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ashley_elizabeth's review against another edition
2.0
Very sad to say I didn't care too much for this graphic collection. As much as I loooooove Ray Bradbury, I'm a bit disappointed with how these stories turned out and was sadly not a big fan of the majority of the art. Joe Hill's story might have been my favorite, both in tone and artwork.
ederwin's review
4.0
Graphic adaptations by various comics artists of stories written by various other authors in "celebration" of Ray Bradbury. Sometimes Bradbury is a character. Sometimes themes from Bradbury are evident. Sometimes, such as with the Harlan Ellison story, the connection is not obvious. (Ellison adds a "note" which tries, but mostly fails, to explain a connection. But that note is great. Typical Ellison going off on a rant!)
There are 3 great stories here, and a bunch of other OK ones. I'm not going to say which are which!
I didn't realize when I started this "comic" that it is based on the text anthology [b:Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury|13329252|Shadow Show All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury|Sam Weller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347768800l/13329252._SY75_.jpg|18536664] by [a:Sam Weller|6296|Sam Weller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1180957324p2/6296.jpg].
There are 3 great stories here, and a bunch of other OK ones. I'm not going to say which are which!
I didn't realize when I started this "comic" that it is based on the text anthology [b:Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury|13329252|Shadow Show All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury|Sam Weller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347768800l/13329252._SY75_.jpg|18536664] by [a:Sam Weller|6296|Sam Weller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1180957324p2/6296.jpg].
nicolemillo's review
2.0
eARC review
This kind of feels like critiquing a eulogy and as a work of admiration and love, I cannot make any judgements (well…there are probably ways one could, irreverent as it may be/seem, but I won't). However, I can critique the work as a comics anthology. What follows on is exactly that.
These comics were written by some (purportedly) brilliant writers working with comic artists to make these comics 'in celebration of Ray Bradbury'. It seems like a good idea at first, but comic writing and novel writing are two different ball games and I don't find that these novelists transfer well to comics. Many of the images aren't interesting, just descriptive of the text adding nothing of their own.
The first story is good even if the art was just okay. (2 stars)
The second, by Neil Gaiman, was a great concept with good enough artwork, but it felt like the art wasn't serving any purpose really; like it was unnecessary. (2 stars)
The third story's adaptation to comic format (I can't imagine in any way this could have been made for the comic form) is terrible. The art is kind of…awful. And the lettering (if it can be called that) is just plain lazy. Niffenegger's text is plentiful and weighs heavily on each page so as to make it unwelcoming at a glance and a chore when you have to wade through. The story is okay. It could even be quaint maybe but having to plough through the comic format was just not a good thing for this story. (1 star)
The fourth story works well in comic format, though the pacing is rushed at times and things are just accepted meeting no resistance - perhaps this is Bradbury-esque though? (2.5 stars)
The fifth comic is not a comic at all. As a story in and of itself, it is not one I would pick up so I don't want to rate it really… But as part of (what I understood to be) a comic anthology, it is unwelcome here for me. I like that it doesn't try in vain to convince us it is a comic like the Niffenegger "comic", but it just doesn't fit…AND I'm not a fan of the story. I can appreciate the rant about the use of words like "brother" and "awesome" though it sounds bitter and pedantic… It was an interesting anecdote and this story will probably be really, really appreciated by fans of Ellison and/or Bradbury... But I was indifferent on the whole and not keen due to initial confusion (a particularly subjective 1 star)
The sixth comic was kind of fun in the way a story from Necronomicon is kind of fun. (2.5 stars)
I really liked the art in the seventh comic. The illustrations are fun and say more than the words. They add to the script which is the purpose of the comic format. The story is funny, slightly dark and works perfectly as a comic. This is the calibre I wish the whole collection was at. (5 stars)
The eighth comic was okay. The first half (with Marky and Rusty and Grandpa) was a little bland, but it could be described as sweet excusing the sterility. The second half of the story with Abbey and Cate feels out of place and very stiff and sort of…just…I don't know how many times I can rolls my eyes at so few pages. I'm not a fan of the artwork either - I find that as stiff as the way the story is told - but I am sure it will have its fans. (2 stars)
>>NB. I can only assume these are actually two different stories (and I would probably rate rate the latter slightly lower than the former), but it wasn't too clear and I couldn't find the titles or end/start to confirm anything for myself after a cursory look. Either way, none of my ratings change and I have addressed each story.
This collection would have worked better as short stories with occasional illustrations rather than comics.
If you are a particular fan of any of the writers or have a keen interest in Ray Bradbury, you may yet find something to like in this collection of shorts. As for me, I was unimpressed.
My official overall star rating is an averaging of the stories: 2.25 stars. My unofficial rating is 1 star (excluding the seventh comic which was great).
This kind of feels like critiquing a eulogy and as a work of admiration and love, I cannot make any judgements (well…there are probably ways one could, irreverent as it may be/seem, but I won't). However, I can critique the work as a comics anthology. What follows on is exactly that.
These comics were written by some (purportedly) brilliant writers working with comic artists to make these comics 'in celebration of Ray Bradbury'. It seems like a good idea at first, but comic writing and novel writing are two different ball games and I don't find that these novelists transfer well to comics. Many of the images aren't interesting, just descriptive of the text adding nothing of their own.
The first story is good even if the art was just okay. (2 stars)
The second, by Neil Gaiman, was a great concept with good enough artwork, but it felt like the art wasn't serving any purpose really; like it was unnecessary. (2 stars)
The third story's adaptation to comic format (I can't imagine in any way this could have been made for the comic form) is terrible. The art is kind of…awful. And the lettering (if it can be called that) is just plain lazy. Niffenegger's text is plentiful and weighs heavily on each page so as to make it unwelcoming at a glance and a chore when you have to wade through. The story is okay. It could even be quaint maybe but having to plough through the comic format was just not a good thing for this story. (1 star)
The fourth story works well in comic format, though the pacing is rushed at times and things are just accepted meeting no resistance - perhaps this is Bradbury-esque though? (2.5 stars)
The fifth comic is not a comic at all. As a story in and of itself, it is not one I would pick up so I don't want to rate it really… But as part of (what I understood to be) a comic anthology, it is unwelcome here for me. I like that it doesn't try in vain to convince us it is a comic like the Niffenegger "comic", but it just doesn't fit…AND I'm not a fan of the story. I can appreciate the rant about the use of words like "brother" and "awesome" though it sounds bitter and pedantic… It was an interesting anecdote and this story will probably be really, really appreciated by fans of Ellison and/or Bradbury... But I was indifferent on the whole and not keen due to initial confusion (a particularly subjective 1 star)
The sixth comic was kind of fun in the way a story from Necronomicon is kind of fun. (2.5 stars)
I really liked the art in the seventh comic. The illustrations are fun and say more than the words. They add to the script which is the purpose of the comic format. The story is funny, slightly dark and works perfectly as a comic. This is the calibre I wish the whole collection was at. (5 stars)
The eighth comic was okay. The first half (with Marky and Rusty and Grandpa) was a little bland, but it could be described as sweet excusing the sterility. The second half of the story with Abbey and Cate feels out of place and very stiff and sort of…just…I don't know how many times I can rolls my eyes at so few pages. I'm not a fan of the artwork either - I find that as stiff as the way the story is told - but I am sure it will have its fans. (2 stars)
>>NB. I can only assume these are actually two different stories (and I would probably rate rate the latter slightly lower than the former), but it wasn't too clear and I couldn't find the titles or end/start to confirm anything for myself after a cursory look. Either way, none of my ratings change and I have addressed each story.
This collection would have worked better as short stories with occasional illustrations rather than comics.
If you are a particular fan of any of the writers or have a keen interest in Ray Bradbury, you may yet find something to like in this collection of shorts. As for me, I was unimpressed.
My official overall star rating is an averaging of the stories: 2.25 stars. My unofficial rating is 1 star (excluding the seventh comic which was great).
wyvernfriend's review
4.0
Some very wonderful stories some fairly mundane, but it did make me want to explore more of Ray Bradbury.
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