Long John Silver v. 1: Lady Vivian Hastings by Xavier Dorison and Mathieu Lauffray; adventure, graphic novel; 56 pagesI planned to plow through this brief collection quickly, and wound up spending well over an hour to read less than 60 pages. LJS is set 20 years after the events of Treasure Island, and tells the story of Silver's last great adventure. In this case, he's been hired by the nefarious Lady Hastings, whose husband has been presumed dead after departing on a quest for the mythical El Dorado. This doesn't bother Lady Hastings in the least--she already has a newer, younger, and wealthier husband lined up--until she receives a letter from her husband announcing that he's not only alive, he has found the lost city! He orders her to sell everything to fund an expedition, and orders his brother to confine his wayward wife to a convent. Lady Hastings knows her husband might be mad, but he also might be wealthier than the King, so she decides to go with the expedition to meet up with her husband. But of course, she has ulterior motives, and she needs men like Silver on her side if she's to see them play out.
I loved this comic. The art is a wonderful fit for the story: dark and shadowy, and leaving much to the imagination. The writer manages to pack a lot into each page, so while this was a very short book, it felt much, much longer. I can't wait to get my hands on some of the sequels.
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