More Classic Illustrated Classics: Verne & Wells

I have read both Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (pre-blogging days, so no review) previously and enjoyed them both immensely. Having acquired these stories in the Illustrated Classics versions similar to The Hound of the Baskervilles (most recently reviewed), I enjoyed them again in graphic novel form. As I have mentioned in other reviews of these early graphic novels, The illustrations are quite lovely and make these classic books very accessible to young readers. I  also enjoy the nostalgia-factor--reading these new-to-me classic graphic novels takes me back to elementary school and discovering Dracula and Frankenstein in the pages of these illustrated books.

Of course, the stories are condensed, but those who adapted them did so judiciously and the novels do not suffer for it. It brings the stories into an easily managed length--both for illustration purposes and to hold the attention of the young readers for whom they were designed.

It was a great deal of fun to journey once more around with world with Phileas Fogg and his right-hand man Passepartout. And to see their adventures brought to the page in illustrations was an added delight. It was a bit difficult to accustom myself to the look of Fogg--but that is through no fault of the illustrator. It's my own predisposition to imagine Pierce Brosnan's features after having seen his portrayal of the part so many times. 

It was even better to revisit the world of Wells's Time Machine--a world that I had not visited in print since I was in junior high school. I found that there was a great deal of the story that I had forgotten or had remembered incorrectly--perhaps due to having seen various renditions in film.

Both graphic novels earn a sold ★★★ rating.