Jim Butcher: The Dresden Files: Storm Front: Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm [Hardcover]

It's been nearly a decade since Jim Butcher first introduced his Dresden Files series with the solid urban fantasy "Storm Front."

So it's about time that Butcher's series got what it deserved -- the graphic novel treatment. The first part of the "Storm Front" adaptation is a lean'n'mean mingling of sharp noirish dialogue and Ardian Syaf's gritty, colourful artwork -- and it leaps right into the story with no shilly-shallying, with plenty of gory magical murders and a distinctly unGandalfian wizard.

Harry Dresden is called into a bizarre crime: a couple are found dead in a hotel room, with their hearts exploded out of their chests. Unfortunately the guy is the bodyguard of mobster Gentleman Johnny Marcone, and the girl works for vampiric madam Bianca -- not a nice combination, and it means that there is something particularly nasty in the works. Oh yes, and he's hired to find a missing husband.

Harry's winding investigation brings him into contact with Marcone (who asks him to stay out of the case), the grotesque vampire Bianca (who tries to rip off his face), fairies, junkies, and a ghastly toad-demon. Even worse, the White Council suspects that Harry -- the only wizard in Chicago -- is responsible for the murders. And whoever murdered the lovers is now gunning for Harry -- with deadly intent, obviously.

"The Dresden Files: Storm Front Part 1" has a lot expected of it -- it has to introduce the dark, grimy world of the Dresden Files, while still being a magical, action-packed fantasy-noir.

And while while "Storm Front" was Jim Butcher's first and most unpolished "Dresden Files" story, it translates smoothly into comic books -- plenty of blood'n'gore, witty remarks ("You look like you just walked off the set of 'El Dorado'") and a supernatural underground in modern Chicago. Think giant bat-women, feisty fairies and the occasional slimy demon.

The first part is rather choppy, since it has to lay out the subplots and introduce the important players. But Butcher and Mark Powers quickly smooth out the overall plot; they do a good job stripping away all excess parts of the plot, leaving only a lean magic-noir story behind. And of course, they maintain the windy noir feel and snappy dialogue ("Did the Windy City's finest detective miss yet another clue, or were you saving the panties to take home to your wife?").

And Ardian Syaf's artwork is the icing -- an overcast Chicago, dark Lake Michigan, rich colours tinged with grime, and a rangy stubbly Harry with a suitably rumpled air (although Susan's witchy face and purple hair are distracting). Syaf also has a knack for weaving in some pretty grotesque gore (exploded rib cages!) and big swirly explosive magical fights.

Harry himself is a pretty long distance from your average robed, white-bearded fantasy wizard -- he's a scrappy, rangy guy who doesn't always shave, struggles with his rent, and works as a sort of magical private eye. Not very glamorous, but he's a convincing hero even when he's fighting stark naked (with a potion-addled woman crawling all over him).

Murphy serves well as Harry's police counterpart -- a tough, petite blonde who is open-minded enough to hire a guy who hires himself out as a "wizard." And there are some interesting supporting characters like the shades-of-grey gangster Marcone, the sultry reporter Susan, and the tart-tongued skull Bob. Even the cat has a personality.

And there's a short story of Butcher's rendered into comic form, "Restoration of Faith." It's a decent little look at Harry rescuing a little girl from a nasty ogre thing, but Kevin Mellon's artwork isn't nearly as good as Syaf's. Harry's supposed to look scruffy, lanky and dangerous, not like an oily car salesman with a perpetual squint.

The first part of "The Dresden Files: Storm Front Part 1" is a bit choppy, but the successive chapters are a solid reintroduction with excellent art. And the ride ain't over yet.

I can't get over how faithful the Dabel Brothers and their team are to the original prose novel this graphic novel is based off. Jim Butcher may not have been the one to adapt the script, but it's a faithful, concise adaptation, covering the major plot points and neatly telescoping the details. And the visuals are almost the same as what I had in my mind as I read Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) for the very first time. Even the preternatural beasties (the diminutive faery Toot-toot, Bianca in her vampire form, and the toad-demon who attacks Harry and his reporter girlfriend Susan) look like how I imagined them to appear. Ardian Syaf brings an appropriately noirish feeling to the illustrations and the penciling adds just the right amount of gothic shadows to the images; he's has definitely tapped into the same vein of imagination Jim Butcher has been mining from! Based on this volume and it's predecessor The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files (del Rey)) I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and whatever else that Jim and the Dabels have in the works.

Also included in this volume is the short prequel comic "Restoration of Faith, based on a short story available on Jim Butcher's website and featuring a very young Harry Dresden on one of his first cases, which the Dabel Brothers and their team rendered in visual form for this year's Free Comic Book Day.

Following the relatively recent release of 'Welcome to the Jungle,' this graphic novel is the first adaptation of one of Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' novel. In fact, it is the first novel in the series.

As far as adaptations go, this one is pretty good. It does an excellent job capturing the dark, gritty feeling and imagery of the series (and of Chicago in general, in fact). For those not in the know, the story follows the adventures of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing wizard, as he helps the Chicago police solve a bloody murder in which two people's hearts exploded out of their chests! Along the way, he runs afoul of a Chicago mob boss, a brothel-owning vampiress, an acid-spewing demon, and ultimately a drug-selling practitioner of the dark arts.

This is urban fantasy at it's best, detective pulp meets occult fiction. This volume only gets you half way through the story, so you'll have to wait for volume two to come out (or, better yet, read the novels). But still, the graphic novel follows Butcher's writings as faithfully as it can. Everything in it is excellent! Artist Ardian Syaf captures all of the characters and elements, from Harry Dresden in his signature blazer to the sword-wielding Morgan to Gentleman Johnnie Marcone to seductive journalist Susan Rodriguez, they are all captured just as I would have imagined them to look. Every the scenery is appropriately dark and ominous, like Chicago in storm season.

I am a huge fan of the Dresden Files, and I really have enjoyed the comic adaptations of them so far. If you are a fan of the whole occult/horror/fantasy genere and are looking for a good read, the Dresden Files are absolutely essential. Either this volume or the graphic novel-exclusive 'Welcome to the Jungle' would be a good place to start. Those of you who are already fans of the novels will find this to be a good and faithful adaptation and probably don't need much more incentive than that to check this out.

Also, as a sort of added bonus, not only do we get a gallery of sketches and covers in the back, but there is also another adaptation of the short story 'Restoration of Faith,' featuring a young Harry Dresden and his first meeting with Murphy. Good stuff. Like I said, this is a great place to start the Dresden Files, and good reading to boot. What more could you ask for?

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