkiewicz, thankfully, was allowed only to do the cover art.
The story fits the novel fairly well. While this is supposed to be a complete adaptation, a comic can not do the novel justice. But this is a good attempt at it. The volume ends with Paul and Jessica being dropped off into the desert. While no substitute for the book, this is a fine comic adaptation. I shall certainly be adding Book Two and Three when they come out. A highly recommended comic. Both for people who love Dune and for those who wish to be introduced to the wonderful world- just some advice, if you liked the comic, do yourself a favor and read the novel.
Rating: really liked it
I dutifully read as a young man with friends Dune, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and the Foundation trilogy, though I was never (I confess now) an afficionado of any of these great works. I much preferred other ponderous, wordy literary giants with perhaps equally serpentine plots such as Russian novels. Tomato, tomahto. As a condition of one relationship I was in I viewed (and more than once) the two principal film adaptations of Dune, and liked them well enough, in spite of the public and critical outcry about them. (The relationship lasted, and I am now co-owner of copies of these films).
And I have recently viewed the most recent film, in the theater, and liked it quite a bit, but I have to say (now calm down here) that while I liked the hot young actor playing Paul and I liked it visually and I liked the soundtrack, I thought it on the whole it was pretty slow and dialogue-heavy, as I recall feeling about the book. If you had not read the book you would not really know much about what is going on.
This graphic adaptation is announced by Frank Herbert's son in his introduction as the "definitive" comics adaptation, which he did with Kevin Anderson, and was illustrated by Raul Allen and Patricia Martin. They name-drop the comics classic artist Bill Sienkiewicz as consultant, but this is by no means (even if this only the first of three graphic novels for the first book alone) a great graphic novel. It gets at the heart of what is going on, but is not remarkable, and the thing the adapters make clear is that they did the script and then auditioned several people to do the illustration.
That can work sometimes with adaptations, but the process thus often lacks a true sense of collaboration or synergy, it makes for a pretty flat creative process, artists as hired guns. I am not saying I think this is terrible artwork--Allen is a pro--and this book will sell a lot of copies, released as it is at the time of the new film version, and I am not even saying I am opposed to hiring illustrators to do comics jobs, of course. But it just doesn't look exciting or inventive to me in the way other fantasy comics, such as Monstress. I liked it just fine, it's good, not great, imho.
Rating: really liked it
Incredible!DUNE: The Graphic Novel, Book 1: Dune
By Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
I have loved Dune when it first came out when I was a teen. When the old movie came out I was thrilled. With the new movie I read the novel, watched the old movie and then the new movie and requested the library get this book! They did! I was so happy!
This is so good and stays more to the book than the movies. The art is fantastic and tells the story practically without words, lol! The font is easy to read and follows the book well. Enjoyed this tremendously.
For people who don't want to read a full novel and want to feel like they are watching a movie too, this is for them! Great for gift giving!
Rating: really liked it
As a Dune fan a new graphic novel was not something I am going to pass up, neither am I missing the new 12 part comic serie
House of Atreides which is by now has 2 of its 12 installments released.
This was supposed to be a great year for Dune fans with a Movie, graphic novel, comic book series and a new novel by Brian Herbert, all have been released with the exception of the movie which is kind of a bummer.
Anyhow the graphic novel is not the complete Dune novel only the first of three installments, with Muad'dib being released in spring 2022 (I am not joking!!!). This first one starts on Caladan and ends with the Harkonnen invasion and Paul and his mothers flight into the desert of Arrakis.
The good news is that the comic is fairly true to the Herbert novel and the drawings of the Sandworm are actually quite impressive. The rest of the art is decent enough without being spectacular, the text blocks for lady Jessica in orange are difficult to read, even if the choice of the various colours for the thoughts of the various characters is quite original.
If you never read any Dune this graphic novel might come across as allright to boring as the original book is a buildup for the end and the next two books (children & Messiah of Dune).
I enjoyed the graphic novel and dislike the fact that I have to wait for more than a year for the next installment, glad that the movie is upon us before that time.
Rating: really liked it
As a fan of the book, and someone willing to see the good in the '80s film version and even the early 2000s SyFy miniseries, this was probably not the adaptation for me as the art, while well executed, didn't provide the depth of detail I would usually search for when revisiting a familiar fictional universe in a new visual medium.
That said, it worked just fine as a kind of Dune methadone before the Villeneuve film is released, and also a great gateway to this world if the film trailers piqued your interest but a brick of a novel from the '60s isn't your thing.
Rating: really liked it
Okay, I loved this. It's so so beautiful and it gets most of the story from part one of
Dune onto the pages in an understandable way. Although I do think it might be better to read the book first just in case and use this as a reminder.
What I really love is that the characters look almost exactly how I imagined them. I'm glad they took that route instead of making them look like the movie cast (that might happen too, now that I've spoken it into existence).
Super excited for part two now.
Rating: really liked it
I dutifully read the first six books of the Dune series back in the '80s to earn my sci fi geek cred, despite the fact that I found them intensely boring. (Around the same time, I masochistically slogged through Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.)
This stiff graphic adaptation just drives home for me how dull the first book is with its dreary court intrigue and hollow protagonist, Paul Atreides.
I always did get a kick out of Herbert's character names though, e.g., Gurney Halleck, Duncan Idaho, Vladimir Harkonnen, Feyd-Rautha, Shadout Mapes, and Iakin Nefud.
Rating: really liked it
Excellent artwork throughout the book, I was really impressed with the standard, this is a very good graphic novel attempt at the story of Dune, follows generally the same story line as the movie, the Emperor gives house Atreides control of the Spice planet, much to the dis pleasure of the Baron who wants control of the spice planet himself, he designs a plot to capture the spice planet for himself and it works. I wont put in too many spoilers, but it is very enjoyable, I read the hardback copy of the book, the quality of the pages was high. No editorial issue or errors, the story was very easy to follow, and the artwork was consistently self explanatory in meaning. The wordings and artwork were match consistently well with each other. Brilliant book, really enjoyed it, the colourings throughout the book create the images of Dune that you remember from the movie.
