A review by rosepetals1984
House of Night #1 by Karl Kerschl, Kristin Cast, Joëlle Jones, P.C. Cast, Kent Dalian

2.0

There are some series that actually can benefit from the transition to graphic reinterpretation, while others simply cannot, no matter how good the artwork. I don't think House of Night counts as one of the better adaptations. The story covered in issue 1 takes place between events in the second novel of the House of Night series, Betrayed, so it assumes that the reader has already read the novels, and that's kind of an odd measure since it's a comic series intended to introduce/expand the franchise. If you're entirely new to the House of Night series, you're not really getting a full story here, so jumping into it might not only be confusing, but also a bit sparse on the details of Zoey Redbird's role and introducing the collective cast of characters.

I didn't like the adaptation at all from the story angle. The characters seem bland, there's little to no introduction or context put into any of them, and it probably would've benefited a little more if the comic were longer than it was, as in a full graphic novel rather than just a short. The artwork is decent in spurts, which is probably the only reason I'm giving this more than a star. I loved the cover images and also the insert image of Zoey, but the panels themselves don't really measure up to some of the better graphic/comic art that are in peer series.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this.