Graphic Classics Volume 18: Louisa May Alcott (Paperback)

Graphic Classics: Louisa May Alcott features "Little Women", adapted for comics by Trina Robbins and illustrated by Anne Timmons. Plus lesser-known gothic mysteries and horror stories including "A Whisper in the Dark" by Antonella Caputo and Arnold Arre, "The Rival Prima Donnas" by Rod Lott and Molly Crabapple, and "Lost in a Pyramid" by Alex Burrows and Pedro Lopez. Also two poems and two strange children's stories, "Buzz" and "The Piggy Girl", illustrated by Mary Fleener, Shary Flenniken, Toni Pawlowsky and Lisa K. Weber.

Grade 7 Up—An abridged novel, poetry, and a handful of Alcott's short stories are interpreted by various adapters and illustrators. The most interesting elements of the collection introduce readers to some of Alcott's less-familiar works: melodramatic, gothic horror written primarily for adults. "The Rival Prima Donnas" tells of revenge and betrayal between an opera diva and her understudy as both vie for the romantic attentions of a fickle portrait artist. The illustrator uses a palette of gold, brown, and black with lurid touches of red roses and blood for excellent dramatic effect. In contrast, the illustrator of "Lost in the Pyramid," also known as "The Mummy's Curse," uses heavily blackened shadows to impose an eerie atmosphere and create a heightened sense of the impending doom awaiting the tomb-robbers. One luckless adventurer's decision to pocket a memento will bring a curse to his future wedding day. "The Piggy Girl" and "Buzz" were obviously written for younger readers and provide a refreshing change of pace. Little Women has been significantly abridged to 46 comic pages. Major characters and plotlines are only briefly sketched. Individuals appear one-dimensional with the delightful stories and personalities of the original work eliminated. Devotees of this classic will probably be disappointed, and those who would like an overview of Little Women might be better served by viewing a film adaptation. Like Alcott's Aunt Jo's Scrapbag, this "bundle" of "odds and ends" offers a mixed bag of "stories, old and new."—Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
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To give readers a broader understanding of classic writers, books in this ongoing series include adaptations of several varied stories. In this case, a highly abridged version of Alcott's most famous work, Little Women, shares the volume with her lesser known tales of bizarre passion and revenge. The March sisters in Little Women enjoy play-acting melodramas, and the stories Jo March begins writing are over-the-top gothics; however, generations of readers have loved the novel for its picture of a warm, supportive family, and that's largely lost in this rushed condensation. Other stories focus on the consequences of frustrated isolation. A lonely girl gushes love for her pet fly. An aging operatic diva takes ghastly revenge on the rival who's supplanted her while also stealing her lover. And in what the atmospheric art by Arnold Arre makes the most impressive of all, in Whisper in the Dark a young heiress is locked away in an insane asylum so that her dastardly guardian can steal her fortune after she is driven mad. Despite uneven quality in scripts and art—contributors include Trina Robbins, Anne Timmons, Molly Crabapple, and Shary Flenniken—the collection succeeds in giving a wider view of Alcott's output. (Nov.)
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