The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Graphic Novel

Robert Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was turned into a graphic novel with the help of Klimowski and Schejbal. In my opinion, the graphic novel presents many similarities and differences to the actual novel. I’ve never actually taken the time to read a comic book or graphic novel because I felt that it was only images with an incomprehensible plot. This graphic novel actually tells a story that is comprehensive. I’m sure that even if I did not read the novel first, I would still have a great understanding of the plot. I feel that the original novel and this novel did the same exact thing and equally told the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Even though they did the same exact thing, the graphic novel did present some differences. The first obvious difference was the presence of images. In the graphic, there are few words. The pictures and words that are present get straight to the point in the plot. This difference is both good and bad. It is good because there are no extra and unnecessary information to be read. It gets straight to the point and it is a fast read. The bad thing is that there is no suspense or anything to really guess about without the extra words and description. Besides the absence of suspense, the graphic novel enhances the novel’s message because it provides an image of things in the story and creates a better understanding. Pictures allow a reader to see what things really look like. Although a graphic novel allows a visual to a reader, the downfall is that the reader might not be able to pick up the theme as easily due to the lack of words, explanation and detail.

An image that caught my attention was an image on page thirty-nine. On this page, the clerk Mr. Guest and M. Utterson are sitting down examining and making out the writing of two letters. I think the drawing is interdependent. It can be viewed as interdependent because the pictures and words go hand in hand to convey a message that each could not do alone. They balance each other out. The images includes Mr. Guest and Mr. Utterson looking at the handwriting and is balanced with Guest’s dialogue, “You are right sir, a very odd hand.” In the second panel, representing a moment to moment time pass, they came to the conclusion that the two handwritings were similar in many ways. The message is very clear and could have been more enhanced if there were actual graphics of the two handwritings for the reader to see. There is no struggle to understand what is going on though. So far, I am enjoying the graphic novel.