Darren Shan Graphic Novels
Stella Kreuter
Cirque du Freak follows the story of Darren Shan, a young boy turned into a half-vampire. He joins Cirque du Freak with his guardian, Larten Crepsley, who had turned him into a half-vampire. They share an uneasy relationship, often becoming confused about each others feelings and concerns, and Darren disliking Crepsley for taking away his human life. Steve Leonard, Darren's best friend while he was human, feels betrayed by Darren becoming a half-vampire and decides to become a vampire hunter in order to kill him.
Cirque du Freak was licensed for release in North America by Yen Press and in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins. Yen Press was able to acquire the license because of their sister company, Little, Brown and Company, which publishes the original novels. The Yen Press edition also contained an excerpt from the original book series.
The series has received relatively positive reviews from Western critics, with praise about its tone and story. The art and character designs were commended by critics, though noted as being awkward and over-the-top at times.
After attending a showing of a freak show known as "Cirque du Freak", a boy named Darren Shan feels inclined to steal a large tarantula from the spider-tamer and revealed vampire, Larten Crepsley. He learns how to control her through telepathy, but while practicing with his best friend, Steve Leonard, the spider is startled and bites Steve's neck. Though the bite doesn't kill him, Steve is left paralyzed and Darren seeks out Crepsely for an antidote. Crepsley agrees to give it to him, on the condition that Darren becomes a vampire; Darren accepts, and is turned into a half-vampire, and Steve is healed. Immediately after, Darren flees from Crepsley, afraid to lose his lifestyle, friends, and family. However, Darren soon realizes that he cannot handle his new strength and thirst for blood and returns to Crepsley. They stage Darren's death, but before departing from the town, Darren encounters Steve, who vows to become a strong vampire hunter and kill him, feeling betrayed.
Despite craving human blood, Darren only drinks animal blood, and hates Crespley for changing him. He also feels alone, having no family or friends; he tries to blend in with other children, but his lack of control with his strength causes another boy to become injured. He confides to Crepsley about his situation and Crepsley decides to bring him to Cirque du Freak, knowing that Darren would be able to have friends and be himself when surrounded by other strange beings.
The manga series was based on a series of 12 books by author Darren Shan.[3][4] Arai received a call from his editor in 2006, and was informed about a contest in which an artist would make a manga rendition of The Saga of Darren Shan.[5] Shan would act as the "final judge", who decided out of the applicants who would be chosen.[5] Arai "drew up a chapter or two", and in April 2006, he was accepted as the contest winner.[5] Arai used a "touch" of his brother's version in a scene where Darren catches Cirque du Freak tickets. His brother also designed backgrounds and the characters Hans Hands, Alexander Ribs, and Gertha Teeth.[5] Arai mentions that during the production of volume two was when he "truly learned the difference in depiction between a novel and a manga."[6] He noted that manga "has a tendency" to be more "straightforward than a novel", due to its use of art.[6] Altogether, Arai felt that depiction was "very fun", but still an "exasperating process".[6] The Saga of Darren Shan was serialized weekly as well, so Arai had "to cram a hook and climax into an eighteen-page every single week". In order "to make the story fit", Arai was forced to remove scenes.[6] Arai expressed that he would have liked to have spent more time on the Trials of Death and the Festival of the Undead during volume five, but was forced to condense the original novel to fit into one volume of manga.[7]
Based on The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan and illustrated by Takahiro Arai [ja],[4] Cirque du Freak was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 9, 2006,[9] to February 4, 2009.[a] Shogakukan collected its chapters in 12 tankōbon volumes, released from November 17, 2006,[12] to April 17, 2009.[13]
At the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International, Yen Press announced that they had acquired rights to translate and publish the series in English.[14] The first three volumes were set to be released to coincide with the film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant.[1] It was Yen Press' first title from Shogakukan, a "feat" in that Shogakukan is a co-owner of another manga publisher in North America, Viz Media.[1] Little, Brown and Company, a sister company to Yen Press, helped Yen Press obtain the license because it publishes the original novel series.[1] Yen Press' edition of the first volume was released on June 9, 2009 in North America under the name Cirque du Freak[15] and contained an excerpt from the book series in the back of the volume.[16] '
The Saga of Darren Shan has been licensed for release in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins under their HarperCollin's Children's Books imprint.[17] HarperCollins released the first volume on May 28, 2009, with the series entitled as The Saga of Darren Shan.[17] The Saga of Darren Shan was also licensed and released in France by Pika dition[18] and in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press.[19]
The first volume of The Saga of Darren Shan was listed on the American Library Association's "2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens", a list compiling graphic novels that "meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens".[20]
The Saga of Darren Shan has received relatively positive reviews from Western critics. The Saga of Darren Shan was listed by GraphicNovelReporter as a top pick in graphic novels for the summer of 2009.[21] In GraphicNovelReporter's John Hogan's review for the first volume, Arai's art was praised, with Hogan noting that he did "a superb job of creating a manga that feels like a healthy mix of styles, both American and Japanese."[22] Writing for School Library Journal, Snow Wildsmith reviewed the first volume positively, noting the emotion and introspection present in it, but commented that though its "strong and holds together well", it "felt like it was just set up for the later volumes."[23]
PopCulture Shock's Grant Goodman graded the first volume with an "A", calling the character designs "strange-but-lovely" and that pace of the "second half", which "rushes forward at a breakneck pace", causes "Darren Shan's tale [to be] a standout title among the glut of standard shonen manga."[24] The second volume was reviewed by Goodman in July 27, 2009's "Manga Minis" review segment. Goodman also rated the volume with an "A" and commended the pacing, as well as saying that the darkness allowed for it to be "accessible to an older audience".[25] Deb Aoki, writing for the website About.com, rated the first volume with 3 and a half stars out of 5, commending its character designs, appeal to fans, and story. However, she also noted that the gore "might disturb sensitive readers", and pointed out some scenes as being too "over-the-top" emotionally and that the art was prone to "awkwardly-drawn moments" that distract readers.[26] Manga Life's Joy Kim criticized that the first volume was "extremely predictable" and the art as "occasionally awkward", but felt it was "a good alternative" to shōjo series focusing on vampires "with the emotional maturity and tortured love lives of emo high school students".[27]
The first thing that struck me about this was how young Darren and Steve are drawn. Of course they are supposed to be grade schoolers, but I was still surprised and wondered if their young looking faces would turn off potential readers. Soon, though, I was caught up in the horrors and the grotesqueness of the story and the art began to appeal to me more and more. Close-ups of giant spiders and of bodies twisting dramatically to display the tormented emotions inside, all fit perfectly with the dark story. There was also just a touch of cartoonish black humor to the artwork, reminiscent of the popular manga series Soul Eater (also from Yen Press).
But the story was obviously just a first part. The manga is strong and holds together well, but even with that it still felt like it was just set up for the later volumes. I do think that the ending will compel readers to seek out the second volume. There are a lot of emotions at work in this title, which adds a nice touch of introspection to the horror. Foreshadowing is laid on with a light touch, just enough to be evident to close readers, but not so much as to be overly obvious. Middle schools that have readers who loved the novel series or who are looking for more horror comics would do well to consider this title.
Snow Wildsmith is a writer and former teen librarian. She has served on several committees for the American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association, including the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award Committee. She reviews graphic novels for Booklist, ICv2's Guide, No Flying No Tights, and Good Comics for Kids and also writes booktalks and creates recommended reading lists for Ebsco's NoveList database. Currently she is working on her first books, a nonfiction series for teens.
The Saga of Darren Shan was also a great series for young readers in that it explores the idea of overlords who tweak fate and destiny for their own purposes and devices, yet always makes the point that your choices always define who you are and that no matter what shitty circumstances life throws at you, you can forge your own destiny. Without going too much into spoiler territory, the final book of the series makes that implicit point explicit, and the sense of victory that you get when Darren essentially flips destiny the bird is immensely satisfying.
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