Gwen’s review of In Odd We Trust (Odd Thomas Series) by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan, illustrated by Queenie Chan
Paranormal fiction graphic novel released by Del Rey 24 Jun 08
I have a deep and abiding love of graphic novels, manga, and anime. It stems mostly from my almost slavish appreciation for good art. These “new” images (what I believe stem originally from ukiyo’e) can be mind-bogglingly beautiful images. When the drawing is done well, a good story is a bonus to me – I’m just there to soak up the images. What I’m saying is I don’t need much plot to enjoy a good comic strip or cartoon if the art is good. With this first Odd Thomas graphic novel, I can see aspirations, but I’m not sure if the delivery is there. Read on to see what worked, or not…
I have never read any of Koontz’s Odd Thomas books. The premise is interesting – he’s something of a male “Ghost Whisperer” with an edge and a spatula. I can’t decide whether the Odd books are YA, though; based on this graphic novel, it feels like one. The plot is a little simplistic – girl in trouble with a stalker, Odd saves her and puts the guy in jail.
However, the delivery of this thin plot is left even more anemic with the art. In a manga/g-novel, quite a lot of emotion can be conveyed in a character’s facial expressions, but Chang’s characters seemed oddly wooden. Their expressions seem to sway between amusement and a weird stunned expression. That’s about it. It’s a shame there wasn’t more variety. And I could have wished more time had been spent on the backgrounds. It would have been nice to see the houses and environs of Pico Mundo a bit more stylistically rendered – it was all so up and down with no interest.
It also felt like large parts of the story were edited out of the g-novel for purposes of space or pacing. Something else that left it a bit on the weak side.
So, in all, I can’t say I recommend this graphic novel to fans of the series. I think you’ll be disappointed unless you’re a diehard fan and just want to buy everything you can that’s Odd Thomas or Dean Koontz related.
Grade: D
Summary:
“Meet a young man named Odd . . . who helps the dead get even.”
From the infinite imagination of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes the suspenseful graphic-novel debut of a natural-born hero with a supernatural twist.
Odd Thomas is a regular nineteen-year-old with an unusual gift: the ability to see the lingering spirits of the dead. To Odd, it’s not such a big deal. And most folks in sleepy Pico Mundo, California, are much more interested in the irresistible pancakes Odd whips up at the local diner. Still, communing with the dead can be useful. Because while some spirits only want a little company . . . others want justice.
When the sad specter of a very frightened boy finds its way to him, Odd vows to root out the evil suddenly infecting the sunny streets of Pico Mundo. But even with his exceptional ability-plus the local police and his pistol-packing girlfriend, Stormy, backing him-is Odd any match for a faceless stalker who’s always a step ahead . . . and determined to kill again?
Read an excerpt (scroll down to the thumbnails).
Other books in the series (mass market release dates where available):
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P.S. Yes, my avatar is a graphic of a portion of Faye Valentine‘s face – some of her hair, her right eye, and right eyebrow. I realize it looks a little like a Rorschach.
Perhaps I watch too much anime since I recognized your avvie the first time I saw it. Surely not. I haven’t gone broke yet.
Ok, I showed this review to my daughter, who loves graphic art, and she immediately went nuts about something called Cowboy Bebop. Now she’s going on about Samurai Champlu and One Piece (which she considers a bit overrated). While I love a bit of Hokusai and Vargas, the mixture is – interesting.
Lynn – Brava for your daughter!
I just haven’t been able to get my brain wrapped around “One Piece” – it’s a bit frenetic and, frankly, geared more toward adolescent males, I think. The story has just never hit my buttons as interesting and I really don’t like that style of drawing (big googly eyes and wacky animals). I prefer more realism.
I love Bleach (great story), Samurai Champloo (great art and great story), and Samurai Jack (unusual art, very Zen story). Cowboy Bebop is amazing all the way around; I have such a crush on Spike Spiegel.
There are so many out there that are beautiful or that have a great story to tell. When they both meet up in the middle, like in “Sin City,” it’s an amazing experience to me.
Hey, tis Cat, Lynne’s daughter ^.^
One Piece is the best selling anime/manga of all time now, so it’s definitely got a broader appeal than just teenage boys, though that is it’s official demographic (shonen). Same as Bleach (and Death Note and Naruto). I started reading it one day because Bleach was taking a week off and it blindsided me, the story was far more emotional and deep than I realised (Water 7/Enies Lobby = the best) and the character development is possibly the best I’ve come across in anime/manga. Not every character has googly eyes either and the art style changes at least twice for various reasons. It became my favourite anime/manga/graphic novel surprisingly easily. I never expected it to when I began reading.
I used to love Bleach but then Kubo forgot how to pace. The Soul Society arc was awesome but the latter half of the manga has been lacklustre on the whole. Grimmjow’s kept me going but so much has fallen short of my expectations. Like this ‘war’ that’s really just a battle between twenty people, if that. For a while I thought Kubo might pull another epic twist but no, everything since SS has been kinda obvious and predictable. But at least it’s still worth reading (finally the twin souls and the general are in action!), unlike Naruto atm.
Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are awesome. I do prefer the former though because I don’t feel that Vicious was emphasised as much as a character of his importance should have been. He (and Julia) seemed pretty underdeveloped really. Loved the crew though. I just have high standards. It’s soundtrack was more my taste than Champloo’s. With Champloo, I kinda loved everything else more though. Mugen, Jin and Fu were wonderful and the ending cut me up (both had brilliant endings but… both were so melancholic too).
I love Sin City’s aesthetics and style but there always seemed to be too much posturing and too little substance. My favourite Frank Miller work is still The Dark Knight Returns and even then, Neil Gaiman, Odachi and Alan Moore are still my top three. Miller’s art’s good but his stories don’t leave me thinking things over for days, years afterwards.
One Piece is good as long as you don’t watch that trash 4kids termed a dub. I’m glad it’s out of their hands.
It was actually the Soul Society arc when I realized Kubo couldn’t pace. Yes, he pulled off a brilliant twist at the end but it went on for way too long before that. Of course, I’m still reading it. I’m also still reading Naruto, though I agree with you that there’s been little payoff at the moment. Kishimoto could at least let Naruto battle the most boring villian ever instead of being off training. He’s also showing how bad he is at giving the girls stuff to do. Sakura got hauled off to the hospital and Hinata’s sitting there with binoculars. I was hoping for a change in this after Chiyo and Sakura fought together.
As for Cowboy Bebop . . . I have friends who still aren’t over the ending.
Oh, I’d blocked out that dub. -winces-
The Soul Society arc wasn’t that bad with pacing, I thought. Certainly better than it’s been recently. The twists were good and the fights were great but you’re right that there were some strange bumps in terms of pace (like the training arc for bankai right in the middle of it -sighs-).
Kishi’s treatment of Kakashi did it for me. That was the final nail in the coffin… er, so to speak. Here’s a character who’s been an importnat part of the series for most of it’s history. Who’s had as much panel space as Sakura, if not more and he gets a self-titled chapter and only two pages in that for his ending. It was all so anticlimactic. And if that damn kid manages to dent Pain when ‘Kashi couldn’t I will be most displeased. Then again, the hellishly bad Sasuke vs. Itachi confrontation was just as off-putting. Over half a year of ‘it’s just an illusion’ -facepalm-. Now *that* is bad pacing, lol. Kishi doesn’t seem to care anymore and well, he doesn’t even draw the manga either – the backgrounds are all CG’d in.