Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island: The Graphic Novel

by Tim Hamilton (Adaptation), Robert Louis Stevenson

When Jim Hawkins uncovers the key to a pirate's treasure map he sets out on a quest to find the buried treasure with the help of pirate captain Long John Silver. Artist Tim Hamilton brings the pirates and villains to life in this graphic novel adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic.

Genres: Classics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Comics, Childrens

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Tim Hamilton lives in Brooklyn, NY where he is often walking his dog and saying hi to other dogs in between saying hi to stray cats and then bandaging his hands because not all stray cats want to say hi.
His clients include: The New Yorker, The New York Times, Cicada Magazine, Dark Horse, Marvel, DC Comics, Mad Magazine, Nickelodeon Magazine, Lifetime, Amazon Studios, Holiday House, Fast Company Magazine and PublicAffairs.

He has written and illustrated books for young readers such as, The Big Fib, But! and Is That A Cat?

He publishes his own comic anthology, Rabbit Who Fights here: https://gumroad.com/timhamiltonrwf?so...

In 2010 
he adapted Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″ into a graphic novel for Hill & Wang with Mr. Bradbury’s blessing. The resulting book was nominated for an Eisner award in the “Best Adaptation of Another Work” category.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, for the intended audience, for in my humble opinion older children from about the age of nine to probably thirteen or fourteen, Fiona MacDonald’s 2007 graphic novel adaptation of Robert Louis Steveson’s 1883 pirate novel Treasure Island does I guess provide a general cartoon strip like summary (or introduction), touching on the basics of main protagonist Jim Hawkins’ adventures and misadventures both at home (on dry land) and later at sea. And yes, Fiona MacDonald fortunately does manage to keep her description of arch-villain Long John Silver sufficiently nasty and brutal (and as such of course akin and alike to Robert Louis Steveson’s textual rendition of him), with this graphic novel adaptation of Treasure Island also at least to a point managing to depict and demonstrate with Fiona MacDonald’s printed words and Penko Gelev’s full colour, cartoony but historically accurate and realistic accompanying illustrations the many dangers encountered by Jim Hawkins and that life in late 18th century England was in fact and indeed rather unpredictable and often fraught with many potential threats.

However, I also and equally must admit that I most definitely do consider Fiona MacDonald’s abridged textual rendering of Robert Louis Steveson’s 1883 narrative majorly frustrating, annoying and not at all in any way a personal reading pleasure, finding Macdonald’s adaptation of Treasure Island at barely fifty pages too woefully simplistic, too majorly lacking in details (too short, too devoid of verbal descriptions, of backstories, of basically all that which makes the original novel so interesting, so engaging and thus a classic), and with deus ex machina like transitions from one scenario to the next that are ridiculously choppy, unfinished and distracting. And yes indeed, this has (at least to and for me) also quite turned my invested reading time with Fiona MacDonald’s Treasure Island into rather a major and unwanted chore instead of joyful perusing (with only the fact that I actually do consider Penko Gelev’s artwork as aesthetically and visually appealing having my rating still be two stars, and with my further caveat being that I actually would also have thought Fiona MacDonald’s text for Treasure Island too lacking in information and description as a child and as a teenager, so yes, I do think that even for the intended audience, MacDonald’s words are barely adequate and not really a sufficiently readable and interesting enough adaptation of Robert Louis Steveson).

[Abby Frye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best classic to graphic novel adaptation I have ever seen. A bit rough and lacking even the same feel of the original.

[J. Shutts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Treasure Island, this book is about a boy named Jim Hawkins. Jim was working at his family’s inn, when he accidently finds a map. It’s a treasure map he found in the bottom of an old sea chest. Which, Jim just couldn’t turn down an adventure like this. But little did he know that pirates were after the map. So later in the day, the pirates came to barge in. They found the chest so they can get it, but Jim already took it. He and his mom were hiding from them, and then the pirates started shooting. Jim’s mom fainted, but Jim carried her away from there anyway.

I think the artwork and plot were pretty good in the book. One moment in the book, Jim was fighting a pirate. Which, when Jim was fighting I felt like I was there. I felt like I heard their swords clashing, and a gun firing. I really felt like I was there just watching this fight go down. I would give this a 7/10, most of the rating of the book for the artwork. So I would recommend this book for people who like pirates, or sailing the high seas. Also recommend this to people who just like graphic novels in general.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this to Deborah right now. I love sticking with the classics for her! I get to read stuff I should have read, she gets exposed to great literature by hearing it which is more accessible than reading it. We both win!

[Brittany Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually the first version of this story I've ever read. I'm not sure I'd want to devote the hours necessary to read Stevenson's text, so I appreciated this opportunity to read an abridged (and illustrated) version of the story, though I'm generally against abridged versions of texts.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keaton and I read this one together. He loved it!

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This version committed a grave sin: it made the story boring. I also don't much like Gelev's graphic style, but the dry rendition of the tale is even worse.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure who this book is for. It’s an effective summary of the plot. I found it useful to help me remember the real book. But this graphic novel isn’t enjoyable in its own right. It’s not a substitute for and lacks all the charm of the real book. So it’s a cliffs notes in graphic novel form?

[Truly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini mendadak muncul di antara timbunan yang dirapikan. Saya ingat sekali, dibeli saat ada obralan sadis pada salah satu pameran buku. Harga 100 rb menjadi 5 ribu (jika tidak salah).

Kisah tentang pulau harta memang sudah sering dicetak, seperti juga buku klasik yang sejenis. Namun selalu ada yang baru, tetap menarik untuk dibaca.

[Ccooke2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Classics gone graphic novel are a very interesting genre. I have never read the original version of Treasure Island so I do not know how it compares. I was able to recognize that the language used in this version of the story is elevated English prose which makes me think that some of it is pulled directly from Robert Louis Stevenson's original.
From the half that I have finished I have realized how much graphics can add. Ominous characters are shaded, their backs are facing the audience and they are faceless while others are more clear.
The story is told through the narration of Jim Hawkins. He is the one who finds the treasure map. As I read this novel is where the popular model of pirates came from: maps with "x" on it, the Black Spot, tropical islands and parrots on the shoulders. Its a fun read.
Genre: adventure, coming-of-age

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Book source ~ Library

Do I really need to summarize this book? It’s Treasure Island, a classic for Pete’s sake! Ok, ok…Jim Hawkins is a young son of an innkeeper. When a drunken pirate, Billy Bones, comes to stay at the inn he tells Jim many different stories, but he also has Jim keep a weather eye out for a pirate with a wooden leg. Hawkins and Long John Silver end up sailing to an island looking for buried treasure. Much shenanigans ensue.

Ok, I’ve read Treasure Island before. But this is the graphic novel. It does a pretty good job of conveying everything that was in the original book in a short amount of pages. I didn’t particularly care for the artwork though. It seemed sparse and unfinished. But then again, I like a lot of detail and color. If you want a short quick read of Treasure Island then this graphic novel may do the trick.

[Chance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me.

I expected a short, passable children's story about pirates, but it actually turned out to be fairly sophisticated for its target audience.

It certainly has some shortcomings: scenes that cried for more illustration, missed opportunities for character development, and gaps in the fictional history.

What was good: (mostly) great pacing, violent action sequences, and clever moments of tension between the characters.

This is a quick, fun read and I suggest to anyone who has even the mildest interest in the romanticizing of pirates...it's worth reading just to see the source material for so much pop culture.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't actually the version I read because Goodreads doesn't have the version I read, called Treasure Island, Graphic Resolve. This graphic novel version is only 75 pages and nice, concise, and simple for kids to get an overview of the original story. I liked the graphics and the simple language...for the right audience. My 3rd grade son enjoyed it for example. The story features just the highlights of the original story but it is a nice adaptation.

[North Landesman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic novel version of Treasure Island. When we teach TI, the hardest part for the students to understand in the language and basic plot. While I do not think a regular book should ever be substituted for a graphic novel, there is some possiblity that reading the graphic novel after the actual text could help understand the text better. I appeciate that the author used the text from the book.

[Dan-o · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the classic tale of young Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver and their struggles to find the hidden treasure on Treasure Island. I love the book and would highly recommend it as a young teenage read. It was a quick listen (I didn't read it) and quite captivating. I'm going to watch the movie now and see how they did!

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven year old really likes comics but I want him to read only the best books (so little time, after all!) that this Graphic Classics series was a great meeting in the middle for us. He enjoyed the story and the format and got exposure to a literary classic which, hopefully, he'll pick up and read in it's original format someday because he'll already have a connection with the story.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a faithful adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to be in color. Tim Hamilton the adapter and illustrator has a bonus section after the story featuring his sketching process and how he pictured the characters.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually the first version of this story I've ever read. I'm not sure I'd want to devote the hours necessary to read Stevenson's text, so I appreciated this opportunity to read an abridged (and illustrated) version of the story, though I'm generally against abridged versions of texts.

[Jordan Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Treasure Island was the first graphic novel I have actualy read so i cant really compare it to other graphic novels. I did enjoy the storyline at some parts thoughout the book it didn't quite make sense to me because they used pirate talk Ex:Arrhhh.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the plot twist at the end it really surprised me. I think that Benn told the story of his crew being gone and leaving him behind was because he was lonely and wanted to talk to someone about his lives and how he wanted Jim to be his new crew.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read the real one. Oh dear.

[Tim Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I drew this as a graphic novel

[Jen]

Ugh. So disappointing! If your child (or you) is not ready for the original, you need to get the book on tape or something, but this version doesn't add to, and even takes away from, the original.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but there were so many characters.

[Taylor Gaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read it in 6th grade for a school reading.. it was one of the best books i read back then

[Mary C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's one of those classics you just have to read. need I say more?

[Jared Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was fun to read because of the pictures. I recommend this book for anyone who likes graphic novels.

[Trucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite stories, retold with wonderfully atmospheric illustrations. A book to treasure.

[Julian H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is fiction

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't give "Treasure Island" the classic a 1-star, only this graphic novel version of it.