Review: Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel

Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel by Kevin J. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this.

I read the novel it is based on about six years ago. At the time, I described the book as being, "...not without merit" - practically the definition of praising with faint damns! I find myself similarly ambivalent about the graphic novel version.

I didn't particularly like the artwork; I found it too arty. I read one of the chapters as a digital comic when it first came out and it looked OK on the iPad where I could enlarge each panel to fill the screen. In printed form, however, I found the artwork cramped and fussy. I think it needs the space to breath. The story as been edited somewhat to make it fit the graphic novel format but, at times, it felt a bit too heavily edited and I suspect that if I hadn't known the story from the novel, I would have struggled to follow the flow at times.

Having said that, I think the comic format suited the episodic nature of the story. Also, the intrusive Rush references that so annoyed me in the novel didn't bother me so much here. The preface suggested that more Rush references had been added into the art but I didn't really notice them on first reading, so they are clearly placed with more subtlety than the sledgehammer and crowbar method that was used to insert lyrical references into the novel version.

More of a three and a half than a four star review but, overall, I liked the graphic novel better than the book.

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