Carmen: The Graphic Novel is a comic written by Alek Shrader with art by P. Craig Russekk and Aneke with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. The whirlwind romance between Carmen and Jose lead them both down unexpected paths. This is a story about love, hate, and lust. This has been adapted from the famed musical by Georges Bizet. Our leading lady is Carmen, a Roma woman who works at the tobacco factory and has a lovely singing voice. The leading man is Don Jose, a nobleman from Navarre who currently serves as a corporal in Seville. Another key player is the famous bullfighter Escamillo. The plot really gets going when Carmen and Don Jose meet one fateful day and things escalate from there. This story will go from the city to the mountains and back, with some moments in-between showing what daily life must be like. The overwhelming and primary theme of this story is love vs. lust. The action here is bloody but never reaches a point where it is hard to watch. The intensity fluctuates heavily as Carmen and Jose both have the ability to quickly make a situation better or worse. The dialogue is proper English with a number of Spanish words throughout. There are moments where characters will break out into song and just all-around act like they are in a musical. There are some wordy pages but that’s to be expected in a graphic novel. I wish I could say something along the lines of, “If you liked the musical you’ll love this comic!” But having only read this I can’t say. What I can tell you is that this is an intriguing story with unexpected turns and two strong leads that’ll have you rooting for a favorable ending.

            The art here is brightly colored fitting for the time and drawn in a style reminiscent of comics from the 70’s. We do visit a number of different locations that help set the scene like a tavern, bullring, and the wilderness. These different places have the furniture and decorations that add life to the area. The only downside is that they don’t persist throughout the panels at a high rate. This is an extremely expressive comic which makes sense when you consider the source material. The faces are very detailed from a distance and especially when zoomed in. This makes every emotion they show very clear with no confusion. We’ll see a lot of different faces here. The variety in hair and facial is high as well. The action scenes usually involve blades but can feature gunplay. The sequences flow well and though quite a few of them feature blood none of them are gory. The outfits here have variety and look sharp and stylish.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories focused on love and based off a musical starring a woman that has men wrapped around her finger than is for you. This is filled with drama and questionable decisions.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG-13. Blood and death.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“He was nice to me. And I like his face.”

 

Purchase Link: https://tickets.azopera.org/carmenthegraphicnovel

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arizonaopera/carmen-the-graphic-novel/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 90

Violent Pages: 24, for 27% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 2, for 2% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”