Bitten by Books

Fans of The Dresden Files TV show who miss “seeing” their favorite wizard police consultant, rejoice! There is now a new medium in which to enjoy the hard-boiled, down-and-out Harry Dresden – graphic novel. Author Jim Butcher and artist Ardian Syaf have brought a pre-story to The Dresden Files series to colorful life in the first compilation of The Dresden Files comic books, Welcome to the Jungle.

A security guard is discovered murdered in the Lincoln Park Zoo and all of the preliminary evidence leads to Moe, a gorilla. However, something strikes one of the detectives as odd, so she calls in Harry Dresden, a wizard who acts as a consultant to the police for anything strange. All of the zoo staff refuse to comply with Dresden, except Dr. Reese. As curator of the great apes, Dr. Reese knows Moe could not have committed this atrocity. With the help of Dr. Reese’s assistant, Will, Dresden starts investigating deeper, and soon finds himself face to face with possessed big cats. This leads Dresden to suspect their curator, the visiting Dr. Watson. With Will’s help, Dresden discovers major magic in her office, mainly in the form of ritual jars containing animal blood. Stymied, Dresden goes to talk the case over with his skull, Bob, and comes to the conclusion that Dr. Watson is a Hecatean Hag. Now it is a race against time to get to her before she gets what she needs to complete her ritual.

For those who miss the TV series, reading Welcome to the Jungle is just as exciting as watching an episode of The Dresden Files. Syaf brings the story to life with the grittiness needed for the crime drama part and the mystery needed for the paranormal aspect. Plus, actually seeing what the characters are seeing really helps pull the reader into the action in a way mere words never could. Dresden also loosely fits into the “flawed superhero” archetype that is so popular in comics right now, helping The Dresden Files make a seamless transition to the graphic novel form.

As soon as I finished reading Welcome to the Jungle, my fiancé stole it from me and then told me I better get the next volume. I definitely think he is right.

Book Stats:

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey/Dabel Brothers (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345507460
• ISBN-13: 978-0345507464

To purchase a hardback print copy of Welcome to the Jungle click here.
To purchase a print copy of Welcome to the Jungle click here.

To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the artist’s website go here.