NOAH Review

Will this graphic novel have you even more excited for the upcoming Noah film? Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

From acclaimed filmmaker DARREN ARONOFSKY (Black Swan, The Wrestler) and artist NIKO HENRICHON (Pride of Baghdad), NOAH is a fresh take on the biblical epic for the 21st Century. A fantastical world is about to be destroyed and one man is chosen to start a new one. As wicked forces try to take his Ark, Noah must hold his family together while they watch the annihilation of all they know. Infusing the Book of Genesis with fantasy and science fiction, NOAH both reinvents the elements of the Flood story everyone knows and simultaneously takes the reader beyond them and into the unexpected.

I may not be a religious man but I do respect religion, and one thing that I do like about religion is some of the great epic tales. One that I really enjoy is Noah’s Ark as it shows the uniqueness of man and how despite the vast corruptness there are some that stand out as righteous. I have however been very sceptical about the film that this comic is taken from, as the I feel this is a hard story to show in film. I am on the other hand happy that the comic version is out first as there is a big difference between the two forms of media with this one having a smaller margin for error.

Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel do a decent job of adapting this brilliant story, and overall don’t do a huge lot of damage to the original story (though there’ll probably be some Christians that disagree). The way that the duo have shown the symbolism of this story is simply terrific with Noah proving to be a very deep and spiritual person (as he should be). They also managed to add a lot of excitement and action throughout, turning what could easily have been a slow comic into something with a smooth pace. I did however feel that they went slightly over the top at times with Noah’s resolve causing questionable developments that at times contradicted the initial objective of his task. On top of this I also felt that there wasn’t enough dialogue as though I generally enjoy narration in comics I felt this one relied too heavily on it.

Niko Henrichon‘s art was simply phenomenal with it being hard to find anything to fault. The sheer detail of his work is simply amazing with the gritty, sombre style being simply perfect for this tale. There are a lot of artists who handle their own colours nowadays with Henrichon being one of them. I personally feel that these artists stand out from the rest, as their pencils, inks and colours nearly always work in harmony. This was certainly the case with Henrichon’s art as the sketchy finish gave the kind of cinematic vibe that a film adaptation needs. Another thing that Henrichon excelled at was showing impact as whether it was the characters expressions or the intense action sequences it’d give the kind of dramatic flare that this story needed.

Noah is overall a brilliant adaptation from the classic biblical tale, as although the changes may cause a bit of controversy the story as a whole is very enjoyable with the art being very impressive. Recommended.