The Jungle Book
(Grimm Fairy Tales Presents, Vol 1)
By: Mark L. Miller, Carlos Granda (Pencils), Liezl Buenaventura (Colors), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Published: Oct. 16, 2012
Genre: Graphic novel
Rating:
A pirate ship carrying four children crashes on the shore of a mysterious and merciless jungle. Each child is taken by a separate tribe of animals as a means to keep the peace between the species. It is a peace that will not last. Fifteen years later, the children have now become young adults and each will have to face the destiny that awaits them. In an unforgiving jungle, four human children will be tested to the limits of survival.
Miller’s adaptation of The Jungle Book starts off with a little girl being kidnapped from her crib, thrown in a crate with three other children, and shipped off on a boat somewhere. Only, the boat capsizes on an island and the children are the only survivors. The jungle had been in a massive war during the time and the shipwreck and arrival of the kids put an end to the war. These kids became symbols of that time period and four different tribe/species took in a child to raise. One of which was Mowgli.
I really liked the spin that the author put on the story. When I first picked up the book I thought it would be about Mowgli in the jungle. What I didn’t know was that Mowgli’s a girl, and there are also three other humans children who were raised by animals on the island. Mowgli’s part of the wolf tribe, Bomani is part of the tiger tribe, Akili is part of the mongoose tribe, and Dewan is part of the monkey tribe. Since the end of the war, each of the tribes were supposed to stay to their own area but when the tiger tribe decides to attack the wolves, Mowgli goes on a rampage and decides to seek vengeance. Which is how she ends up running into the other humans on the island.
What really drew me into this book was the gorgeous artwork. Every page is bursting with color and action. I could see someone owning the artwork to frame and hang on their wall. The artwork you see on the cover continues on into the story itself, which is something you don’t see all too often.
This is only volume one so it only scratches at the surface of a bigger story. We are pretty much just given Mowgli’s backstory on how she came to be in the wolf pack and the fact that there are three other humans just like Mowgli. I can’t wait to read more. I’ve already picked up volume two. 🙂
I love the artwork in this graphic novel. There have been a few graphic novels that I’ve read where the cover art is gorgeous but the artwork of the actual novel is sub-par. I was very happy that the artwork on the inside was just as good as the cover.
I love the artwork in the Grimm Fairy Tales graphic novels. Need to grab this one!
I’ve only read The Jungle Book and Oz. I much prefer TJB over Oz. I felt like the artwork on Oz deteriorated once you opened it up and that really took away from the story for me. Which other GFT graphic novels have you read?
I’ve enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland ones. It’s quite dark though lol!
Oh weird. This would be an interesting take on this story. The artwork is lovely.
Thanks for stopping by, Jenny. It definitely was an interesting story filled with great illustrations. That is for sure. 🙂
Great to hear that the author made it his own with twist
Yes. It brought new life to an old story. I still have one more book left in the trilogy to see how it all ends and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Now this is a graphic novel I could get into! Badass cover.
And a bad-ass inside too. 😉
This could be an interesting take on the Jungle Book tale, and it is a graphic novel.
I agree the cover looks bad-ass. It is good to know the inside is too.
Wow! I can see why you loved this one! I am hooked by the storyline and want to know more too! I love how the human’s were all raised separately by different packs. Great review!