Twilight The Graphic Novel Volume 1 – Stephenie Meyer, Art and Adaptation by Young Kim
Hachette Yen, 2010
224 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 9781907411526

Reviewed by Kate Williams

I have never seen the appeal of graphic novels and this one hasn’t done anything to convert me, however it is possible to respect the amount of passion and effort that has gone into bringing the first half of Twilight to life.  Young Kim’s background in animation is clear in this incredibly detailed interpretation of the popular novel as is Stephenie Meyer’s guiding hand.

The novel is a mixture of largely black and white anime style drawings with tantalising colour pages interspersed at key points in the novel.  Young Kim shows great restrain in her use of colour and its visual impact is not lost as a result.  The text is sometimes a little verbose but overall reads well and is true to the novel.

The impact of this graphic novel, however, is a little lost in the wake of the release of the Twilight Saga films.  Had this novel been thought out and executed before their existence it would have proved to be an interesting and refreshing interpretation of the novel.  As it stands, Young Kim’s imagination flows fairly closely to the film version and at times it is like looking at stills from the movies.  Possibly as a fan of Meyer’s work she had seen the films and was therefore more influenced by them than she would care to probably admit.

This first of presumably many graphic novels will no doubt prove to be both an accessible avenue to Meyer’s Twilight Saga for those who are reluctant readers and those who prefer the medium of the graphic novel.  For avid fans it will be yet another addition to their Twilight collection, and a rather pretty one at that.