Interview
with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story. Adapted by
Ashley Marie Witter (Headline £13.99).
Reviewed
by Peter Coleborn
Ashley Marie Witter has done a fabulous job
in adapting Anne Rice’s seminal novel, which was published in the 1970s – that’s
when I first read it. Actually, I’ve only read it the once after finding the
sequel less gripping and I am yet to see the movie version – something about that deters me. Anyway, when I started
this graphic novel adaptation I quickly found myself engrossed and read the
book in one sitting.
Unlike the novel, the young reporter to
whom Louis tells his story doesn’t appear, and the graphic novel does not
suffer for this omission. Witter dives straight in to the story, when Lestat
converts the girl – Claudia – into one of the undead. Witter’s version is told
from Claudia perspective. Louis becomes emotionally attached to the girl –
forever doomed to remain a child even though her imagination, her knowledge, becomes
that of an adult woman. It’s a sort of curse – as she expresses so succinctly when
in Paris.
As I read this version my memories of the novel
percolated my mind: the adaption seems, to me, to be quite faithful to the Rice
original. My initial reservation about starting this novel vanished after a few
pages.
The artwork is stunning. Witter used a
monochrome style but using a sepia-toned pen with occasional touches of colour –
red of course. The layouts speed on the reader, perhaps too quickly: there are
very few natural pauses if you have to break off reading for any reason. The
only thing that would’ve improved the book is a larger format. The artwork
deserved a bigger canvas. But for the price this hardback graphic novel is
excellent value. It will make a grand Christmas gift.
Based on this book I hope that Witter
becomes a mainstay of the graphic novel and I look forward to seeing more of
her work.
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