I hope you’re all having a great week, and if you had yesterday off, did you do anything fun? Today I’m sharing The Hound of the Baskervilles graphic novel, illustrated by Dave Shephard. Spoiler? I really liked this version!
Dark Tales: The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Graphic Novel by Arthur Conan Doyle and illustrated by Dave Shephard
Review by Lauren
Source: copy from publisher; all opinions are my own
Official Summary (add on Goodreads): This classic “whodunit” story with the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is now told in graphic novel format. More than 100 pages of illustrated action and adventure! Sir Charles Baskerville, master of the Baskerville estate, is found dead at the gates with a look of horror on his face. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called in to investigate the possibility of foul play. After several false leads, they solve the mystery and reveal the truth.
Review: I love graphic novel adaptations of classic books. There’s just something about adding illustrations to these stories that make them a bit more exciting. I’ve actually read the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, but its been years now. However, when I was offered the chance to review this book, I was immediately excited as I love all things Sherlock Holmes.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - in graphic novel form! Book review #ontheblog! #bookbloggers Click To TweetI thought the graphic adaptation was done well. The story had to be trimmed down, of course, so the ultimate culprit seemed a bit too obvious. If you are reading this story for the first time, you might not want to start here unless you don’t mind the mystery not being too much of a mystery. There are various possible suspects and the book clearly shows why they are suspicious, but again, in graphic novel format, there is only so much Shephard could show or explain without going on and on so just be warned that you might figure out “who done it” early on!
However, since this is an adaptation, I’m going to assume that a lot of you have already read – or at least know of – the story and therefore you are now interested in the illustrations. Shephard does a great job bringing these classic characters to life. I thought the coloring was chosen well – a bit darker and moody but still easy to look at and follow along! All the characters were created to look unique, which I love, as it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate characters in a graphic novel depending on the author’s style.
great review looking forward to read the book
Interesting! And a great way to get people interested in classic books. As you said, so often makes them more accessible and fun to read. Thanks for sharing!
Not huge sherlock fan but I have a lot of people in my life who are. Will reccommend for sure!
What a fun way to read a Sherlock tale! Glad you enjoyed it, Lauren!
How fun to read a Sherlock tail this way! I think it’s really nice when you can visualize what’s going on with a mystery.
This sounds like a great way to get into a old classic again, glad it was still good despite the condensed size!
Tori @ In Tori Lex
yeah I can see why it would be trimmed down if it was in that form, overall though it seems like the job wasn’t bad done
Sherlock Holmes seems like a perfect fit for a graphic novel! I wonder how Ernest Hemingway would look in such a format.
Awesome review! It’s for sure going on my summer reading list!
I am not sure this graphic novel is for me but I would love to get more into graphic novels! I read Persepolis and need to read the second one!
I’ve never read a Sherlock Holmes book, but I’ve watched a few of the film adaptations. Glad that you enjoyed the graphic version and the illustrations were done well. Your dog is cute, Lauren! Hope you two are staying cool in all this horrible heat! 🙂
This looks really cool. My husband is a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes books, so I’ll have to tell him about this graphic novel. I bet he would love it.
I am slightly intimidated by classics so I haven’t read the original Conan Doyle books but I consumed a lot of Sherlock on screen. I think graphic novels are less intimidating so, yay! Thanks for putting this on my radar. 🙂
Great Review!
I LOVED Sherlock when I was a kid, this might be the perfect way to revisit old stories!
This is great! Looking forward to reading the novel – this would be a perfect gift for my sister
I have never thought about reading a graphic novel of a classic story. Glad this one worked out so well for you.
I’ve actually never attempted to watch Sherlock yet–I know, I’m a sad human being. D:
I’ve never read the original story but this graphic novel looks great. I might have to pick it up.
Ooooh!! I definitely have to check this out!!
This one sounds like one that I should get for my school library. I like getting the graphic novels of the classics. I have my students who seem to only read graphic novels, but sometimes when they get the ones of books – classics or other just fiction books – it will get them to jump over to those. Thanks for this review, now I know to get a hold of it!
I love Sherlock Holmes stories but I’ve never seen graphic novels about them. This looks so fun!
I need to get my hands on this one because it sounds right up my alley!
I love Sherlock Holmes so much. Great review!
Joy to the World
I’m a little embarrassed to say this but I have never read Arthur Conan Doyle! 🙂
So I’ll take your advice and won’t start with a graphic novel so I can enjoy the mystery. 🙂 Glad to hear this is a good adaptation to check out when I’m have read the full work already 🙂
[…] The Baskerville” is for you! Check out its review by Lauren Becker of Shooting Stars Mag here. I think its […]