Phantom of the Opera

by Joeming Dunn (Adaptor), Rod Espinosa (Illustrator)

For years the Paris Opera House has been host to the Phantom of the Opera. The current owners give in to his demands, but the new management is not so accommodating! The phantom has decided it is Christine Daaes time to shine. If his demands are not met, all will be lost! This haunting adventure is now a striking graphic novel adaptation. Graphic Planet is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO Group. Grades 5-8.

Genres: Classics, Graphic Novels

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

What.the.hell.did.I.just.read.

It was like someone skimmed the wiki page and was like "yup, I get it." Just...no.

[Cara Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Phantom of the Opera by Joining Dunn
Cara W., Spring 2015

This will probably be the shortest review I write on this website. I simply could not stand this book. I've loved the story since a child including the actual opera version. But this book.... I hated it.

This book had no substance to it and it was very poorly adapted.

[Amanda Peach · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never read the original Phantom of the Opera, nor have I seen the infamous musical. I cannot tell if the story is truly this weak or if this is a very poor adaptation. This was just awful. The story was weird and fractured, with a confusing point of view, and the art was hideous. I guess I better go read the real deal now so I can determine if this was true to the original.

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non ho mai visto una graphic novel così corta! Solo 30 pagine lette in dieci minuti, nove dei quali impiegati per tradurre dall'inglese all'italiano! Neanche i comics Marvel dei romanzi di Jane Austen sono così corti, ma dopotutto questo non è un comics Marvel.
Questo fumetto di uno sconosciuto disegnatore (almeno per me) ripercorre le vicende di Christine Daae e del Fantasma dell'Opera che ormai conosciamo bene.
Un Raoul troppo grasso, una Christine tanto stupida da dire "Suoneresti per me la tua opera?" rivolta all'Opera Ghost, ma daltronde è così che io l'ho trovata nel romanzo di Leroux.
Le vicende si susseguono così velocemente che non fai neppure a tempo ad accorgerti che si è arrivati alla fine. C'è da chiedersi se chi ha pensato e disegnato questo fumetto abbia finito la carta su cui farlo.
Tre stelle, ma solo per la storia che è tra le mie preferite, non di certo per come è stata rappresentata.

[ashtin · Rating 2 out of 5]

it definitely needed to be longer because we were shown erik's childhood but then the rest was rushed. i did enjoy the artist style.

[Renee Koppelman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was this awful? Yes.
The timeline of events was odd.
The art extremely amateur that disfigurement makes 2004 look damn frightening.
Was a quick five minute read to laugh at? God yes.
Am I about to spend $30 dollars to get it on my shelves to add to my collection? Again yes.
It has one or two things that made me go “okay I want to keep this.” And for a collector that’s enough. I know the depths of my obsession.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comic book (I can't really say graphic novel because of how short that it is) adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel The Phantom of the Opera, textually adapted by Joeming Dunn and illustrated by Rod Espinosa. The novel is one of my favorite novels of all time, and the story is also one of my favorite stories in general of all time, my favorite adaptation being the musical. This comic book seems to be primarily intended for young readers (especially since there is a glossary in the back of the book defining words that I thought were overall pretty simple words), but anyone who loves The Phantom of the Opera can obviously read it to experience the story in a different way. Anyone who is not familiar with the story should know that The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of Erik (the eponymous Phantom), a facially disfigured man hiding not only behind a mask but also in the shadows of the Paris Opera House in France. He wreaks havoc on the opera house when demands of his are not met but falls in love with a young singer named Christine Daaé in the process, resulting in a love triangle between Christine, her lover Raoul de Chagny, and himself. At only thirty pages in length, this adaptation obviously sticks to only key plot points, but it does a relatively fine job of telling the entire story in a condensed manner. The only fault that I have with it, in fact, is that Erik's face is seen more than once throughout the book and does not seem to be all that horrid in sight. There is barely even a scar, and that takes away from the impact for me because he is supposed to be horribly disfigured (the dialogue even says that he is even though it does not match what we see); that is, in fact, why he wears the mask, but my suspicion is that the illustrator chose not to do so because he didn't wish to frighten the young children for which the book is ultimately intended. It's worth checking out if, like myself, you're already a fan of the story, but I doubt that you would take much away from it if you are not.

[Schekinah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've heard all the songs from the musical but never read the novel or heard the full story. I kind of had an idea of what it would be about but this comic version is really confusing. It's really short and the plot moves too quickly with the characters talking about events that were never mentioned before. The comic version also makes the characters hard to understand, because you don't know anything about them or their motives. Multiple characters look the same and it's hard to tell who's who. If it were a longer graphic novel, maybe the characters would have more depth and it would be easier to understand the story because there would be explanations. I know it's for children but I don't think any little kids I know would enjoy this.
I'm planning on reading the novel soon and I hope it isn't like this.

[ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

i haven't read the original phantom of the opera book yet but this just felt... off. at first it starts off with erik's point of view and backstory but then all of a sudden, it's like bam! then it's in the middle of a story. it doesn't tell you where, why or how any of events that happen in the comic are happening. and also the ending?!?!?! maybe it was me, but i was super confused!

but the artwork was beautiful!!!!

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Phantom of the Opera” by Rod Espinosa (Adapter, Illustrator), Joeming Dunn
Always wondered what the story was made popular by Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. ***
On page 31, “He also began wiring essays and..” should be 'writing'

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not realize until I was finished that this was middle grade. Even then, so much of the story is just skimmed over & when we do get to big dramatic or life-threatening moments they only last for a panel or two

[The Headless Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for a kid or teen interested in Phantom, but not quite ready to see the play/films/read the book!

[jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

why would someone write the phantom of the opera like this

[Prince · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it's a very short children's story. You can't expect much. It was obviously a bit rushed to be able to tell the entirety of the story in a few short pages that young children could understand.

It was okay, I enjoyed the art styling.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apesar da restrição que uma HQ pode trazer, a leitura de quem já conhece e gosta dessa história não sai prejudicada.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Might be the only adaptation were the Phantom (Erik) is actually portrayed as better looking than the handsome Raoul! Erik is drawn with wavy blond locks (and half a face which we never see) while Raoul is rendered as rather robust (chunky) with a blah boring face and expression. Christine defiantly expressed more affection for Erik than her childhood sweetheart.

Overall not bad for a quick adaptation that barely spans 30 pages and manages to include the Persian and Erik's back story so kudos to that!