Monday 2 November 2015

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Wheels of Terror - Sven Hassel, Ill. Jordy Diago

Release Date: 01/10/15
Publisher:  Weidenfeld and Nicolson

SYNOPSIS:

A graphic novel adaptation of Sven Hassel's classic war novel, WHEELS OF TERROR, illustrated by Jordy Diago.

Stationed on the Eastern Front and now equipped with armoured vehicles, Sven Hassel and his comrades from the 27th Penal Regiment fight on remorselessly . . . All of them should be dead: life expectancy on the Front is measured in weeks. But Sven, Porta, the Old Un and the Legionnaire fight to the end, not for Germany, not for Hitler, but for survival.

From the blistering cold to the horrors of tank warfare, WHEELS OF TERROR is a sobering depiction of war's brutalities, and the violence and inhumanity that the history books leave out.


REVIEW:

I remember reading the original novel years ago after my Dad passed it to me (alongside a whole heap of Sven’s other titles) and to be honest I’ve always been apprehensive of graphic novel translations of books. I’m not saying that they don’t do justice, but you have to get so much in there and cut out a lot of the books story without infringing on the main theme of the novel. It’s hard to decide what stays and what goes, and inevitably fans will find that they’re upset at losing certain parts of the story and will either love or hate the adaptation.

What Jordy has done is keep the tale in Sven’s own words bringing his artistic talents to the fore and giving the readers what they fell in love with in their original read, hard-core action, top notch dialogue and of course a dark humour that war brings out in man. It’s a great title, one that I’ve loved and one that I’m now purchasing for my Dad for Christmas as a special treat, and for a guy who’s not the biggest graphic novel fan (my Dad that is) I have a feeling this could well change his mind. Great item.

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