{"id":1565,"date":"2018-10-17T12:50:56","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T16:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2018-10-08T19:52:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T23:52:14","slug":"graphic-novel-review-marleys-ghost-by-charles-dickens-harvey-kurtzman-josh-oneill-and-shannon-wheeler-art-by-gideon-kendal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/?p=1565","title":{"rendered":"Graphic Novel Review: Marley\u2019s Ghost by Charles Dickens, Harvey Kurtzman, Josh O\u2019Neill, and Shannon Wheeler, art by Gideon Kendal"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Harvey Kurtzman\u2019s Marley\u2019s Ghost\u00a0<\/em>based on\u00a0A Christmas Carol<\/em>\u00a0by Charles Dickens, adapted by Harvey Kurtzman, completed by Josh O\u2019Neill and Shannon Wheeler, illustrated by Gideon Kendal<\/p>\n

comiXology Originals, 2017<\/p>\n

ASIN: B01LZAATMD<\/p>\n

Available: Kindle, comiXology<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marley\u2019s Ghost<\/em>\u00a0is the posthumous completion of Harvey Kurtzman\u2019s (1924-1993) adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel\u00a0A Christmas Carol.<\/em>\u00a0Kurztman\u2019s concept for this book started in the 1950s, but was never brought to fruition. Josh O\u2019Neill and Shannon Wheeler decided to expand upon Kurtzman\u2019s adaptation notes and partnered with Gideon Kendall to supply his rich artwork to bring this work to the comic world.<\/p>\n

The first thing that struck me about this graphic novel version of\u00a0A Christmas Carol<\/em>was the designs of the ghosts. Marley has the typical rendering, but he\u2019s somehow more effective. His expressions of frustration and, at the same time, remorse for his past are so clear. The Ghost of Christmas Past is depicted as a woman dressed in white with windswept hair and glowing orbs in place of eyes. She\u2019s truly beautiful and haunting. The Ghost of Christmas Present, in his rich velvet robe, surrounded by abundance, takes Ebenezer to show him the jollity the members of his community experience despite the ills they face every other day of the year: from the humble home of his clerk, to a ship\u2019s crew out at sea, and the very home of his nephew who graciously invited his uncle to Christmas dinner, only to be scorned and thrown out of the shop. The Ghost of Christmas Future has always been my favorite spirit to visit Scrooge, and it\u2019s interesting to see how creators depict this harbinger. This volume is no different. The color tone also changes with this spirit\u2019s visitation. All of the panels are tinted red, and the shadows are more prevalent. When Scrooge awakens, the color changes to a light blue, and the sun is shining in through his window directly on his cowering frame. It\u2019s a very effective use of color to evoke the message of redemption Scrooge is experiencing.<\/p>\n

Kurtzman was the creator of\u00a0Mad<\/em>, Playboy\u2019s\u00a0Little Annie Fanny<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Trump<\/em>, and\u00a0Help! Magazine<\/em>, among other creative endeavors. O\u2019Neill is the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning writer and editor of\u00a0Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream<\/em>, and Wheeler is the Eisner Award-winning creator of the comic\u00a0Too Much Coffee Man<\/em>\u00a0and a contributor to\u00a0The New Yorker<\/em>. Kendall is an illustrator and animation designer whose clients include Disney, Cartoon Network, and\u00a0New York Times<\/em>. All of these great contributors have helped create an incredible graphic novel adaptation of one of Dickens\u2019 most influential works. I recommend this particular version to anyone who has a love of Dickens and enjoys seeing new adaptations of his classic ghost story. Any library that collects creative adaptations may be interested in taking a look at selecting\u00a0Marley\u2019s Ghost<\/em>\u00a0for their collection. This could also be a useful addition to graphic novels courses, Victorian literature courses, or other courses that explore the classics. Academic libraries that are growing their comics and graphic novels collections to support the teaching, learning, and research goals of their universities might consider speaking with interested liaisons to gauge interest. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harvey Kurtzman\u2019s Marley\u2019s Ghost\u00a0based on\u00a0A Christmas Carol\u00a0by Charles Dickens, adapted by Harvey Kurtzman, completed by Josh O\u2019Neill and Shannon Wheeler, illustrated by Gideon Kendal comiXology Originals, 2017 ASIN: B01LZAATMD Available: Kindle, comiXology   Marley\u2019s Ghost\u00a0is the posthumous completion of Harvey Kurtzman\u2019s (1924-1993) adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel\u00a0A Christmas Carol.\u00a0Kurztman\u2019s concept for this book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,76,119],"tags":[246],"class_list":["post-1565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-graphic-novels","category-horror","tag-charles-dickens"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Eu9f-pf","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1566,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565\/revisions\/1566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/ReadingBites\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}