Product Description: Richard Matheson's classic novel of fear and vampirism is soon to be a major motion picture starring Will Smith. The tale of the last human on an Earth overrun by the undead - returns to graphic novel format in a single volume collection of four long out-of-print books.
I Am Alone Back in 1954, Richard Matheson wrote a 'Legendary' novel that inspired many authors and film makers. Even Stephen King often gives partial credit to Matheson for his categorical success (see Stephen King's Danse Macabre). Three film adaptations have been made of Matheson's "Legendary" novel. None of the three films have ever done the novel true justice. But this graphic novel version of the story is essentially the original story with pictures.
2007's film version of I Am Legend centers around the exploits of Will Smith playing the last man on Earth. And Smith is absolutely phenomenal as a modern day (2009 - 2012) survivor; but the 2007 film starys from the storyline of the book in several key plot lines.
Back in the 80s sometime, I read Matheson's novel, and quite frankly, I found it hard to get through...it was--dare I say--boring. So at first I was reluctant to pick up Steve Niles' (the author of the fabulous 30 Days of Night) and Elman Brown's 1991 try at adapting Matheson's story to a graphic novel. But my reluctance was quickly replaced with captivation after diving into just the first few pages of the story.
I can't explain why I liked the graphic novel version so much more than the original novel. This graphic novel version was truly that much more engrossing for me. I think that I've either matured since the 80s to see the irony that Matheson intended in the story, or Niles and his partners just illustrated that irony so well that it made the story much more...absorbable.
Are vampires just a Legend or is Robert Nevelle a Legendary monster in a world gone mad? The 2007 theatrical version of I Am Legend doesn't really even come close to exploring this irony (the DVD does include an alternate ending that tries), but Niles' & Brown's graphic novel takes the original story and makes it better by highlighting and sharpening what to me was dim and dull in the original novel.
Final word: Add this to your cart.
Fair 'Nough I thought it was grrrreat, well to be exact, it wasnt bad but then again i had already seen the movie, so i was a huge question mark through most of the book, as i thought they had made a real "book to film" film, which i found out soon enough they hadnt. It was still a great novel, in my opinion, then again, im not that critic, i like most things that make my time go by, the only really annoying thing was that i bought the graphic by mistake, and im not all that fond of paperback so that was the only downside on my account, i was pleasantly surprised by the graphics as i thought they were greatly drawn
PB
For those too lazy to read the book.... It was with guilt that I read this graphic novel. For starters, let me clear something up: The recent Will Smith motion picture I Am Legend originated with a book, not a graphic novel! I know some people who seem to think this graphic novel was the original story for the movie, but alas, it's simply a comic book adaptation of the novel. For me, the guilt was that I felt like I was reading the "dummy version" of Richard Matheson's classic story. As if I wasn't capable of reading a story without pictures! But with lack of quality post-apocalyptic zombie stories to read, I had to pick this one up at my local comic book store.
If there was any prolonged guilt over reading a simple version of a text-heavy novel, that was quickly forgotten when I realized this graphic novel was sometimes a word-for-word transfer of the book. We're talking LARGE letter boxes with sometimes only one or two simple sketches on a page. If you ever thought a writer like Brian Michael Bendis was text-heavy, you haven't seen anything until you read this! Somewhere in the creative process, the adapters felt they should focus more on Matheson's original story instead of trying to convey the same themes with original art. Don't get me wrong, the art can be stunning at times, but it is basically a simple black & white sketch with most of it focused on the main character's facial expressions.
Not having read the book, to my knowledge, the graphic novel is extremely faithful. (Although if you saw the movie, you're going to expect something different.) To summarize the story, we pick up with Robert Neville, a man forced to live a hermit lifestyle in a world where humanity has vanished. Robert is one of the few survivors of a plague that reduced most inhabitants to a simple vampire lifeform and struggles to maintain his sanity in his old residence that has been constructed into a nice fortified compound. The "vampires" raid his compound daily after the sun sets thus giving them a vampiric feel, although they're more akin to zombies, and as Robert tries to unravel the secrets of their existence, he gradually discovers what life remains on the planet.
If you dig post-apocalyptic stories, you're really going to enjoy I Am Legend, even with this overly verbose adaptation. Frankly, I found myself skimming over some of the narratives at times, but I quickly read this baby from start to finish. The adapted writer was Steve Niles, creator of the famous 30 Days of Night, and his love of the source material shows. While it contains horror themes, the true central theme in this tale is man's battle with isolation, and I recommend it to anyone looking for something a tad bit different to add to their collection.
Good, but not great i really enjoyed this book, got through it pretty quick, the only reason i gave it 4 stars and not 5 is because there was a few slow parts that i felt drug on.
If you're a vampire fan, go ahead and pick this up.
also, i suggest the movie The Last Man on Earth with vincent price. It's much better than the will smith one
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