Nancy Butler, author of the graphic novel version of Pride and Prejudice, has turned another Jane Austen classic into a series of comic books. I was lucky to meet Butler at Book Expo America in May and snag a signed copy of the first issue of the Sense & Sensibility comic series by Marvel. I haven’t read a comic book since I was a kid, but I was willing to give it a try since I can’t get enough of all things Jane Austen.
I read this issue in about 20 minutes in Penn Station, waiting for the train from NYC to Connecticut. It was a wonderful way to pass the time in a noisy space. If you’re familiar with Austen’s Sense & Sensibility, then there are no surprises in Butler’s version — and that’s a good thing when you’re looking for a mindless but entertaining read.
Issue 1 begins with the death of Henry Dashwood and his son’s promise to take care of his stepmother and his three half sisters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. John’s wife, Fanny, however, wants the entire estate to be theirs and convinces John that he need not provide the monetary support he’d planned on. While the fate of the four Dashwood women is being sorted out, Elinor becomes acquainted with Fanny’s brother, Edward Ferrars, and grows quite fond of him. Butler does a good job paraphrasing Austen’s words to show the differences between Elinor and Marianne when it comes to matters of the heart. Issue 1 draws to a close as the Dashwood sisters and their mother embark upon a new life in a new home.
I really enjoyed Sense & Sensibility in comic form. Of course, the comic cannot convey everything Austen hoped to through her writing, but Butler captures the essence of the story. Sonny Liew’s illustrations strike the perfect balance between light and dark, emphasizing the contrast between Elinor’s happiness with Edward and the gloominess of the Dashwoods’ dire financial situation. The characters look like you’d imagine them to, and their emotions can be plainly seen on their faces.
At BEA, Butler told me that all of the issues in the series will be compiled into a single bound volume to be released later this year — which is perfect for someone like me who doesn’t like to be left hanging and doesn’t plan to track down the remaining issues in the series. You can bet I’ll be checking out the graphic novel when it is published.
Disclosure: I received Sense & Sensibility (Marvel #1) from Book Expo America 2010.
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
This looks great – I love the drawings! I think the idea of collecting all those issues being bound together is wonderful.
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I can’t wait to see all the issues together. I love the drawings, too.
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I have yet to read a classic novel turned into a graphic novel, but I do love the idea of it.
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I haven’t read a graphic novel at all; I don’t consider this one issue to be a graphic novel. I probably should have jumped on the bandwagon already.
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I havent read a graphic novel (is it something like comics?) for ages.
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I haven’t read one at all (at least not a complete one), but my daughter has given me the first volume of Bone to read.
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So how did you feel about it in terms of say kids preferring to read this to reading the original?
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Well, I think they’d get the gist of the story from the comics/graphic novel, but it’s nothing like reading Austen. I’ll wait to make a final verdict until after I’ve read the entire series of Sense & Sensibility, though.
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I hate I missed this at BEA, but I think that I would prefer to get a copy of the complete version at the end of the year.
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I didn’t know they were releasing them as single issues first. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I saw they were giving out only issue 1. I enjoyed it so much that I was very disappointed that it was over so soon.
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Looks sweet :)I hope the library gets this one when it comes out with the complete version
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I hope mine does, too!
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I am not a Austen fan. But a comic form of her books is worth checking out!
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Well, if you’ve tried Austen and don’t like her writing style, then at least you can enjoy the story through the comics/graphic novels.
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This is something that I would wait for. The bound graphic novel version would be great to read in a short period of time and wouldn’t leave me in suspense, though I already know the story! LOL
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Yeah, I can’t say I was left in suspense, but I still would prefer to read the whole thing at once.
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sounds like she’s offering the best of both worlds – the installments for those who like the serial aspect of the story, and the complete bound graphic novel for those who prefer it from A-Z (me!)
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Very true! I guess I’m not meant to be a comic fan. I can’t even stand to wait for a sequel to a book, never mind having to read an entire story in installments!
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This sounds cute. I’m with Trisha, I haven’t read any classics turned into comics but I’m sort of tempted now. Would be a fun, fast way to read some good works 🙂
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I really want to read the P&P one. I hope you give the comics a try.
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This sounds so cool! I’d love to flip through this. I think it’d be a great way to probably get the younger generation into these books!
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I hope you give it a try! At the very least, it could pique the interest of younger readers, make them see that classics aren’t always boring. 😉
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This looks very charming. Wonderful review, Anna.
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Thanks, Suko!
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Wow! I can’t wait to see this when it comes out in the full form too! Where would we be able to get it? In regular book stores? Amazon?
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Probably both; it’s already showing up in Amazon for pre-order.
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The cover looks amazing. is the whole comic drawn like that?
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Yes, the inside drawings are very similar to the cover. I think you’d like it.
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Cool! I love the illustration style in this one. Beautiful!
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The illustrations are quite lovely. Hope you get a chance to read it.
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[…] bunch of reviews: Diary of an Eccentric 1979-SemiFinalist and this was on ComiXtreme before the site revamp :p “Sense & […]
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Marvel has a whole lot of interesting series now. I love their version of the Anita Blake books.
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I’m not familiar with those, but I’ll check them out. I never paid too much attention to comics before.
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