Graphic Classics Volume 14: Gothic Classics (2007)

• Gothic Classics presents Ann Radcliffe's archetypal gothic novel The Mysteries of Udopho, adapted by Antonella Caputo and Carlo Vergara. Plus: Jane Austen's gothic parody Northanger Abbey" by Trina Robbins and Anne Timmons; and Poe's "The Oval Portrait" by Malaysian illustrator Leong Wan Kok. Also "At the Gate," a ghost story with dogs by Myla Jo Closser, illustrated by Shary Flenniken;, and J. Sheridan Le Fanu's great vampire tale "Carmilla," by Rod Lott and Lisa K. Weber. With a dramatic cover painting from "Carmilla" by Lisa K. Weber.

Grade 10 Up—This blood-suckingly fun collection will appeal to the teenage Goths and Emos of the world. It has sexy vampires, girls locked in towers, caddish men, and decaying bodies being eaten by rats. Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, and Edgar Allan Poe are just a few of the authors included, and the adaptations are met with varying success. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" is masterfully retold by Rod Lott and illustrated by Lisa K. Weber in a Tim Burtonesque style, and will be appreciated by The Nightmare before Christmas and Corpse Bride crowd. At 55 pages, Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" is the longest story in the collection, and while Antonella Caputo's retelling is competent (given the novel's original length of more than 600 pages), Carlo Vergara's art is less captivating. Poe's "Oval Portrait" is a short but sweetly creepy tale, but Myla Jo Closser's story of an angst-ridden Airedale awaiting doggy heaven seems completely out of place here due to its simple drawings and odd plot. Austen's clever satire of gothic novels seen in Northanger Abbey does not really come across in the graphic-novel format, but nevertheless is an interesting story. The book doesn't provide enough information for students studying gothic literature, but for fans of the band My Chemical Romance, it's just the thing.—Jennifer Waters, Red Deer Public Library, Alberta, Canada
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Mystery, terror, imprisonment, death: the great gothic themes are explored in these five well-chosen, seminal tales. Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu sets the tone for the collection, with its dreamy, swirling art by Lisa K. Weber and its haunting story of a corrupt, corrupting beauty. Edgar Allan Poe is represented by The Oval Portrait, in which Poe's customary bewildered narrator comes to realize he's staring at an object of horror—a not unpredictable development given that he was spending the night in a ruined, abandoned castle. Ann Radcliffe's inimitable Mysteries of Udolpho is rendered in a faithful, nearly documentary style by Carlo Vergara, while Jane Austen's play upon the gothic, Northanger Abbey, is charmingly illustrated by Anne Timmons. The collection ends on a sweeter, melancholy note with the little known At the Gate by Myla Jo Closser, in which a crowd of dogs waits in a mysterious land of limbo. The Airedale protagonist realizes, along with the reader, that they are anticipating reunions with their human families, who usually take much longer to reach this shadow land than do their shorter-lived pets. (Apr.)
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The newest volume in the Graphic Classics series offers five delicious selections—featuring ghosts, vampires, and haunted castles—that call to mind the classic horror movies put out by Hammer Studios. Prefaced by by Molly Kiely's version of Jane Austen's poem "I've a Pain in My Head," the collection includes Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, energetically adapted by Rod Lott with beautiful art from Lisa K. Weber, and Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, faithfully rendered with smooth lines and high contrast by Carlo Vergara. Coleman, Tina