The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A Graphic Novel

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kevin Cornell (Illustrator), Nunzio DeFilippis (Adapter)

Upon completing "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald declared it "the funniest story ever written" and "one of my two favorite stories." It's the strange tale of a man who is "born" 70 years old and mysteriously ages in reverse. This stunning graphic novel adaptation illustrates Benjamin Button's many adventures: He falls in love, starts a family, and runs a successful business. In his later years, he goes to war and attends Harvard University. As an old man, he resembles a newborn baby and returns to the care of a nurse.

Complete with Fitzgerald's original text, dazzling watercolor illustrations, and an afterword describing the story's origins and critical reception, this edition offers a fresh look at a literary masterpiece.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Comics, Short Stories, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2008

About the author

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age, a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson. Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country-club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920). The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. To maintain his affluent lifestyle, he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, The Great Gatsby is now hailed by some literary critics as the "Great American Novel". Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works during the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941), after Fitzgerald's death. In 1993, a new edition was published as The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.

Reviews

[Fiza Pathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This modern-day 20th century classic is surely one of the best things ever thought of in contemporary English Literature! It easily gets 4 stars from me. One star was deducted not because of Fitzgerald but because of the illustrators who worked on this short novella by the former. I would have preferred the illustrations to have been more symmetrical and colourful rather than the brown-grey wash out theme used by the graphic artists.

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a satirical fantasy novella which in its style reminded me a lot of his ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.’ It is a miracle that Fitzgerald is only remembered today for his Flapper books and short stories rather than some of his rare fantasy pieces. I love all of his works and read some of his best short stories when I was in middle school back in 2000-2003. But I think he could have really done marvels in the fantasy genre if given a chance to do so and this novella proves this fact. It is unfortunate that authors are relegated by publishers and editors, especially magazine and newsletter editors, into stereotypical ‘brackets’ from which these poor authors can rarely ever emerge. They die in the same genre without having the good fortune to experiment with their craft in the name of ‘not upsetting their readership’.

I found this novella to be penned beautifully with rich satire that can be relished time and time again in a literature class. The poignancy of the tale of Benjamin Button is certainly not in the fact that he was unusual, but the fact that he was indeed a man who succeeded in fitting in with society to the best of his ability. This he did at each and every stage of his life, even though he was growing ‘younger’ day by day instead of ‘older’. This settling down into normalcy is the element which propels the plot forward more than any other element in this fantasy book.

Fitzgerald is reported to have called this book of his ‘his most hilarious work’ but according to me, it was more amusing and revelatory of Western society than hilarious. It showcases the power in a human being’s capability to adapt and compromise with every given situation. It also showcases the power of adaptability of society to an otherwise unusual event or person in their midst, indicating that society per se is malleable and at the same time diffident to emerge from its state of otherwise constant inertia. I found the role of Button’s father to be especially amusing in this tale of the fantastic and I also had a lot of empathy for Benjamin himself.

I did not fancy the illustrations much as I was hoping for something more colourful as depicted on the cover of the hardback. It is an unsaid rule in the publishing world in the realm of graphic novels that what you see on the cover is the style you should get in the book. It is unfortunate to see many illustrators and graphic novelists not following this rule while publishing. The brown-grey water wash color scheme was a bit of a put off and at times I could not distinguish one character from the other.

It seemed probably that this book was done in a hurry to meet up with the release of Brad Pitt’s 2008 movie based on Fitzgerald’s novella. Probably because of that the illustrators had no time to do a good job of it, but I had high expectations when I picked up this title at one of the many lending libraries that I patronize.

Also, the modern-day words and phrases used in the text was marring the flow of the original and jarring to the eyes and brain. They should have been avoided altogether because the original text had enough of charm to go by. Otherwise, I finished the book in a matter of two days because of my hectic schedule and found the tale to be riveting. The ending touched my soul, making me realize that if we as a species were able to grow younger as days went by instead of older, then we would not have been better off at all; in fact it would have been a worse nightmare than growing from younger to older! The metaphorical meaning and philosophical allusions in that regard are too rich and deep to decipher in a short review of this nature. So, I shall end here.

I hope to read more of Fitzgerald’s works in the near future. He is a genius!

[Andie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't seem to get over my first thought of, "How the hell did someone actually give birth to an old man? How would that work?"
It was an interesting, quick read. It's laid out very simply, and really more of an outline of a story.
I liked it, but I had a hard time getting past the unrealistic attitudes towards Benjamin Button.

[Yoojung Seo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This particular graphic novel seemed to drag on. Since there was no climax in the story, it was very hard to read even in the form of a graphic novel. The illustrations were meant to play in the era the story takes place in, but it played even more into the boring theme of the whole book. There was no real story plot and the only progression that really seemed to take place was Benjamin Button’s gradual decline in age. There was no character development, whatsoever, and it never seemed to give an explanation to how the mother gave birth to an old man to begin with. The mother was not in the picture in the book at all and it was not even acknowledged that she was a character in the book, let alone the woman who gave birth to an old man. There was no explanation to his curious case, which was the only thing keeping me from quit reading this book. This book should not be recommended to anyone due to the lack of any event taking place. The graphic novel did not do the original story by F Scott Fitzgerald any justice and frankly, it was a shame that the story didn’t constantly include Button’s real age and perceived age because that would’ve been a fun connection to see. Overall, this book was a drag to read and I would not recommend it to anyone.

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the film!
Such a cute story, and yet filled with much sadness too. At times, mostly in youth, it would be fantastic to live that life. Growing younger, when old or when really young wouldn't be so great though, and to do it backwards from everyone else... no, thanks. I can't imagine how the author thought this was the funniest story ever, it wasn't an emotion that went through me.
It is an amazing story though. One that everyone should read. Don't let that Brad Pitt movie be all that you know of the story.
I can't comment on the graphic novel part of this. In ebook online, there was no graphics for me to see.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Fitzgerald penned Benjamin Button in 1922, he enthusiastically called it “the funniest story ever written” and hoped to write more pieces like it and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Publishers and the public, however, had a different idea as evidenced by an anonymous letter by a reader in Cincinnati:

Sir–I have read the story Benjamin Button in Colliers and I wish to say that as a short story writer you would make a good lunatic. I have seen many peices (sic) of cheese in my life but of all the peices of cheese I have ever seen you are the biggest peice. I hate to waste a peice of stationary on you but I will.

I had a somewhat more favorable reaction to the story of the unfortunate Mr. Button, who was born an old man and grew younger rather than older.

I was unable to find a copy of the full text of Fitzgerald’s story, but the graphic novel edition purports to be “complete with Fitzgerald’s original text”. I suspect that the text included was indeed the author’s but I’m not convinced that it was the full text of the story since Fitzgerald tended to be wordy. Nonetheless, there was more than enough, along with the illustrations and the speech bubbles, to tell the story in detail.

The 2008 movie starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett was a tour de force of digital enhancement. It won Academy Awards for Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects, as well it should have. (Rent DVDs online with Zip.ca or Blockbuster.com )

Critics were divided, some (NY Times, Variety) seeing it as a wonderful film and others, not so. I’m on the side of the Times.

Generally, I like movies that are based on books to stick fairly closely to the original. In this case, I’m willing to make an exception. Other than the title and the general concept of a man “aging” younger, there are NO similarities between Fitzgerald’s story (hereafter called the “book”) and the film.

In the book, Benjamin was born in a Baltimore hospital in 1860, as fully grown adult–a seventy-year-old man–who can talk & thinks like an adult. He’s raised by his father, spending company in his early days with his elderly grandfather. When he is in his early twenties, and appears about fifty, he marries a younger woman who likes “older men”. As the years pass, Benjamin loses interest in his wife as she becomes middle-aged and he grows younger.

His troubles applying to Yale (at 18 but looking 60), his time in the army during the Spanish-American War that began in 1898, his subsequent years as a football hero at Harvard (at 60 but looking 18), and his attempt at re-enlistment in 1914 for the Great War are wryly comically portrayed by Fitzgerald.

As the years progress, Benjamin hands over the family Wholesale Hardware business to his son Roscoe, and as an moody adolescent ends up living with Roscoe and eventually attends kindergarten with his grandson as he thinks more and more like a child.

The movie has Benjamin being born in 1918 in New Orleans as a wizened baby who is literally thrown away by his father and lands on the steps of an old-age home where he is taken in by one of the attendants and raised as her own.

The old age home is a clever device – who would question an old man there, even if he acted like a three year old, which he did, since the movie version has Benjamin born as a child physically and mentally. That works until until dementia sets in when he looks about 12 years old. Then the script picks up the book’s version of his regressing intellect & knowledge.

The love story that is central to the movie version is completely an invention of the screenwriter, and is completely opposite to what happens in the book.

And the movie version made the elder Mr. Button’s fortune the result of buttons, rather than hardware. You decide if that clever or if it’s cheesy. I rather liked it. After all, the whole story is a fantasy.

Differences aside, I greatly enjoyed the movie and much of my enjoyment came from the period sets throughout the twentieth century. Some critics make the charge that the movie is too long, coming in at just under three hours, but I think that it needs that time to progress through the decades and to tell Benjamin’s story: a man who seemed not greatly affected by major history (other than the World Wars) and who just seemed to have life happen to him, rather than to make life happen.

Brad Pitt played Brad Pitt – in various make-ups and with a multitude of digital enhancement, both to look young and to look old. Cate Blanchett, also the recipient of age-altering techniques, was far more credible as Daisy (a tip of the hat to Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby name for his wife Zelda).

Although I was initially disappointed that I was able to get only this graphic issue of the story, I found the book to be a pleasure to read (and to re-read). It, no doubt, is true to the original story and makes it accessible to both younger and older readers alike.

The book reminded me of the Illustrated Classics of such books as the Prince and the Pauper that my brother & I devoured in the mid-sixties. But they were comic books. This is an elegant, 5.75 x 8.25 inch hardbound edition whose sepia toned pages are a treat to read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphic novel is a great way to introduce the classic story to teens or those who don't necessarily like anything classics (like me). I really liked the illustrations; I thought the whole book was very well done.

However, there were two things I did not like: There is never a reason given as to why Benjamin Button was born a 70 year old man. I appreciate the authors giving a little information at the end. According to the authors, Fitzgerald was inspired by a quote by Mark Twain stating that it's a shame that the best time of life is at the beginning and the worst time is at the end. Also, the other thing I didn't like was that once Mrs. Button popped out the 70 year old Benjamin, she was never heard from again. I would have like some insight into her feelings on giving birth to an old man.

The quote from Mark Twain, found at the end of this graphic novel:

"If I had been helping the Almighty when he created man, I would have had him begin at the other end, and start human beings with old age. How much better to start old and have all the bitterness and blindness of age in the beginning! One would not mind then if he were looking forward to a joyful youth. Think of the joyous prospect of growing young instead of old! Think of looking forward to eighteen instead of eighty! Yes, the Almighty made a poor job of it. I wish He had invited my assistance."

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since I was a kid, I thought it would be funny for a person to be born old and work their way "back" to childhood. Apparently, so did F. Scott Fitzgerald! "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was one of his attempts into the realm of fantasy/science fiction, and he does an amazing job exploring all of the advantages (and the many, many disadvantages) of getting younger while growing older. Such a thing is physically impossible, of course, but it makes for an intriguing story.

This graphic novel version is perfect. The illustrations have muted coloring, which adds to the extra-dimensional perspective of the story. Fitzgerald's original words are used in abridgement, but the spirit of his writing is retained in the sequential art. Many of the things that happen to Benjamin Button are funny (such as his father's insistence on treating him like a baby even though he's an old man), and some of them are heartbreaking (his marriage declines as he becomes younger and his wife becomes older).

Again, this is a fantastic read, done masterfully in graphic novel form.

[Mycala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this graphic novel and am in awe of Fitzgerald's creativity. It's really too bad that the publishers and society were too narrow-minded to enjoy true brilliance, but then again the story itself is a perfect illustration of the intolerance of those who are different. I was irritated by the way that Benjamin was treated by his father following his birth -- by the way, no mention of how his mother fared? Seriously? So much concern about what others will think -- who gives a flip!? I was equally irritated with his son as he grew younger -- "just call me uncle, it's absurd for someone your age to refer to me by my first name"? Really? This is your father you're talking to, pal.

It's a shame Fitzgerald gave up on writing stories like this because society just wanted more flapper stories and that's what sold. Who knows what else he may have come up with if his creativity were encouraged?

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great way to get through the story quickly. I did not know that the original story was by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald found it humorous but I think it is very sad. Benjamin Button is misunderstood his entire life because he just doesn't fit in quite right based upon the weird experience of getting younger instead of aging. I was intrigued that Fitzgerald got the idea for the story from a remark made by Mark Twain. It was also sad to learn that Fitzgerald died at the young age of 44.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh... the short story is what it is, but this edition seems like a pretty transparent attempt to make a quick buck. the illustrations are fine, a bit on the innocent(? see: boring) side. it feels like neither the target audience nor the images that fitzgerald seemed fond of promoting were taken much into consideration.

[Michael]

with only 30 pages in all it is tough to not want more. The movie does a fairly good job of expanding the basic gist of the short story but, as usual, the book leaves things open to your imagination and all the actual events that went down.

[Lani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read the original short story, but this was a very neat graphic adaptation. The art was very pretty, and I enjoyed the sort of sepia-toned washed out approach.

The story itself is a little silly and made me like F. Scott Fitzgerald a little more than previously.

[Renae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, so when I saw this, I had to have it. It's really very interesting and entertaining.
While the story has its humor, it also has sadness. It'll make you think.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a a little out there but a cute story with great graphics. I have never read the full version, but I have seen the film. Personally I like the film redention better, which completely surprises me.

[Savannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing really wow-ing about this story at all. It's more of a "and then this happened" type of story with no real climax or any sort of building to something special.

It's the most "okay" book of all of the "okay" books.

[Chaylen Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d always wanted to read this, and I particularly liked it in graphic novel form. Perfect little read for a sick day at home. I loved its simplicity and thought-provoking nature regarding age and acceptance. 3.5/5👍🏼

[Zanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

15.96

[Donna Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the format. It made me laugh.

[Megan (ReadingRover) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! It was basically illustrated exactly as I pictured the book in my mind the first time I read it. Great rendition!

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tolerable graphic novel. A silly story.

2018 A graphic novel

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best graphic novel but definitely an interesting remake of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leído en español. Fue un poco dificil al principio, pero ya conocío la historia y además, los imagenes me ayudaron mucho. Y por supuesto, la historia todavía es genial.

[Emily Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunzio DeFelippis and Christina Weir transform F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” into an amusing and well-constructed graphic novel. To insinuate the setting of the book, beginning during the Civil War, artist Kevin Cornell puts in some ornate touches, such as the repeating wall paper design of hour glasses that separates the sections of the story and the very neat separation of panels on each page, the majority of which are rectangular. Cornell also does a wonderful job of making humorous facial expressions.

As Donald G. Sheehy highlights in his Afterword, Button is the classic individual and trend setter, succeeding beyond his peers and not always accepted. Indeed, Button succeeds at business, socializing, and sports. The humor is especially highlighted, as the elderly Button goes to college to avoid his marriage, and he is accepted at the same institution he had previously been laughed out of because he appeared elderly.

The story also accentuates the similarities between extreme age and youth. Infants and the extremely elderly need constant care. Both age groups need to be fed, bathed, and entertained. Both groups indulge in simple pleasures, such as eating and being clean and warm. Both groups are also unable to effectively communicate and are not completely aware of their surroundings. The difference is that a baby will eventually be able to interact where the debilitated elderly never will again. One group inspires hope and the other despondency.

Two interesting relationships highlighted in the adaptation are between parent and child and husband and wife. Button tries desperately to please his father, and for a brief time, they are able to act as friends and equals. His father does end up being pleased with him for a period of time. Button’s son, however, never manages to connect with his father, and the old man incarnated as child manages to be little more than a burden.

Sadder is the relationship between Button and Hildegarde, his wife. The two enjoy a very short period of happiness. As is often still the case, Hildegarde’s aging is more harshly judged than Button’s. At forty, he already judges her as old, even though he had an appearance of a man much older than that when they married. While the two are teased at their wedding about the difference in appearance of age, they can and are happy. However, when Button looks younger than Hildegarde and feels younger, he can no longer love or appreciate her. Poor Hildegarde comes across as an insufferable nag when she accuses Button of being able to control his progress into youth.

Overall, DeFilippis and Weir’s adaptation is a delightful read.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benjamin Button was born old – not old as in “he was an old soul” old, but literally, physically, mentally old. He looks about 80 with his long white hair, beard, and mustache. Everyone is flabbergasted. Benjamin’s own parents, not knowing what to do, are firmly in denial. They dress Benjamin in specially tailored “baby clothes,” buy him baby toys, encourage baby behaviors (breaking things and crying, especially), and punish him when they find him smoking. He and his grandfather, however, get on famously. Benjamin’s life goes on in this way until he begins to notice that he feels younger, and that his biological age seems to be decreasing as his chronological age increases. Sometimes this creates problems and sometimes it creates opportunities. At the end of his life, Benjamin is back in a cradle, everything about his backwards life forgotten as he fades away into nonexistence.

I’ve never read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original story (nor have I yet seen the movie!), but the cover of this graphic novel drew me in right away (newly born Benjamin Button is crammed into a crib, shins right up against the foot of the bed, a rather irritated expression on his face, and a baby rattle held - rather primly - in his left hand. The artwork in this graphic novel is in muted reds, blues, and grays, which lend it an older, but fantastical air. The story is both light-hearted and a little sad as Benjamin manages to find his own way through the life with which he must make do. Although this is true of everyone, it’s more noticeable in his case - everyone else, at least, gets to move through time in the same direction.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

80%

"This was not true. It was all part of Roger Button's silent agreement with himself to believe in his son's normality."

I've never read the original novel that this graphic novel is adapted from, so I can't say if it was a good adaptation or not, but I enjoyed it plenty as it is.

* the style and colours it's drawn in lends it a nostalgic old-timey vibe that was perfect for its mid-1800 century setting - the sepia tones are gentler than the harshness of black-and-white and less stimulating then a full colour palette, thus allowing your mind to drift into a thoughtful sort of quietude perfectly allowing the story's strangeness to settle in the depths of your mind.

* the afterword outlining F. Scott Fitzegerald's writing career was particularly interesting and added an extra layer of interest to the story. I was fascinated that his inspiration for writing the book was a passage Mark Twain wrote lamenting that youth is wasted on the young; reading Twain's (short) perspective after reading the story makes you ponder Fitzgerald's interpretation of the concept, and the possible alternative courses such a strange life could take.

[Amyanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this such a low rating not because of the format or the illustrations ( though they could have used more colour and excitement) but because the story was just so boring. Ageing backwards - novel idea, right? and maybe we should ignore the questions it raises such as :

She gave birth of that gigantic, leggy, ridiculously hairy old man?!
And there was nothing unusual about the way she looked during pregnancy?
And this birth didn't kill her?
And Benjamin speaks mere hours old - did he pick speech up in the womb? An adult sized brain does not automatically grant one a full vocabulary & understanding...

We could ignore logical problems in the story, sure, enjoy the fable, etc, BUT Benjamin was completely un-developed. Plus nothing really happens. Hence the boredom.

Also, as a victim of hatred / fear / prejudice himself it seemed odd that as he aged in reverse he became a total douche bag in his attitude towards his naturally ageing wife. A nasty character trait he obviously passes onto his son who treats his father with cold contempt as benjamin becomes younger.

[Kelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as a birthday present. I enjoyed the movie, but with some reservations. The book I enjoyed quite a bit.

This graphic novel follows the original short story very closely. Which is to say that it differs from the movie in almost every detail. It is a bittersweet story, but it is not really a love story in the way of the movie. It is simply the story of a man traveling backwards through life, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I really enjoyed the sepia tones of the art. The style is well-suited to the humorous, but melancholy story. I really cannot find a flaw.

I believe the book would be most appreciated by people who enjoyed the original story and those who enjoy slightly philosophical, whimsical stories. There is a possibility that if you really loved the movie, you might be disappointed with the graphic novel because it is entirely different in both tone and message.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitzgerald’s unjustly neglected novella, brought once more to the public attention because of a recent movie, is here given the graphic novel treatment. With evocative drawings of Benjamin’s shifting world and the changes of time-reversal on the titular character as well, the reader is brought on this gentle tale of one man’s odd dissolution. Whether Benjamin’s plight is a sorry one or an enviable occurrence is a question wisely never asked by the author. His “case” is simply presented before the reader and we are left to make up our own minds. Mr. Cornell’s sepia-toned drawings are convincing without being too heavyhanded on the realism and he manages to capture a fading era as well as the people drifting through Benjamin’s life. He almost effortlessly shows Benjamin’s mild bewilderment as well as whole-hearted acceptance of the strange card life has dealt him alongside the anger, frustration and willful blindness of the people that make up his existence.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5 stars.

I am not a huge fan of graphic novels, they are a little bit out of my comfort zone but I decided to give this one a try because the premise of the story sounded interesting.
The story in its self is really good and I would have probably rated it higher if it were the actual novel.
For the story portion I didn't really care for Benjamin's father, at first, because he treated Ben horribly and then Benjamin's son started to irritate me because of the way he treated him. You never really heard anything about Bens mother or his wife and it seemed like the story was put in a blinder and they just used the pieces that were salvageable. As for the book its self I really enjoyed the artwork and the colors that were used. I think that a graphic novel of a classic story is great for people who want to read classics, like me, but just don't want to sacrifice their time reading an old story from cover to cover, like me.

[Audrey Maran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent adaptation of the original, silly and fun, short story. As far as I can tell, the actual text has not been changed very much. The illustrations do a fantastic job of enhancing the text. I thought the drawings were lovely to look at. They were similar in style to Edward Gorey, but still unique to the illustrator. I loved how the jokes in the text were brought into the drawings in clever ways. For example, a couple of panels after talking about how Benjamin breaks things to please his dad, there is a drawing of Benjamin talking to his grandfather on a sofa next to a broken and poorly mended lamp. The one thing that I thought was strange and took a little bit away from the book was the font used. I don't know why, but the Times New Roman font stood out oddly against the almost watercolor, sepia, illustrations.