Graphic Novel Review: JENNIFER'S BODY

In the '80s and '90s comic book adaptations of films were common place. The only problem was that like novelizations of films the adaptations lacked any originality and were generally a carbon copy of the film. I remember reading the adaptations of Batman & Batman Returns, Star Trek VI, Child's Play 2 & 3,Robocop 2, Fright Night Par 2t, and even From Dusk Til Dawn, to name a few, and most if not all lacked anything special other than presenting the film as a comic book. This is until now. Now comic book publishers are trying to offer readers and fans of franchises alternatives to just the normal film adaptations. BOOM! Studios, Marvel, DC, and especially IDW publishing strive not only to represent the film itself put are also providing prequels and sequels to the films to give readers an added enjoyment of not only the film but the world of the film. This is where the BOOM! Studios adaptation of the 20^th Century Fox film Jennifer's Body fits.

The graphic novel of Jennifer's Body tells the story presented in the film but from the perspective of the male victims in the film. This is a bold move for the creative team as the film is very female oriented and to present the graphic novel from the male perspective could alienate the audience for the film (despite the fact that many believe that the film will get a large male audience simply because it stars Megan Fox). The graphic novel is broken up into four parts each from the perspective of one of Jennifer's victims. The story is about an attractive school age girl who during one night on hard partying with a local band finds herself the victim of a botched demonic ritual. She dies and then comes back as a demon with the appetite for human flesh - male human flesh. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Needy who must find a way to stop her before she sets sight on her own boyfriend. That's the gist of the film.

The graphic novel on the other hand breaks up each of the four parts and allows a different creative team to spin their own take on the material. This is the one aspect of the graphic novel that may turn some readers away as some parts are so stylized as to feel and look juvenile. This is the reaction I had just flipping through the pages because each chapter is so different from one another but when I finally sat down to read the book I realized that the art fits each of the characters and the story melds well together despite being written by four different people. It's better that you've seen the film before reading the graphic novel as you will have a better grasp of the story as a whole but it is not required as each creative team strives to craft a stand alone story in the limited amount of pages.

This is by no means one of the best adaptations of a film out there on the market but it is a good representation of where the genre is going especially if you're like me and you know where it came from.