Moby Dick (Campfire Graphic Novels) by Herman Melville, adapted by Lance Stahlberg and illustrated by Lalit Kumar Singh

Reviewed by Jennifer

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: one instance each of hell and damn

Violence: Whalers hunt and kill whales. Moby Dick destroys the Pequod and Captain Ahab is dragged under the water.

Adult Themes: Vengeance

Synopsis

Out of money and anxious to see the “watery part of the world”,  young Ishmael decides that his next adventure must be on a whaling ship. Pairing up with his new friend Queequeg, they sign up to sail on Captain Ahab’s ship, the Pequod. Ahab leads his crew on a marine adventure to destroy Moby Dick, the greatest white whale ever encountered.

Having never read Moby Dick, I enjoyed getting the highlights of the story. My two boys got a hold of this graphic novel before I did and both read it in a day. An 80-page version, as opposed to the over 600 page version, makes this classic story accessible to much younger readers. My hope is that when my boys are required to read the original at some point in their educational future, they will be less daunted having had this introduction to Moby Dick.

I liked the style of  Singh’s illustrations. Captain Ahab looks crazy with revenge while he is hunting Moby Dick and I loved the depiction of Queequeg, a tattooed harpooner from New Zealand.