Graphic Classics Vol. 16: Oscar Wilde edited by Tom Pomplum

Graphic Classics Volume 16: Oscar Wilde by Alex Burrows
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Book 16 in this series of Classics adapted into Graphic retellings, but it is also my last book to be read in the series. I've now read the entire series and eagerly await the new volume. I've read a fair bit of Wilde, seen some movies and plays, read about the man and so was looking forward to this one. I knew it didn't include the Importance of Being Ernest which is my favourite work by him, so hopefully that will turn up somewhere in the future of this series (perhaps one dedicated to classic plays? hint, hint). This volume is much like the last one I read, the latest edition of HG Wells, in that it concentrates on four larger pieces of work rather than being a collection of more shorter pieces. I must say I do prefer this format than the rapid succession of short stories. The four main pieces start off with the two which I was very familiar. "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which was very well done, true to the original and Lisa K. Weber's illustration is delightful. The the Canterville Ghost, which I must have read but am more familiar with the old classic movie. It is a fun ghost story with Americans not putting up with the nonsense of a British ghost. Lord Arthur Saville's Crime I had not heard of before and was my least favourite in the volume but it was still an entertaining tale and I enjoyed the angular art. Finally the book ends with the famous play, Salome, which is Wilde's overly sexualized retelling of the beheading of John the Baptist. I knew the basics of this play but had not actually read it before. Another well-done volume in the series and up there with the best of the lot.

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