Publisher: Campfire Classics

Release Date: April 2011

Price: $12.99

Creator(s): Based on the novel by Alexander Dumas. Adapted and abridged by Bruce Buchanan. Art by Amit Tayal.

Format: 104 pgs.; Full-color; Trade Paperback

ISBN: 978-93-80028-57-6

Age Rating: Grades 7-12

ICv2 Rating: 1.5 Stars out of 5

 

This unfortunate graphic adaptation is a perfect example of what can go horribly wrong with what should be a good project.  Bruce Buchanan did a very good job of abridging a long book without destroying the pace of the story.  His work compares favorably to the film versions of the story, in terms of keeping enough to make sense.  He did not "dumb down" the plot or the dialogue, which means that this version is best suited to middle school and above, rather than for early readers.

 

The artist, on the other hand, turned in a technically well-done set of illustrations better suited to a Mad Magazine parody, rather than a serious adaptation.  While The Three Musketeers has plenty of humor scattered throughout a serious political swashbuckler, it is not a slapstick comedy.  One scene, in which the queen of France sends her servant on an errand that may lead to treason, war and numerous deaths, is interrupted by the queen’s cartoony nose-blowing, like Olive Oyl in a Popeye cartoon.  This kind of jarring mood-breaker, which occurs throughout this volume, can be handled well if the artist is in tune with the material.  That is not the case here.  The result is about as appropriate as a Smurfs version of Red Badge of Courage.

 

Some kids will probably enjoy the goofy illustrations, but otherwise this is a train wreck of a book, entirely the fault of the artist and the art director.

--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library of California.