Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • All The Rage: Newbie New Year?s Rage!

      Jason Sacks
      December 31, 2006
      All the Rage
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • 140 Character Reviews 7/1/15

      Jason Sacks
      July 2, 2015
      140 Character Reviews, Marvel Comics, Reviews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Humble Bundle Releases Garth Ennis Comics Bundle

      Jason Sacks
      July 11, 2019
      Dynamite, News, Press Release
    Recent
    • 4.0

      Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past

      Stephen Cook
      March 3, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 2.5

      Chuck 5.02 "Chuck vs. the Bearded Bandit" Review

      Jason Sacks
      November 10, 2011
      Reviews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • 2.3

      Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

      Daniel Gehen
      February 16, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Interview: Jackie Wohlenhaus from Between Failures

      Jason Sacks
      June 29, 2014
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Blood-Sucking in the '70s: Morbius the Living Vampire and the Devil-Worshipping Priest

      Jason Sacks
      January 29, 2016
      Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Kickstarter Spotlight: Hard Exit A Dani Divine Series

      Jason Sacks
      May 29, 2015
      Kickstarter Spotlight, News
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Review: 'Apollo' is Great with Facts, Less Great with Mythologizing

      Jason Sacks
      June 25, 2018
      Books, Reviews
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past
  • Collecting Profile: Blue Beetle
  • Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia
  • Collecting Profile: Kraven the Hunter
  • Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good
  • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Graphic Classics v13: Rafael Sabatini

Jason Sacks
March 29, 2006
Reviews
Graphic Classics v13: Rafael Sabatini
3.5Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)

Rafael Sabatini was am extremely popular author in the early part of the 20th century. His “Captain Blood” books were best-sellers in their time, and Sabatini had a fruitful career in Hollywood for a time, creating epic adventure stories for the likes of Errol Flynn. Now the Graphic Classics series visits the work of Sabatini. Unfortunately, while there are nods to the action and excitement of the worlds that Sabatini created, his stories are a little slow when published in comics form in this book. I wanted to go crazy over this volume, but instead I just enjoyed it.

The problem is that Sabatini was a very verbose writer, as was the fashion at the time, and his writing doesn’t translate well into comics form. He simply loved words too much, and his stories had too many twists and turns, for them to emerge as graphically compelling narratives in comics. For instance, Rich Tommaso’s adaptation of Sabaini’s story “The Dream” should have been an exciting story of murder, hypnotism, and a love triangle. Tommaso had 32 pages to translate the story into comics, but even at such length, the story feels tremendously wordy. It’s simply too dense and introspective a story to fit in such a length; instead, the piece feels overwhelmed by its narrative.

Carlo Vergara’s adaptation of “Captain Blood” has a similar problem. The story is famous as a rollicking sword and sorcery adventure yarn, but even at 40 pages, the piece feels a bit wordy. Perhaps I was looking for a Hollywood take on the story rather than the more literary take that this book provides, and therefore I was looking for fewer words and more pictures. But the wonderful high adventure of the story seemed to be lost in the long expository pieces.

Not every story has this problem, though. Mort Castle and Kevin Atkinson’s biography of Sabatini, “Desperately Seeking Sabatini”, is a clever and intriguing biography of the writer that helps add perspective to the book. Meanwhile, Roger Langridge’s adaptation of “The Spiritualist” zips along nicely despite its wordy style, and Milton Knight’s odd and baroque adaptation of “The Fool’s Love Story” is full of a wonderful high energy style.

Overall, this book is a nice collection of high adventure and twist ending yarns. It’s a bit wordy and literary, but Graphic Classics: Rafael Sabatini is also a nice introduction to a wonderful, and unjustly forgotten, writer.

 

Carlo VergaraEureka PublicationsGerry AlanguilanHunt EmersonJackie SmithJason SacksKevin AtkinsonMilton KnightMort CastleRich TommasoRoger LangridgeStanley Shaw

Share On:
Tweet
Time? Mine and Yours
Alter Ego #57

About The Author

Jason Sacks
Publisher Emeritus

Jason Sacks has been obsessed with pop culture for longer than he'd like to remember. Jason has been writing for Comics Bulletin for nearly a decade, producing over a million words of content about comics, films and other media. He has also been published in a number of publications, including the late, lamented Amazing Heroes, The Flash Companion and The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s and 1980s. Find him on Facebook and Twitter. Jason is the Owner and Publisher of Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • 4.5

    Review: X-MEN #1 – The Good Times are Here

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 17, 2019
  • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

    Mark Stack
    January 2, 2019

Latest Reviews

  • 3.0

    Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

    Daniel Gehen
    February 22, 2021
  • 4.5

    Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

    Daniel Gehen
    February 19, 2021
  • 2.3

    Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

    Daniel Gehen
    February 16, 2021
  • 4.3

    Review: RADIANT BLACK #1 Shines Brightly

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2021
  • 2.7

    Review: DEEP BEYOND #1 Can’t Commit to a Premise

    Daniel Gehen
    February 4, 2021
  • 2.0

    VINDICATION Falls Short of its Lofty Goals (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    February 1, 2021
  • 4.5

    DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    January 22, 2021
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders