The Adventures of King Arthur

by Russell Punter, Andrea Da Rold (Illustrator)

With the Kingdom of Britain facing chaos, the mysterious Merlin takes the infant Prince Arthur into hiding. Many years later, the young boy is shocked to discover that he is the country's rightful ruler. Alongside his brave Knights of the Round Table, the newly crowned King Arthur must fight many battles to keep his kingdom intact. Swords, sorcery, and epic quests come together in this action-packed graphic legend.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Mythology, Medieval

108 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Russell Punter was born in Bedfordshire, England. From an early age he enjoyed writing and illustrating his own stories. He trained as a graphic designer at art college in West Sussex before entering the world of publishing. He has written over one hundred books for children of all ages, ranging from original stories to adaptations of classic novels.

Reviews

[Ferial Fattahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories never get told & some stories never get old!
Love King Arthur forever🤩

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved where the king was taken off by his sister but I wish it was a longer book

[Rowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brandon Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming and simple introduction into the world of Arthurian legend.

[Pollyor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great introduction for children to the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

[whatbooknext · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning with a map of Britain showing the world of King Arthur, this full colour graphic novel brings to life the tales of this much loved
king to life from before he was even born. Merlin of course is a key character throughout, foretelling the coming of a child that must be protected at all costs.

All the well known characters of this world are here, King Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, Sir Kay, and Sir Percival. Guinevere, The Knights of the Round Table, Lady Nimue, and Morgan le Fay. Sir Galahad and the magical and powerful sword Excalibur too. Battles and betrayals, love and loss, and power and greed rule these times, with Merlin's magical influence from the beginning.

Speculation regarding King Arthur as truth or myth has been around for centuries. But with the earliest tales of him back as far as the 5th or 6th centuries, could Arthur really have been a ruler of Britain?

Regardless; tales of King Arthur, the sword in the stone, Lancelot's bravery and Merlin's powers have been adapted again and again through poems, stories, plays, and films - entertaining generation after generation. This graphic novel gives a much broader aspect of King Arthur's world, full of action, power plays and lush illustration.

Authors / Illustrators - Russell Punter, Andrea Da Rold and Mike Collins

Age - 8+

[Mr. Stick · Rating 3 out of 5]

"HERE LIES ARTHUR, THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING."
- Arthur's headstone.

Reality's intrusions notwithstanding, I probably burned through this in about an hour. I'm a very slow and easily distracted reader. Yes, this version was intended for children, but I still enjoyed it, however brief it was. I would've liked more elaboration on some points, but this wasn't for me (a forty year-old window licker), it's for young people with a world to conquer.

Having never read any of the Arthurian source material, I wasn't aware of what tragic characters the Knights of the Round Table were. Except for Galahad. Like the rest, he's on a quest for the grail, it just appears before him one day and, having fulfilled his quest, he ascends directly into heaven. No passing GO! or anything. Very anticlimactic. But for literally ALL the other characters, this is some seriously sad s#!+. Spoiler alert! Everyone gets betrayed and/or dies horrifically.

The back section has a brief history of Arthurian publications. Very informative for us history nerds.
The text and art are both clean and simple. Nothing too gory, flamboyant or "artsy." Easily digestible for kids or any student of the English language.
Three stars.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Legend of Kjng Arthur, Usborne Graphic Novel
I loved this book. As an adult that loves diving into the Arthurian legends, I was very happy to have this as a fantastic introduction for my kids. These graphic novels are top notch quality for the art and condensed story. Stop buying the boring abridged books that take the life out of these classics.
⚠️Parental Warning ⚠️
This book is clean of any inappropriate material for kids. To be expected, there is sword fighting and other various knight violence but it is not presented in any graphic manner.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to condense the Arthurian narrative into 108 pages of limited text, but Punter has done a good job of hitting all the main points from the legends. It serves as a good introduction to the Arthur and his knights, as well as a summary of the stories. It's also kid-appropriate. There's a bit of blood, but it's not graphic; the Lancelot-Guinevere story is also very toned-down. Overall, a fun, quick read for adults, and a perfect introduction to the Arthurian world for kids.

[Courtney Kleefeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice overview of the King Arthur stories in graphic novel format with kid-friendly illustrations that don't get too gory even with the violent action.
Some of the stories weren't familiar to me and so the depiction of them in the comic book format made me laugh at times but I enjoyed it all the same.
At the back of the book is a short history of the stories of King Arthur and a page on whether or not he may have been real, presented with a grounded approach.

[Logan B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in less than 1 day. I read about 1/2 one morning, than i finished reading the last 1/2 that night around midnight. Pretty cool book, a friend let me borrow this one. I enjoyed it, I liked finding out more about King Arthur and Excalibur, also the landscape art is pretty sweet. Though the story felt like I had a lot going on, and felt kinda rushed. But overall a good read. I’d say About a 7️⃣/🔟
🗡️🪨👑🇬🇧🏰

[Tracy Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't typically like to do comic-style books as read-alouds with my kids because they don't flow well for that, but my son REALLY wanted to do this one together after he'd read it himself. We went back and forth reading for different people, and it was fun to do that way. And that way his little brother got to hear the story too. I read it to ages 7 and 9, both of whom enjoyed it.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up an early release of this at a book festival with no connection to the author or publisher.

The tales of King Arthur are packed into this adventure-filled graphic novel that is easy for young readers to read and understand. I highly recommend this series.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good that I read it in one sitting. The illustrations are wonderful and full of color. It is different from the BBC show Merlin, but it's quite close I want to say to the regular King Arthur story. Great read! Good for kids and adults! Highly recommend this book.

[Erin]

I had hoped to use this as an easy to digest and understand introduction to King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table.  Unfortunately, this was a very unclear retelling that did not help at all :(

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

55%

I mean, yeah, the story is there, but it's very Lite. I get that it's for kids, but it felt more dumbed down than necessary. Also, what was up with all the randomly bolded words?? Very excessive.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very meh on this one. It was a very cursory basic retelling of the King Arthur myth with little Spirit and I don’t think that the graphic novel format, particularly added to the story in any way.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was probably good for a graphic novel, but graphic novels just aren’t fun for me. I enjoyed the notes at the end though; I hadn’t realized King Arthur was quite as old as he is.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting graphic novel based on a story I enjoy. My son loved it.

[Leah Servelan Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations. It's written well and I particularly appreciated the history of the King Arthur stories at the end of the book. Would highly recommend for younger readers, 10 to 14 perhaps.

[Alexis Hilgert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome introduction to the legend of King Arthur!

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was good, and there was make-believe stuff that was a little weird but still funny.

[n · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series of graphic novels are rubbish, honestly. They really come off as graphic novels that someone had been commissioned to write and had no interest in making their own or making interesting.

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable adaptation of the legend, I'm glad I read it.

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice retell of the Arthurian legend with a simple but effective historical summary at the end. Easy to read, easy to forget, though.

[Rajan Thambehalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphic novel is a nice way to know the important characters involved in Arthurian legend!

[Gloriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good adaptation of a classic legend, easy to digest and very approachable.

[Susan Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, like the Cliffs Notes of King Arthur stories, but good for kids who know nothing about King Arthur stories to get interested.

[Sarah Schindler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with the kids throughout a week or so at bedtime. They enjoyed it but wasn’t a favorite. It jumps around a lot.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat graphic novel telling of King Arthur. It is a bit simple but I think good for 3rd grade levels.