Friday, April 17, 2015

REVIEW: "Shadow Show: Stories In Celebration of Ray Bradbury" by Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, et al.

Disclaimer: I received a free, advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Release Date: July 7th, 2015

Type: Graphic Novel, Comic Books, IDW Publishing, Anthology, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Ray Bradbury is the bomb

About the Book: In Shadow Show, acclaimed writers and artists such as Joe Hill, Mort Castle, Audrey Niffeneffer, Charles Paul Wilson III, Maria Frohlich, Eddie Campbell, Neil Gaiman, and more come together to pay tribute to the work of the one and only Ray Bradbury. In this collection are stories based on "By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain," "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury," "Backward in Seville," "Weariness," "Live Forever!," "Who Knocks?," "Earth (A Gift Shop)," "Altenmoor, Where the Dogs Dance," and "Conjure." [Description provided by Netgalley.com]

My Review: Reviewing anthologies can always be difficult, since there is multiple authors and therefore multiple styles. Usually they run either really amazing, or ultimately forgettable. Shadow Show falls right down the middle of the road. There was one story that scared me, another that made me very sad, and a few I couldn't wait to end because they were mildly boring.

Anthologies are tough enough, but imagine a graphic novel anthology, where each story has to be broken up into panels. As a collection of short stories celebrating the great Ray Bradbury, this anthology is just okay. But as a collection of comic shorts, this was very well done. The art was great, and each singular graphic novel flows well into the next one.

Cover Lovin': This cover is all over the place - which is very fitting considering that is how the book runs as well. This cover also looks very similar to the Unwritten series by Mike Carey.

Recommendation: For fans of Ray Bradbury, of course!

Final Rating: THREE out of FIVE stars (3/5). Like all anthologies, some stories were amazing, and some were... not-so. And therefore, it evens out to a solid, enjoyable three.


Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda at Novel Addiction ~!~

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