The Golden Compass Graphic Novel, Volume 1

by Philip Pullman

Overview

The world of Philip Pullman’s internationally bestselling His Dark Materials saga is brought to visual life in book 1 of a three-volume graphic adaptation of The Golden Compass.
 
Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her dæmon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle—a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, and a mysterious substance known as Dust. As she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win—or to lose—this more-than-mortal battle.
 
The stunning full-color art offers both new and returning readers a chance to experience the story of Lyra, an ordinary girl with an extraordinary role to play in the fates of multiple worlds, in an entirely new way.
 
“Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling.” —The Washington Post

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553523720
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/22/2015
Series:	His Dark Materials Series
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	269,024
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children's book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass; a Booker Prize long-list nomination (The Amber Spyglass); Parents' Choice Gold Awards (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
 
It has recently been announced that The Book of Dust, the much anticipated new book from Mr. Pullman, also set in the world of His Dark Materials, will be published as a major work in three parts, with the first part to arrive in October 2017.  
 
Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Other volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, and The Collectors. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess; The White Mercedes; and The Broken Bridge.
 
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com and hisdarkmaterials.com. Or follow him on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.

STÉPHANE MELCHIOR has worked as a screenwriter for both film and television. Recently, he turned his creative energies toward comics, penning both original stories and adaptations, including Raiju and Raiden with Loïc Sécheresse and an adaptation of The Great Gatsby with Benjamin Bachelier.
 
CLÉMENT OUBRERIE is the acclaimed illustrator of more than forty picture books and is a co-founder of the 3D animation studio Station OMD. His comics include the Aya of Yopougon series by Marguerite Abouet and Pablo by Julie Birmant. His illustrations for The Golden Compass won an award at the International Comics Festival in Angoulême, France.

Hometown:

Oxford, England

Date of Birth:

October 19, 1946

Place of Birth:

Norwich, England

Education:

Exeter College, Oxford University

Website:

http://www.philip-pullman.com/

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/29/2015
Pullman’s His Dark Materials ranks with the work of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, and this graphic adaptation is the first of three books from a French team that will cover the events of The Golden Compass. It introduces the fierce and canny Lyra Belacqua, whose quest is set in a steampunk Europe where the Magesterium, a church government of Orwellian dimensions, plots to deprive its subjects of free will. Oubrerie’s characters are, at first glance, rougher and shaggier than Pullman’s polished work might suggest, but readers are quickly drawn into the dreaming spires of Jordan College, the magnificence of Lyra’s nemesis Mrs. Coulter’s mansion, and the fens of the water-dwelling gyptians, all presented in a fast-paced series of compressed, closely-worked panels. The story’s signature fantasies—the daemons, animal companions possessed by every person in this alternate universe; the armored mercenary polar bears called panserbjorne; and the alethiometer, Lyra’s truth diviner—are realized with compelling force (and, in the case of the daemons, humor). Skillfully translated back into English, Melchior-Durand and Oubrerie’s retelling will bring Pullman’s work new fans and give previous readers new pleasure. Ages 10–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"The story’s signature fantasies—the daemons; the armored mercenary polar bears; and the alethiometer—are realized with compelling force (and, in the case of the daemons, humor). [This] retelling will bring Pullman’s work new fans and give previous readers new pleasure." — Publishers Weekly, Starred review
 
"The small and detailed but very clear panels are full of expressive faces, discernible action, and moody shadowing. Readers familiar with Pullman’s novel will appreciate this artistic adaptation, as will readers who simply prefer graphic novels to prose."—Booklist

"Whether this is a reader's first experience with the tale or they are already familiar with the story, they should be delighted by this rendition."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

07/01/2015
Gr 6 Up—The first book of Pullman's acclaimed "His Dark Materials" series, The Golden Compass, appears in a well-told and well-drawn graphic format in this volume, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the book's publication. The graphic novel adaptation divides the first book into three volumes, with this first volume following Lyra up until the time that she sails for the North with the gyptians. With Lyra, readers will overhear plots in Jordan College; suffer the loss of her friend, Roger; and receive the mysterious alethiometer. They will escape from Mrs. Coulter and join the gyptians in their camp in the fens, all the while hoping to reunite with her uncle, Lord Asriel, who has gone to the North. The artists' interpretation of the work pairs well with the story. The somewhat muted color scheme reinforces the Dickensian feel of the novels. The characters and their backdrops are drawn in a style reminiscent of a child's hand, albeit with a sophistication and level of detail not expected of a child. VERDICT Whether this is a reader's first experience with the tale or they are already familiar with the story, they should be delighted by this rendition.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

School Library Journal

2015-06-23
Lyra Belaqua begins her journey north again in this graphic-novel adaptation of Philip Pullman's classic fantasy. Twenty years after the publication of The Golden Compass, Melchior-Durand and Oubrerie reimagine the dark fantasy series through the graphic format. This installment adapts the first third of the original novel—in which Lyra leaves her home at Jordan College, finds refuge with the gyptians, and learns the truth about her parentage—leaving the rest of the tale for future volumes. The script is well-paced and deftly condenses the original text to the demands of graphic storytelling. However, the artwork is often disappointing. While the illustrations do a fine job of establishing a sense of time and place, the figures are stiff and don't do justice to the story's many charismatic personalities. For instance, the graphic novel's Mrs. Coulter lacks the seductive magnetism that makes her so dangerously alluring when she first appears in the original novel. Purists may also be annoyed by details that aren't faithful to the novel. The original text repeatedly describes Lyra as blonde, but she is a brunette here. It's a minor complaint, but it's hard to see why a change was necessary at all. Best for readers new to the series, who won't be distracted by comparisons with the original. (Graphic fantasy. 11 & up)

Kirkus Reviews