The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
How could it have taken five years to see a graphic-novel adaptation of such a successful property as the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and one that, with its heroic destinies and epic action, seems tailor-made to the format? Riordan’s original, like Harry Potter as if reimagined by Neil Gaiman, hits all the straightforward archetypes, with young Percy Jackson clued into the secret that he’s actually the son of Greek god Poseidon, then educated at Camp Half-Blood with the other illegitimate demigods before embarking on a hero’s journey to stop a war of the Olympians. But Riordan also injected a sense of thorny reality with twists like Percy’s good-for-nothing stepfather and the entrance to Hades residing in a soulless Los Angeles. Where the slick and flashy movie version failed, Venditti’s sharp-edged writing and Futaki’s gritty and unprecious art capture the same sense of grunge amid the wonder. A timely release that can be recommended with George O’Connor’s recent Olympians graphic novels, proving that while five years may seem too long, at least the wait was worth it. Grades 6-9. --Jesse Karp