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Animorphs Graphix #4
The Message
The wildly popular, bestselling sci-fi series by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant returns in a new full-color graphic novel series, adapted by Chris Grine. It begins with the dreams. Cassie has been having strange nightmares of a voice calling to her from deep beneath the ocean. They’re unsettling, but it isn’t until Cassie discovers Tobias has been having dreams too―the exact same dreams, of a voice pleading for help―that she decides it’s time to start listening. When pieces of debris wash up on shore, marked with alien writing, the team realizes they may still have allies in the fight for Earth―allies who are trying to make contact. Now they just have to reach them, before time runs out.
203 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2023
15 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
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K.A. Applegate
257 books464 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
December 23, 2023
I’m not very enthusiastic about Chris Grine’s adaptations of K.A. Applegate’s ANIMORPHS series. Though he manages some impressive moments on each outing, my major complaints relate to (1) his tendency toward a very static imagery with scenes cut up into multiple panels but with little intentionality, and (2) the character designs, which are overly cartoonish and nearly indistinguishable from one another. Though this is a relatively minor complaint, I also remain chafed that he opted to forgo the series’ iconic thought-speak < angle brackets >. All of this is to say that each installment in Grine’s take on the series comes automatically at a disadvantage because there’s no way for him to overcome these fundamental issues without literally starting from scratch and starting over. Even then, judging from his other work I think this Funko Pop! design is simply the only way C.G. knows how to draw human characters. The graphic novel adaptations therefore are never really going to be fully satisfying, though of course it’s still Animorphs so I guess I’ll continue reading them regardless.
THE MESSAGE, the fourth in the series, is one I think on with fondness because it is both the first book with Cassie as narrator and the book which introduces the sixth member of the team, Andalite aristh Aximili Esgarrouth-Isthill (“Ax” for we culturally insensitive Americans who must pretend that “Aximili” is too foreign to pronounce correctly). Grine’s take on the book excises any overt narration from Cassie. Though it does begin and end centered on her, for the most part she’s not the driving force of the book either. There is a moment when the team is considering acquiring dolphin morphs that she questions the morality of doing this, but I definitely never felt that I was “inside her head” the way we were in even the last book with Tobias. The reader is not invited to share her emotions. We are definitely on the outside looking in.
Mostly this book follows the beats of the original pretty closely, as far as I remember. Sometimes with these graphic novels I feel inclined to acknowledge a scene or two which was particularly resonant emotionally by dint of the visual medium. I’m not sure there is any such moment in this book, aside from the imagery of the characters mid-morph. This is one aspect of the series that Grine does do well—when he dedicates time to observing the characters’ horrific, slurping and skrunching transformations, it is often very satisfying. But beyond that, there’s not much to recommend the graphic novel over then text-only version. Even when the Animorphs arrive at the sunken Dome Ship, the supposedly glorious setting they encounter, designed to resemble the Andalite home planet, is glimpsed only briefly and fails to generate awe.
One thing which fans always thought made adapting Animorphs an exciting yet unlikely prospect is the level of violence throughout; to do the books justice, you’d have to show some truly gruesome images… which, despite being fully present in the books, would no doubt be deemed inappropriate for the theoretical target audience (elder elementary students and pre-teens). Grine’s version disappointingly does avoid leaning into the worst of the violence. The big moment in THE MESSAGE comes when Marco, in dolphin morph, is disemboweled by sharks. I can’t remember the specific language from the book but I recall his lower half being bitten mostly away and hanging together by just bits of flesh and sinew. The incident does occur here, but Grine’s depiction of it shows Marco with a clean bite missing from his tail. It’s still obviously a serious injury, but the emergency of the situation isn’t as apparent. Yes, we still understand that Marco almost died, but we don’t feel it. One would imagine that translating the scene to a visual medium would heighten the scene’s effect but in fact it seems… not sanitized exactly, but blunted.
I do appreciate the introduction of Ax in some regards. I’ve previously complained that Andalites are drawn by Grine to resemble fat, blue cows. Ax is comparatively thin, which is more in keeping with the image of Andalites one would anticipate from reading the books. Unfortunately, as with all depictions of Andalites in the series so far, Ax’s eye-stalks rarely read as eyes except in close-up shots, in which case he is invariably focusing all four eyes forward. You know, I’ve recently been watching the HBO adult animated series ‘Scavenger’s Reign’ which is about astronauts marooned on an alien planet. One thing that impresses me about it is how the most bizarre alien creatures on the show behave in a realistic manner, as though they were created with real animals in mind. Ax is not drawn in this way. He is not visualized with an eye toward these sorts of unconscious, instinctual behaviors; rather, like so much of the book, he is drawn mostly to look directly at other characters as he speaks to them without much more in the way of interactiveness.
Also on the topic of Ax, at the end of this book he (spoiler? Does anybody reading this not know this already?) acquires the four human Animorphs and melds their DNA to create his own distinct human morph. I’ll give credit to Grine for this: rather than a geeky white boy a la Paulo Constanzo in the ‘90s live-action series, his human morph in the graphic novel has copper skin—which makes sense, given that half his attributes come from Marco and Cassie. In the books he’s described as preternaturally attractive as a human, but that doesn’t really come through in the few moments he appears in this book. A large reason it doesn’t come through, though, is again because of Grine’s limitations with the human form. Where Rachel and Tobias were nearly identical except for their hairstyles, and Marco and Cassie are nearly indistinguishable except for their hairstyles and the shade of their skin, Ax mirrors Jake except for his hairstyle and darker skin tone. The conception of the character is fine, as it goes, but is in keeping with what is frustrating about the graphic novels as a whole.
I know it sounds like I’m down on this book a lot—and don’t get me wrong, I am. But the things that irked me about it were mostly the same things that have been irking me for four books now. In most ways, it’s competent, if not especially creative, in execution and as mentioned does stay pretty faithful to the source material. For those reasons, my overall impression is that it was okay. Just okay, but hey—that’s okay.
THE MESSAGE, the fourth in the series, is one I think on with fondness because it is both the first book with Cassie as narrator and the book which introduces the sixth member of the team, Andalite aristh Aximili Esgarrouth-Isthill (“Ax” for we culturally insensitive Americans who must pretend that “Aximili” is too foreign to pronounce correctly). Grine’s take on the book excises any overt narration from Cassie. Though it does begin and end centered on her, for the most part she’s not the driving force of the book either. There is a moment when the team is considering acquiring dolphin morphs that she questions the morality of doing this, but I definitely never felt that I was “inside her head” the way we were in even the last book with Tobias. The reader is not invited to share her emotions. We are definitely on the outside looking in.
Mostly this book follows the beats of the original pretty closely, as far as I remember. Sometimes with these graphic novels I feel inclined to acknowledge a scene or two which was particularly resonant emotionally by dint of the visual medium. I’m not sure there is any such moment in this book, aside from the imagery of the characters mid-morph. This is one aspect of the series that Grine does do well—when he dedicates time to observing the characters’ horrific, slurping and skrunching transformations, it is often very satisfying. But beyond that, there’s not much to recommend the graphic novel over then text-only version. Even when the Animorphs arrive at the sunken Dome Ship, the supposedly glorious setting they encounter, designed to resemble the Andalite home planet, is glimpsed only briefly and fails to generate awe.
One thing which fans always thought made adapting Animorphs an exciting yet unlikely prospect is the level of violence throughout; to do the books justice, you’d have to show some truly gruesome images… which, despite being fully present in the books, would no doubt be deemed inappropriate for the theoretical target audience (elder elementary students and pre-teens). Grine’s version disappointingly does avoid leaning into the worst of the violence. The big moment in THE MESSAGE comes when Marco, in dolphin morph, is disemboweled by sharks. I can’t remember the specific language from the book but I recall his lower half being bitten mostly away and hanging together by just bits of flesh and sinew. The incident does occur here, but Grine’s depiction of it shows Marco with a clean bite missing from his tail. It’s still obviously a serious injury, but the emergency of the situation isn’t as apparent. Yes, we still understand that Marco almost died, but we don’t feel it. One would imagine that translating the scene to a visual medium would heighten the scene’s effect but in fact it seems… not sanitized exactly, but blunted.
I do appreciate the introduction of Ax in some regards. I’ve previously complained that Andalites are drawn by Grine to resemble fat, blue cows. Ax is comparatively thin, which is more in keeping with the image of Andalites one would anticipate from reading the books. Unfortunately, as with all depictions of Andalites in the series so far, Ax’s eye-stalks rarely read as eyes except in close-up shots, in which case he is invariably focusing all four eyes forward. You know, I’ve recently been watching the HBO adult animated series ‘Scavenger’s Reign’ which is about astronauts marooned on an alien planet. One thing that impresses me about it is how the most bizarre alien creatures on the show behave in a realistic manner, as though they were created with real animals in mind. Ax is not drawn in this way. He is not visualized with an eye toward these sorts of unconscious, instinctual behaviors; rather, like so much of the book, he is drawn mostly to look directly at other characters as he speaks to them without much more in the way of interactiveness.
Also on the topic of Ax, at the end of this book he (spoiler? Does anybody reading this not know this already?) acquires the four human Animorphs and melds their DNA to create his own distinct human morph. I’ll give credit to Grine for this: rather than a geeky white boy a la Paulo Constanzo in the ‘90s live-action series, his human morph in the graphic novel has copper skin—which makes sense, given that half his attributes come from Marco and Cassie. In the books he’s described as preternaturally attractive as a human, but that doesn’t really come through in the few moments he appears in this book. A large reason it doesn’t come through, though, is again because of Grine’s limitations with the human form. Where Rachel and Tobias were nearly identical except for their hairstyles, and Marco and Cassie are nearly indistinguishable except for their hairstyles and the shade of their skin, Ax mirrors Jake except for his hairstyle and darker skin tone. The conception of the character is fine, as it goes, but is in keeping with what is frustrating about the graphic novels as a whole.
I know it sounds like I’m down on this book a lot—and don’t get me wrong, I am. But the things that irked me about it were mostly the same things that have been irking me for four books now. In most ways, it’s competent, if not especially creative, in execution and as mentioned does stay pretty faithful to the source material. For those reasons, my overall impression is that it was okay. Just okay, but hey—that’s okay.
January 4, 2024
I loved seeing the Mardrut illustrated, but overall this one didn’t transfer over to graphic novel form as well as the others did. I think it’s because so much of it takes place in morph, and I kept forgetting which color dialogue went with what person.
I say this with every book but I REALLY hate how the characters look. I love the depiction of Andalites and the morphing is super cool looking, but the characters are just drawn so poorly. Human Ax just looks like Jake with darker skin, Cassie/Marco are identical just with different hair and Rachel/human Tobias are also twins, and any newcomers to this series are going to be very confused on who is who.
Still, I am really happy that these books exist and that kids nowadays are getting exposed to the series. And no matter how much I complain, I do enjoy them and will continue reading them. I sure do wish they came out more than once a year, though…
I say this with every book but I REALLY hate how the characters look. I love the depiction of Andalites and the morphing is super cool looking, but the characters are just drawn so poorly. Human Ax just looks like Jake with darker skin, Cassie/Marco are identical just with different hair and Rachel/human Tobias are also twins, and any newcomers to this series are going to be very confused on who is who.
Still, I am really happy that these books exist and that kids nowadays are getting exposed to the series. And no matter how much I complain, I do enjoy them and will continue reading them. I sure do wish they came out more than once a year, though…
September 6, 2024
Cassie, and Tobias, are having dreams of someone calling them from under the water. Cassie will have to decide if she believes her dreams and they need to rescue someone, or if it is too dangerous of a mission. Grine did another great job with this adaptation. He’s really hitting these out of the pool every time! (Dolphin pool of course, not the Yeerk pool in this case!) About the only gripe is that some of the transitions were a little strange/jumpy, most notably when Cassie is relating the visions she had when she passed out – it was like we were with her while she was passed out, but when we saw her “wake up” it had also/actually been her telling the others what she had seen. I did like how them passing out was illustrated, with little sorts of bubbles around Cassie’s and Tobias’ heads. I liked how Cassie’s communications with the “great one” were illustrated.
I was also surprised to see how long Marco’s hair has gotten since even the last book – that’s got to be a few months growth at least, unless his hair just grows really fast. Yet again, his little moments are popping out – when Cassie goes to visit him and you see his dad on the couch watching tv. Or after they’ve escaped from the beach into the water, in the novel, he mentions he’d rather be home to watch tv. In this adaptation, he instead mentions worrying about how he’s going to explain his lost new pants that he had begged his dad for. I don’t know why I’m noticing these little things about Marco so much, if that’s a me thing or more related to how Grine worked his moments into these books. Anyways, the dolphin morphs are always awesome, and the underwater scenes were totally bubbly dudes! The Pool ship looked just like I imagined it, blue grass and all, and we get the dubious pleasure of seeing another Visser Three gigantic alien morph.
Notes:
Page 146: Typo for poor Ax’s name! It should be Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, but instead “Isthil” was “Lsthil”
I was also surprised to see how long Marco’s hair has gotten since even the last book – that’s got to be a few months growth at least, unless his hair just grows really fast. Yet again, his little moments are popping out – when Cassie goes to visit him and you see his dad on the couch watching tv. Or after they’ve escaped from the beach into the water, in the novel, he mentions he’d rather be home to watch tv. In this adaptation, he instead mentions worrying about how he’s going to explain his lost new pants that he had begged his dad for. I don’t know why I’m noticing these little things about Marco so much, if that’s a me thing or more related to how Grine worked his moments into these books. Anyways, the dolphin morphs are always awesome, and the underwater scenes were totally bubbly dudes! The Pool ship looked just like I imagined it, blue grass and all, and we get the dubious pleasure of seeing another Visser Three gigantic alien morph.
Notes:
Page 146: Typo for poor Ax’s name! It should be Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, but instead “Isthil” was “Lsthil”
December 10, 2023
Still very glad they’re adapting this series like this. Very focused on the core five characters in this volume and introducing one new focal character, but the expense is almost everyone else disappears at the periphery in favor of lots of morphing shenanigans. The confrontation with Visser-3 at the end feels a bit silly and rushed, but the idea of the Yeerks being planet-destroying monsters definitely ratchets up the immediacy of the Animorph rebellion in the series. The slow burn relationship building with Cassie and Jake feels REALLY slow at this stage of the narrative.
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August 3, 2024PINKY HOOOOOLD
February 18, 2024
Since I read the original and the graphic novel back to back, I am qualified to report that this is another very faithful adaptation. Almost everything is IDENTICAL except tweaking some dialogue here and there.
Having just read the book version, I do take issue with some of the dialogue tweaks (changing Cassie saying, “thank you my friend” to “thanks, pal” ???) as well as some of the lines that were reassigned to new characters (e.g., in the books Cassie calls out that trout are freshwater, in this one it’s Marco), but in the grand scheme of things these are tiny quibbles.
Mostly this adaptation was just perfect. As will probably be the case with every book, there are some moments that work a lot better in graphic form, and others where the prose is beneficial (Cassie’s motivation for visiting the dolphins at The Gardens at the end feels a little bit unclear without her narration).
Lovely, great, I sincerely hope we get 54 graphic novels 🥲
Having just read the book version, I do take issue with some of the dialogue tweaks (changing Cassie saying, “thank you my friend” to “thanks, pal” ???) as well as some of the lines that were reassigned to new characters (e.g., in the books Cassie calls out that trout are freshwater, in this one it’s Marco), but in the grand scheme of things these are tiny quibbles.
Mostly this adaptation was just perfect. As will probably be the case with every book, there are some moments that work a lot better in graphic form, and others where the prose is beneficial (Cassie’s motivation for visiting the dolphins at The Gardens at the end feels a little bit unclear without her narration).
Lovely, great, I sincerely hope we get 54 graphic novels 🥲
June 13, 2024
Cassie and Tobias keep having these weird episodes and seem to be getting a distress message. They eventually figure out it is coming from one of the good aliens...who seems to have crashed in the ocean. But the bad aliens have heard the distress call too, and it is quite a way out to where the signal is coming from. Can they even get there, and if so, can they beat the bad guys?
From what I can tell, this stayed pretty true to the plot of the original book. They even mention using a VCR and there are no cell phones in sight. I don't get Marco. I think he's supposed to come off as snarky but he comes off a joking one minute and mean the next. I feel like either his facial emotions or the writing needed a little work. This was definitely the biggest adventure the kids have had in several books, and them transforming into dolphins is fun, so kids will likely enjoy this volume.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: A shark bites a human in dolphin form but them ends up fine thanks to alien tech.
Ethnic diversity: Marco appears to be of Latino descent, Cassie is Black, and the other 2 kids are White.
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: Marco isn't very nice even though he acts helpful.
From what I can tell, this stayed pretty true to the plot of the original book. They even mention using a VCR and there are no cell phones in sight. I don't get Marco. I think he's supposed to come off as snarky but he comes off a joking one minute and mean the next. I feel like either his facial emotions or the writing needed a little work. This was definitely the biggest adventure the kids have had in several books, and them transforming into dolphins is fun, so kids will likely enjoy this volume.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: A shark bites a human in dolphin form but them ends up fine thanks to alien tech.
Ethnic diversity: Marco appears to be of Latino descent, Cassie is Black, and the other 2 kids are White.
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: Marco isn't very nice even though he acts helpful.
January 4, 2025
Silly, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to give this series (not even THIS series) a five-star review,* just because it by design has this perpetual air of bleakness to it, that Everything Is Dire (because... it is!) and life as we know it hangs in the balance with only five kids keeping Evil at bay.
Also, one of the kids is a bird.
That said, this one ends more positively, since . I knew about this from having read books 29 and 37 (not for any particular reason other than that's what I came across), but it's nice actually reading the story in order! Little harder to do when the main series has SO MANY INSTALLMENTS while also being well out of fashion and possibly out of print.**
About all I really find "wrong" with this volume—other than the aforementioned bleakness, and the perpetual body horror of their morphing process in the first place—is that there are a lot of scenes with essentially no background. I don't as such blame the creators for this artistic decision—backgrounds are hard! and often don't even add much to the story for all their worth! But it's sometimes jarring to realise whole pages are characters against a flat background, which takes me out of the story to think, wait, where exactly ARE they?
Recommended for fans of the series to date, but not a great starting point for newcomers.
**I haven't checked whether it's still in circulation in any form. I'm not THAT interested in the series that I scope out the young reader section for it, not with SO MANY OTHER distractions between me and those books.
*Edit: Haha, I lied—I guess I gave The Encounter five stars, maybe because I liked how well it was adapted! Probably wouldn't have done that if I'd read them all in the "normal" order, though.
Also, one of the kids is a bird.
That said, this one ends more positively, since . I knew about this from having read books 29 and 37 (not for any particular reason other than that's what I came across), but it's nice actually reading the story in order! Little harder to do when the main series has SO MANY INSTALLMENTS while also being well out of fashion and possibly out of print.**
About all I really find "wrong" with this volume—other than the aforementioned bleakness, and the perpetual body horror of their morphing process in the first place—is that there are a lot of scenes with essentially no background. I don't as such blame the creators for this artistic decision—backgrounds are hard! and often don't even add much to the story for all their worth! But it's sometimes jarring to realise whole pages are characters against a flat background, which takes me out of the story to think, wait, where exactly ARE they?
Recommended for fans of the series to date, but not a great starting point for newcomers.
**I haven't checked whether it's still in circulation in any form. I'm not THAT interested in the series that I scope out the young reader section for it, not with SO MANY OTHER distractions between me and those books.
*Edit: Haha, I lied—I guess I gave The Encounter five stars, maybe because I liked how well it was adapted! Probably wouldn't have done that if I'd read them all in the "normal" order, though.
February 13, 2025
Alright book 4 had a major part of the series which includes adding a 6th member to their team. However I am at this point feeling the series is going in a direction that needs to refocus a bit.
First problem, the characters keep looking worse as the books progress. You cannot tell if Cassie is supposed to be a female, and same with Rachel and Tobias when he was once human. That is still bothering me to this day since Chris has illustrated other books and those books look like Animorph books. And then I get confused when I think there's a new book at the library but alas it's not from the same series, yet it's sitting right next to the Animorph books (Anger intensifies).
Secondly this felt like we were watching Cassie, not that we were inside her mind very much except for her interactions with the Whale, which were my favorite parts. Cassie's relationship with Jake is supposed to have progressed by now, but honestly as a returning fan of the series who doesn't remember a darn thing, this feels like the relationship between the two came out of nowhere. It isn't portrayed well. Same with Marcus and how he's written. He's supposed to be edgy but he's always coming across as mean and I dislike his character the most. Also the only way I know that a significant time has passed is because Marcus's hair is longer and will continue to grow with each book.
Cassie in this book has a conflict. And that conflict feels absolutely dumb for going into book three, that suddenly shes feeling bad, doesn't wanna go for it, hesitant despite not acting like this in the previous three books I read. There is an instance with her father that I thought would provide more backstory, but that doesn't amount to much and it's the first scene in the book. Same when she talks with Marcus because she kept saying the same concerns over and over again, like what's up with the dialogue?
I just feel like a book such as this for a beloved series, needs to take bolder moves instead of playing it safe or irritating the fanbase. People love this series. We expect that the gore scenes will happen, that nothing is sugar coated or rushed, that even if it's a graphic novel for young kids to preteens, that it stays true to itself. It almost feels as if it's fan made which is supposed to be at times, lesser quality than the real thing. What's happening here?
But I will say the saving grace is the plot. It's so important for the development of the story, that you can't falter. So I will keep reading the series, in hopes that it'll improve with the next book.
First problem, the characters keep looking worse as the books progress. You cannot tell if Cassie is supposed to be a female, and same with Rachel and Tobias when he was once human. That is still bothering me to this day since Chris has illustrated other books and those books look like Animorph books. And then I get confused when I think there's a new book at the library but alas it's not from the same series, yet it's sitting right next to the Animorph books (Anger intensifies).
Secondly this felt like we were watching Cassie, not that we were inside her mind very much except for her interactions with the Whale, which were my favorite parts. Cassie's relationship with Jake is supposed to have progressed by now, but honestly as a returning fan of the series who doesn't remember a darn thing, this feels like the relationship between the two came out of nowhere. It isn't portrayed well. Same with Marcus and how he's written. He's supposed to be edgy but he's always coming across as mean and I dislike his character the most. Also the only way I know that a significant time has passed is because Marcus's hair is longer and will continue to grow with each book.
Cassie in this book has a conflict. And that conflict feels absolutely dumb for going into book three, that suddenly shes feeling bad, doesn't wanna go for it, hesitant despite not acting like this in the previous three books I read. There is an instance with her father that I thought would provide more backstory, but that doesn't amount to much and it's the first scene in the book. Same when she talks with Marcus because she kept saying the same concerns over and over again, like what's up with the dialogue?
I just feel like a book such as this for a beloved series, needs to take bolder moves instead of playing it safe or irritating the fanbase. People love this series. We expect that the gore scenes will happen, that nothing is sugar coated or rushed, that even if it's a graphic novel for young kids to preteens, that it stays true to itself. It almost feels as if it's fan made which is supposed to be at times, lesser quality than the real thing. What's happening here?
But I will say the saving grace is the plot. It's so important for the development of the story, that you can't falter. So I will keep reading the series, in hopes that it'll improve with the next book.
March 30, 2025
Cassie has been hearing messages in her dreams, a request for help, but she doesn’t know if she can believe her own mind. That is, until she finds out Tobias is having those same dreams, and then she and her friends are convinced that someone is calling out to them. Getting to that someone out in the middle of the ocean may be a problem though, especially once the same site draws the attention of the Yeerks. Cassie isn’t excited to take on this mission, but standing by would be even worse if it means another ally might be captured.
We finally get a story from Cassie’s perspective, and it was really action-packed but showcased that Cassie thoughtfulness I really enjoy. She’s faced with the difficult decision of whether her dreams could be real, and although she doesn’t have to work hard to convince her friends about someone reaching out for help, she has to work hard to convince herself that taking on this mission, and risking her friends in the process, is worthwhile. Her introspection and care with such a weighty choice makes characters like Jake and Rachel seem pretty brash by comparison, but every good group of friends needs a balance. She also has access to some of the coolest animals, so she and her friends are able to access some really powerful and critical morphs that make it possible for them to complete their missions. Another successful mini adventure, and another ally found to help in the fight against the Yeerks.
We finally get a story from Cassie’s perspective, and it was really action-packed but showcased that Cassie thoughtfulness I really enjoy. She’s faced with the difficult decision of whether her dreams could be real, and although she doesn’t have to work hard to convince her friends about someone reaching out for help, she has to work hard to convince herself that taking on this mission, and risking her friends in the process, is worthwhile. Her introspection and care with such a weighty choice makes characters like Jake and Rachel seem pretty brash by comparison, but every good group of friends needs a balance. She also has access to some of the coolest animals, so she and her friends are able to access some really powerful and critical morphs that make it possible for them to complete their missions. Another successful mini adventure, and another ally found to help in the fight against the Yeerks.
January 16, 2025
this is in fact the best book out of the five first books. what an introduction to cassie by immediately showing her fear of being responsible for Anyone getting hurt. and the vibes of this book are just perfect in a very simple way. underwater animorphs books always really stand out to me. when i first read this book About a year and a half ago, i immediately took a nap after while watching jerma play subnautica and had a gnarly nightmare about sea monsters. it wasn’t like Scary scary it’s a fond memory like i loved that that happened. i wish this book included more about when cassie communicated with the whale, because in the actual book it’s So beautiful and impactful and i really love it. my only real issue w these graphic novels is that cassie and jake’s romance is moving WAY too fast like i’m pretty sure they didn’t move this fast in the actual book. they’re like holding hands and HALF CONFESSING TO ONE ANOTHER IN LIFE OR DEATH SITUATIONS. what’s so meaningful about cassie and jake’s relationship For me is that it takes like over 20 books for them to hug each other and exchange a single kiss. it’s not even a Slow burn it’s just two young 90s teens who are too embarrassed and inexperienced to make a move. it’s sweet and pure and REALISTIC and i wish the graphic novels adhered to that more. but it’s been over a year i read these early books so maybe im misremembering Idk.
October 30, 2023
I am 100% here for the weird morphs. The seagull was my standout favourite from this one.
Cassie and Tobias are hearing a voice from the ocean calling for help whenever they sleep, and it’s getting stronger. The crew figures out it’s an Andolite from a crashed ship and set about to rescue them. So naturally they need to morph into something that can swim.
Cassie is having a lot of self doubts in this one, but just like the original books she’s got Jake to build her up and offer support.
There’s some great action scenes while they’re swimming, but the final conflict didn’t seem to have the same stakes.
The world building is expanded a little more, and we have a new character introduced that I’m sure will be vital as the series continues. Just wish they were bringing these out a bit faster, one a year is going to be a reallllllly long time before the series is finished, and my son will have well and truly lost interest.
Cassie and Tobias are hearing a voice from the ocean calling for help whenever they sleep, and it’s getting stronger. The crew figures out it’s an Andolite from a crashed ship and set about to rescue them. So naturally they need to morph into something that can swim.
Cassie is having a lot of self doubts in this one, but just like the original books she’s got Jake to build her up and offer support.
There’s some great action scenes while they’re swimming, but the final conflict didn’t seem to have the same stakes.
The world building is expanded a little more, and we have a new character introduced that I’m sure will be vital as the series continues. Just wish they were bringing these out a bit faster, one a year is going to be a reallllllly long time before the series is finished, and my son will have well and truly lost interest.
December 18, 2023
Phenomenal yet again
I really am so grateful to Chris for breathing fresh life and excitement into a series that means so much to me, and for being such an open and fun part of the Animorphs fandom. It's such a privilege to hear about his experiences working with this series in podcasts and on Twitter. I know he won't read this review (since he doesn't read reviews), but if I was able, I'd thank him for bringing my kids (especially Marco, love of my life!!!) into such vibrant pages. I must've taken a dozen screenshots while I read this volume, sending it to friends, gushing about this or that detail. The eyelashes. Jake's little tuft of hair. My baby Marco having such big ol puppy dog eyes. Rachel being so cozy with her blankets. AX. Just Ax.
Scholastic, I am begging you to commission this artist beyond just the first six volumes; I will continue to keep buying them for myself and my niblings.
I really am so grateful to Chris for breathing fresh life and excitement into a series that means so much to me, and for being such an open and fun part of the Animorphs fandom. It's such a privilege to hear about his experiences working with this series in podcasts and on Twitter. I know he won't read this review (since he doesn't read reviews), but if I was able, I'd thank him for bringing my kids (especially Marco, love of my life!!!) into such vibrant pages. I must've taken a dozen screenshots while I read this volume, sending it to friends, gushing about this or that detail. The eyelashes. Jake's little tuft of hair. My baby Marco having such big ol puppy dog eyes. Rachel being so cozy with her blankets. AX. Just Ax.
Scholastic, I am begging you to commission this artist beyond just the first six volumes; I will continue to keep buying them for myself and my niblings.
April 2, 2025
Toujours un énorme plaisir de retrouver les Animorphs en version bande-dessinée et encore plus dans celui-ci avec l'ajout du dernier personnage principal à la bande (je n'en dirai pas plus pour éviter le spoiler)! C'est sûr qu'avec une bande-dessinée, on a moins le temps de s'attarder aux détails, au ressenti des personnages, mais je crois que somme toute, le dessinateur a fait une belle job pour adapter la bande-dessinée.
Il y a encore quelques irritants, comme de ne pas savoir la couleur des bulles est associée à qui lorsqu'ils se parlent par télépathie, mais ça n'empêche pas la lecture de cette belle bande-dessinée. J'aimerais que Cassie et Rachel aient l'air un peu plus féminines (je trouve qu'ils ressemblent trop à Jake et Marco, mis à part leurs cheveux), mais ce sont des détails. C'est une belle série à découvrir!
Il y a encore quelques irritants, comme de ne pas savoir la couleur des bulles est associée à qui lorsqu'ils se parlent par télépathie, mais ça n'empêche pas la lecture de cette belle bande-dessinée. J'aimerais que Cassie et Rachel aient l'air un peu plus féminines (je trouve qu'ils ressemblent trop à Jake et Marco, mis à part leurs cheveux), mais ce sont des détails. C'est une belle série à découvrir!
June 4, 2025
This is a decent adaptation of the original fourth animorphs book ‘The Message’, in which the titular preteens take to the sea to investigate a mysterious message Cassie keeps receiving in her dreams. I have several complaints. First one is that there is no intensity whenever they meet the sharks in the middle. Marco gets bit in half by the darn things but that isn’t dwelled on because it’s a kids graphic novel. I feel like the original book wasn’t neutered so much. My second complaint is that the confrontation with Visser 3 at the end is very anticlimactic. This hits all the main points of the original book but needed a little more pizzaz.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2024
This is the first time where I feel like the graphic novel more or less equals the written version. Grine's problems with humans remain, but his animals are still good, and he does a lot of cool stuff with colors and shadows. The last third is a bit weaker than the rest, but to be fair, it mostly consists of characters talking and an underwater chase scene, which are hard to make look cool in a comic format. Meanwhile, I think Cassie's mind-meld with the whale, while similarly difficult to pull off, worked out better here than Tobias' hawk-brain breakdown in the last book.
April 15, 2024
Maybe it was just my own limited imagination at the time, but certainly never thought about some of the gruesome imagery that was suggested by the words printed on that paperback.
THE GRAPHIC NOVELS ARE HERE TO TELL YOU THAT INDEED, IT WAS GRAPHIC!
Also, very happy to finally see Ax! The way he's drawn as an Andalite definitely shows his more youthful side, and we can finally see what the fabled pretty-boy fusion of all 4 Animorphs looked like...and the hilarity of him trying on clothes for the first time.
THE GRAPHIC NOVELS ARE HERE TO TELL YOU THAT INDEED, IT WAS GRAPHIC!
Also, very happy to finally see Ax! The way he's drawn as an Andalite definitely shows his more youthful side, and we can finally see what the fabled pretty-boy fusion of all 4 Animorphs looked like...and the hilarity of him trying on clothes for the first time.
August 30, 2024
Another great addition to the Animorphs Graphix series. I hope they'll be able to make the entire series (at least the books that add the most to the overall plot).
I loved seeing the ocean morphs in this one. We also get to meet Ax and it was interesting seeing his character in both Andalite and human form.
I guess it's been a little bit, but I got a little confused on the speech bubbles when a lot was going on, so I wish there was a key for that so I wouldn't have to keep looking back to check.
Lovely drawings as usual. I loved the nod to the original cover for this one.
I loved seeing the ocean morphs in this one. We also get to meet Ax and it was interesting seeing his character in both Andalite and human form.
I guess it's been a little bit, but I got a little confused on the speech bubbles when a lot was going on, so I wish there was a key for that so I wouldn't have to keep looking back to check.
Lovely drawings as usual. I loved the nod to the original cover for this one.
September 13, 2024
It's so interesting reading these graphics after finishing the books. I know the future of each of these characters. I know how it all ends for them.
But for now we are only on book four. The beginning. So much hope. So much spirit.
I am interested to see how the artwork changes the darker the books get. Right now we are very vibrant and young and hopeful. Will the artwork changes to reflect the changes within the characters?
I hope so. I hope they continue and we get to see it all the way to the end.
But for now we are only on book four. The beginning. So much hope. So much spirit.
I am interested to see how the artwork changes the darker the books get. Right now we are very vibrant and young and hopeful. Will the artwork changes to reflect the changes within the characters?
I hope so. I hope they continue and we get to see it all the way to the end.
December 19, 2023
So I thought the last installment was a little weak. But this one was definitely better and gives me more hope for the series. I love that they found another Andalite. Turning into dolphins looks like it would be super amazing. I just think this story really turns the plot around and makes me look forward to the next graphic novel. And the fact that it’s called the predator? Color me intrigued and excited at the same time!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2024
3 stars (I liked it)
I'm enjoying the graphic novel adaptation of this series but it's also making me want to reread the novels!
I agree with many other reviewers that the humans are not drawn particularly well. I also sometimes get confused with who is speaking when they are morphed (different colors do correspond to different characters). Still, the book is exciting and I think my students will enjoy it.
I'm enjoying the graphic novel adaptation of this series but it's also making me want to reread the novels!
I agree with many other reviewers that the humans are not drawn particularly well. I also sometimes get confused with who is speaking when they are morphed (different colors do correspond to different characters). Still, the book is exciting and I think my students will enjoy it.
August 10, 2025
Cassie and Tobias hear a message and no one else on the team does. Cassie takes the lead for the team and plans the rescue mission. This one involves the ocean, which means dolphins to morph. I am enjoying going back to the Animorphs series through the graphic novels. The morphs are as gruesome as I imagined. Seeing them in graphic novel form is wonderfully satisfying somehow. This is one of my favorite stories.
December 28, 2023
Being adapted like this is just a really, really good turn for this series. Well deserved too. This installment is a good one, if not the most interesting one. But we meet a certain someone that we all love!
Shoutout to the podcast Animorphs Anonymous! They both went through all the books in a fantastic way, and they have regular interviews with Chris Grine (the graphic novel artist) whenever a new book realeases.
I hope this series continues on for many years as a Graphic Novel!
Shoutout to the podcast Animorphs Anonymous! They both went through all the books in a fantastic way, and they have regular interviews with Chris Grine (the graphic novel artist) whenever a new book realeases.
I hope this series continues on for many years as a Graphic Novel!
December 27, 2023
Still absolutely loving this series. Makes me feel like a kid again while reading. I was also enjoying how graphic the morphing transitions are. I could never quite imagine it when I was a kid and it's really fun having the images now.
So excited for the next one! Especially now that Ax is on the scene!
So excited for the next one! Especially now that Ax is on the scene!
June 2, 2025
I love each deeper dive into the world of animorphs. How do you win a war that is basically unwinnable? Are there ethical considerations when deciding (or asking) to transform into a sentient creature. I also do love the extra moral dilemma when it comes to literally saving the earth and every organism living on the earth.
February 1, 2024
That is a great graphic novel! My two favorite parts are Cassie has been dreaming of a voice calling to her from deep beneath the ocean and five teens are meeting Ax at first time. So Marco morphs into dolphin made me a joke. I can’t wait next Animorphs the predator comic!
March 24, 2024
The graphic novel adaptations continue to be top-notch. This is the book where the gang meets Ax, and it’s fun to see his human morph visualized. Lots of great dolphin, shark, and whale illustrations!
Content warning: body horror.
Content warning: body horror.
March 20, 2025
Nostalgic trip
As someone who was all about these as a teenager, the nostalgia was almost painful, but I am so glad that I finally get to see what a madrut looks like. Some of the existential crisis with Cassie is lost in this particular medium, but it does a very good job.
As someone who was all about these as a teenager, the nostalgia was almost painful, but I am so glad that I finally get to see what a madrut looks like. Some of the existential crisis with Cassie is lost in this particular medium, but it does a very good job.
December 18, 2023
This was fine, but I think the graphic novels aren’t really for me.
December 26, 2023
This gets five stars if only because my main man Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil makes his first appearance.
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