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Graphic Novel Recreates Ray Bradbury's FictionIbooks, inc. Collects The Best of Ray Bradbury
The writings of Ray Bradbury often transcend a simple sci-fi / fantasy classification.
Ray Bradbury, author of the dystopian classic Fahrenheit 451, is one of the most prolific writers working today with over 500 published pieces to his credit. Ibooks, inc. collects graphic adaptations of a small number of his short stories in The Best of Ray Bradbury. A Piece of WoodSergeant Hollis wants to live in peace. He wants to learn that, “during the night, somehow, the guns of the world had rusted, the bacteria had turned sterile in their bomb casings, the tanks had sunk like prehistoric monsters into roads suddenly made tar pits.” He asks his superiors what they would do, what the world would do, if they all woke tomorrow with the guns in flaking ruin. Their answer is mass panic, suspicion, suicide, financial ruin – a million little tragedies. They feel a change of duty might do Sgt. Hollis good, perhaps something overseas. They offer him the choice of the western or the northern war zone, an opportunity to get right to the heart of the fight. Mark Chiarello’s black and white art holds a tension of immediacy throughout “A Piece of Wood.” The rust colored panels convey Sgt. Hollis’ solution to the problem of war with visceral realism. The VisitorP Craig Russell and Michael Lark adapt “The Visitor.” While their work is strong in its own right, it fails to capture the high concepts of one of Bradbury’s more spiritual stories. The arrival of a new pariah to a quarantined colony on Mars heralds radical changes in the makeshift social order. His miracle ability to bring to life the imaginations of others makes him a commodity among the outcasts. The men of the leper colony fight for possession of him. The stranger manages to calm their rivalry, but a Judas in their midst destroys all hope of achieving their dreams. It Burns Me UpBradbury breaks with convention by telling “It Burns Me Up” from the point of view of a cadaver. He thought of the plight of his protagonist as part of a word association experiment, and stuck him in an impossible situation to see what would happen. We see the crime scene – the detective, the coroner, the reporters, the neighbors, even the prime suspect – through the victim’s eyes. Harvey Kurzman and Matt Wagner’s unusual adaptation rises to the occasion, using dark colors to create a noir atmosphere and characterature art to communicate the personality of the players. The great irony of this story lies in the victim’s newfound understanding of the truth about his life. He sees more clearly with dead, unseeing eyes than he did with vital eyes. Speculative FictionMany of Ray Bradbury’s writings are classified as speculative fiction because they don’t quite fit the more traditional definitions of science fiction and fantasy. Speculative fiction simply asks, “What if?” The graphic adaptations of The Best of Ray Bradbury are an excellent attempt to capture his elusive style.
The copyright of the article Graphic Novel Recreates Ray Bradbury's Fiction in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction is owned by James A Woods. Permission to republish Graphic Novel Recreates Ray Bradbury's Fiction in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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