I love the adaptations of graphic novels. I love contrasting and comparing the two art forms and seeing how they bring out completely different aspects of the same story.

The comics are a collection of short stories whereas the series is closer to a novel. In the comics, the characters have very singular personality traits. They are caricatures and not recognizable as human beings. All of them are extremely damaged and there is a singular desire or a past trauma that determines their actions. The series, on the other hand, makes the characters much more human and likable. This is just a novel about weird people, but people nonetheless. In the comics, they’re all adults with adult problems whereas in the series everyone is just a grown-up kid.

What I love about the comic is just how dark it is. It is not just the story (which is filled with gore and violence) but the way everything is presented. Comics can do things that a television series cannot. You can describe an emotion visually. All the sorrow and pain can be expressed through vibrant and all-consuming colors. In the comics, Vanya literally becomes completely void and devoid of any humanness. The hotel oblivion is set in outer-space again nothing but darkness. There are no dull colors anywhere. This is not a story about ordinary beings after all. This gives a very visceral and raw quality to the comics. The series, thankfully, adds some levity and humor to the story. I think this is a great choice because dark superhero series/movies are usually, with a few notable exceptions, extremely boring to watch.

I also find it very interesting how the audiences for the two media are completely different. I know a lot of people who love watching the series but who’d cringe at the novels. The series is much more palatable and humane and is designed to reach a broader audience whereas the comic does not even try to go easy on the reader. There is a scene with Hazel and Cha-Cha sawing off someone’s limbs and everything is shown. To make things worse, you know a few pages ahead that this is going to happen so you’re already seeing it in your head before the actual picture shows up.

There are two things that I think television captures much better than comics - human feelings and action. So much of our feelings are expressed through our eyes and face and no matter how good a comics artist you are, it is just not possible to capture these things in a static image. I love all the actors in the series for this reason. Same with action. Sure it is possible to describe action through drawings but it is so much more fun and satisfactory to watch Number Five fight the bad guys.

Both the comics and the series are a real treat. I hope they bring out new episodes of each of them.