Comic Info
Comic Name: A Game of Thrones
Publisher: Dynamite/Bantam Books
Writer: Daniel Abraham
Artist: Tommy Patterson
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2013
A Game of Thrones #7
Reprints A Game of Thones #7-12 (April 2012-January 2013). Jon adjusts to life with the Night’s Guard as Catelyn searches for information on the assassination attempt on Bran…leading her to suspect Tyrion. Daenerys finds her status changing as the wife of Khal Drogo as she awaits the birth of her child. The threats against Eddard’s life grows as he begins to investigate the death of the former King’s Hand Arryn and Arryn’s interest in the bastard children of King Robert.
Written by Daniel Abraham and illustrated by Tommy Patterson, A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel—Volume 2 continues the adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s 1996 novel A Song of Fire and Ice: A Game of Thrones which served as the basis of the wildly popular and acclaimed HBO series.
I enjoy Game of Thrones on HBO and heard about Martin’s books just before they began shooting the series. Despite this, I never got a chance to read the books until well into the series. Here, you have a pretty strong adaptation of the novel which does help in guiding you through the complex world and cast of Martin’s novels.
A Game of Thrones #11
A Game of Thrones is quite dense and this helps show how dense it is. The adaptation is quite straight forward and if you did watch the TV series, it is interesting to see how the series adapted certain characters and stories. With such a popular series, it is obvious that both Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson do not live in a vacuum and cannot ignore the series while writing and illustrating the tale. Despite this, I think the series does hold up on its own and is beneficial in understanding the multitude of characters that can be kind of overwhelming in the first season of the series.
Tommy Patterson’s art is the most obvious attempt to try to separate the comic and the TV series, but the series did such a strong casting job that even the slight differences still look a lot like the cast of the series. Patterson does do a great job with the illustrations, but I do think he could think on a even larger scale at points and attempt to provide imagery that the show can’t bring you (the Eyrie illustration is a good example of the lushness that could fill the book).
A Game of Thrones is a good example of a strong novel adaptation which also has a great TV adaptation. I don’t think A Game of Thrones could have ever worked as a film unless you wanted to do about three films each book (which I wouldn’t put past Hollywood). If you have had problems following A Game of Thrones storyline or just want to enrich your viewing (or reading of the novels), I do recommend this series.
Related Links:
A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel—Volume 1
Game of Thrones—Season 1 Review and Complete Episode Guide
Game of Thrones—Season 2 Review and Complete Episode Guide
Game of Thrones—Season 3 Review and Complete Episode Guide
Game of Thrones—Season 4 Review and Complete Episode Guide
Game of Thrones—Season 5 Review and Complete Episode Guide
