In Odd We Trust
- Posted by Johanna on September 5, 2008 at 8:26 am
- Category: Graphic Novel Reviews
- CREDITS: written by Queenie Chan and Dean Koontz; art by Queenie Chan
- PUBLISHER: Del Rey; $10.95 US
I haven’t read Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series of novels, but In Odd We Trust, an original graphic novel prequel co-written and illustrated by Queenie Chan (The Dreaming), makes me interested in seeing more.
The young man strangely named Odd Thomas is a genius pancake maker who can also talk to ghosts. (Think a male Ghost Whisperer, only the ghosts he sees don’t speak.) He lives in a small California town, almost a character in itself, where he’s accepted as just another person with his own particular talent. He also hangs out with the spirit of Elvis and a real-life tough chick named Stormy who’s a blast to read about. To give you an idea of her take on life, she says at one point, when showing off her gun, that she’d rather be Jack Bauer than Nancy Drew.
Chan is expert at drawing the haunted faces of the tragic young, so she was a great choice for the volume, given its subject. The opening, with a murdered boy staring at the newspaper headline that reveals his death, sets the tone for this creepy mystery. Stormy’s friend Sherry is the housekeeper at the home of the killed child, and she’s been getting notes from a stalker. Odd and Stormy are determined to bring peace to the boy’s spirit, protect their friend, and find the killer.
Although some fans of the novels aren’t comfortable with the comic format, I found this story entertaining escapist fiction. Events escalate quickly into a roller coaster ride with a reassuring ending. There are plenty of plot twists and convenient coincidences and amusing dialogue among friends, like a really good Scooby-Doo for an older crowd.
Preview pages are available at the book’s website. Queenie Chan has more information at her website. (A complimentary copy for this review was provided by the publisher.)
September 5, 2008 at 2:29 PM
if you liked the GN, definitely read at least the first novel. But do read them in order, as each book tends to make pretty significant changes in Odd’s life.
September 8, 2008 at 7:58 AM
[...] Johanna Draper Carlson on Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan’s In Odd We [...]
September 8, 2008 at 7:59 AM
[...] Ninja four stars in a very concise review. New at Comics Worth Reading: Johanna Draper Carlson on In Odd We Trust and vol. 3 of Monkey High! and Ed Sizemore on vols. 1 and 2 of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time. [...]
September 8, 2008 at 11:58 AM
I have been a fan of the Odd Thomas books for years, and yes, read them in order. I also enjoyed the graphic novel quite a bit. It’s considerably lighter in tone than the novels, which have truly frightening scenes. But the graphic novel does capture the essence of Odd himself.
February 11, 2010 at 5:08 PM
[...] of words in the book, judging by previous experiments of this type, such as Dean Koontz’s In Odd We Trust.) The graphic novel continues the Barnaby and Hooker series from Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, in [...]
April 10, 2010 at 5:59 PM
[...] include Svetlana Chmakova (Dramacon, Nightschool), Leisl Adams, and Queenie Chan (The Dreaming, In Odd We Trust). Their mission statement runs like this: BentoComics.com is created, coded and maintained by the [...]
June 25, 2010 at 8:09 AM
[...] from In Odd We Trust, the first Odd Thomas graphic novel, Del Rey Books is going to release three more. Odd Is on Our [...]
August 22, 2010 at 4:44 PM
[...] Queenie Chan has also illustrated graphic novels by Dean Koontz and helped found Bento Comics, where more of her short works can be found. [...]
October 2, 2010 at 7:50 PM
[...] second in the series of Odd Thomas graphic novels, following 2008′s In Odd We Trust, will be out this week, just in time for [...]
August 31, 2011 at 9:31 AM
[...] nice review from Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading. Thankyou. This entry was posted in Books, [...]