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Graphic Classics #20
Graphic Classics Volume 20: Western Classics
Where the West Began - Seven Classic Tales! Western Classics features an adaptation of Zane Grey's grand western prototype, "Riders of the Purple Sage", illustrated by Cynthia Martin. Plus stories by Bret Harte, Willa Cather, Gertrude Atherton, and John G. Neihardt, with art and adaptations by Trina Robbins, John Findley, Mark A. Nelson, George Sellas, Reno Maniquis, and Ryan Huna Smith. Also included is an early Hopalong Cassidy story illustrated by original "Hoppy" newspaper strip artist Dan Spiegle, and a comic western by Conan creator Robert E. Howard.
- GenresGraphic Novels
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Zane Grey
1,949 books616 followersPearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 23, 2018
As with ALL Graphic Classics= *****∞!
May 1, 2011
Reason for Reading: New book in the series.
Love, love, love this new volume! I'm a fan of Westerns but for some reason I just don't read them often. I have plans to; my bookshelves have plenty of books by the great western authors waiting for me to read; so I was thrilled to get my fix from this glorious graphic anthology.
The artwork is tremendous all around. Usually I call out a few not to my taste, but everything here is beautiful and fits the stories they illustrate wonderfully. I was particularly stricken with John Findley's realistic artwork and vivid use of colour in Willa Cather's "El Dorado" and the somewhat cartoon-style of George Sellas's work on Robert E. Howard's "Knife River Prodigal". The visual representation of the main character really makes that story come alive. This is a gorgeous book graphically, artistically, to look at.
The story choices were a perfect selection; I have to say I enjoyed each and every one, even the poem! and I'm not much of a poem person. The first third of the book is a retelling of Zane Grey's "Rider's of the Purple Sage". I've read exactly one book by Zane Grey, loved it and loved this story as well. It's an awesome story to start the collection off. Not having read the original I can't compare but it does make me want to read the original or just more Zane Grey. While I did enjoy every story, my other favourites included "Knife River Prodigal" as already mentioned, this is a humorous story, "The Right Eye of the Commander" by Bret Harte which brought some spookiness to the table and of course, Willa Cather's tragic tale of "El Dorado". A lovely book that takes great advantage of the new colour presentation of this series.
As an aside, I know the next two volumes, at least, are planned to be in colour as well, but I am very curious what theme/author they will chose to go back to the black/white format. As I am hoping they will go on to, at some point, switching back and forth between the two mediums as is, of course, appropriate to the theme of each volume.
Love, love, love this new volume! I'm a fan of Westerns but for some reason I just don't read them often. I have plans to; my bookshelves have plenty of books by the great western authors waiting for me to read; so I was thrilled to get my fix from this glorious graphic anthology.
The artwork is tremendous all around. Usually I call out a few not to my taste, but everything here is beautiful and fits the stories they illustrate wonderfully. I was particularly stricken with John Findley's realistic artwork and vivid use of colour in Willa Cather's "El Dorado" and the somewhat cartoon-style of George Sellas's work on Robert E. Howard's "Knife River Prodigal". The visual representation of the main character really makes that story come alive. This is a gorgeous book graphically, artistically, to look at.
The story choices were a perfect selection; I have to say I enjoyed each and every one, even the poem! and I'm not much of a poem person. The first third of the book is a retelling of Zane Grey's "Rider's of the Purple Sage". I've read exactly one book by Zane Grey, loved it and loved this story as well. It's an awesome story to start the collection off. Not having read the original I can't compare but it does make me want to read the original or just more Zane Grey. While I did enjoy every story, my other favourites included "Knife River Prodigal" as already mentioned, this is a humorous story, "The Right Eye of the Commander" by Bret Harte which brought some spookiness to the table and of course, Willa Cather's tragic tale of "El Dorado". A lovely book that takes great advantage of the new colour presentation of this series.
As an aside, I know the next two volumes, at least, are planned to be in colour as well, but I am very curious what theme/author they will chose to go back to the black/white format. As I am hoping they will go on to, at some point, switching back and forth between the two mediums as is, of course, appropriate to the theme of each volume.
Read
January 12, 2014Overall, I've enjoyed the Graphic Classics that I've read. I liked all of the stories except for Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey which I thought was a bunch of bunkum. The story I liked the most, no surprise, was the adaptation of Knife River Prodigal by Robert E. Howard.
December 12, 2011
Some stories I enjoyed, others were boring or confusing. I tended to enjoy the less-traditional Western stories.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews