You are likely thinking “Do we really need another version of Murder on the Orient Express?” And the answer to this question is yes, and maybe no. Murder on the Orient Express The Graphic Novel adapted and illustrated by Bob Al-Greene is a beautiful and faithful recreation of the narrative we all know and love in visual format. As such, it is likely to bring some new readers to the Agatha Christie fold. It will also please fans that are absolutely obsessed the story and cannot seem to get enough of it. That said, part of the power of this particular novel is the surprises and those have been lost over years of re-telling, so this new adaptation my feel unnecessary to some readers.
What Murder on the Orient Express The Graphic Novel succeeds in doing is bringing the story to a new medium, a place where maybe fans of the graphic novel are not so familiar with the storyline. There is no doubt that the illustrations are beautifully rendered and intricately detailed.
Bob Al-Greene wisely chooses to keep most of Agatha Christie’s original structure–there are a few places where chapters are skipped or combined together for brevity. Much of the dialogue follows from Christie’s original as well. And of course, the resolution remains faithful to the original–this is an adaptation, after all.
Those who are familiar with the story will immediately realize how useful the above illustration of the stateroom placement will be to the unfolding of the crime novel’s action.
And how many of us have delighted over Hercule Poirot’s appearance in the various adaptation over the years. This is just another to add to that repertoire.
In the end, the success of Murder on the Orient Express The Graphic Novel will depend on each reader’s reference points and personal love of the story. This would be a wonderful gift to introduce new readers to the joys of crime fiction–and Agatha Christie–in particular. Others might just want a beautifully illustrated version of the tale they can pull down from the shelf and peruse at their leisure. For those reasons alone, it is nice that this new version was created.
BUY LINKS: Murder on the Orient Express The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie and Bob Al-Greene
Disclaimer: A print edition of this title was provided to BOLO Books by the publisher. No promotion was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
