The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

Adapted by Robert Venditti. Art by Attila Futaki. Color by Tamas Gaspar. 128 p. Hyperion Books for Children, July 2, 2013. 9781423145295. (Purchased)

Percy is about to complete a year of school without any drama or trauma. Unfortunately, on the last day of school, a game of dodgeball goes terribly wrong. Thankfully, Annabeth arrives to save the day but brings bad news. Camp Half-blood has been poisoned. Chiron is leaving. Nothing is the same. To make matters worse, the boy that Percy befriended at school turns out to be a cyclops and his half-brother. Percy's world is rocked. But there's a quest to be had and a prophecy to be fulfilled.

I read The Sea of Monsters wa-ay back in 2006, a full two years before I started blogging and probably 1000 books ago so I can't really call this a reread. It was almost like reading a new book. So I don't know what the adapters left on the cutting room floor. I just love what they have delivered. 

This. Book. Is. Gorgeous. 

The art leaps from the pages. It's luminous, energetic and quite frightening at times. It actually overpowers the text. I needed to read the pictures and then go back to read the words. Riordan's writing is very cinematic and the art does it justice. (I hear that Sea of Monsters is in production, or made. I hope that they get it right as the graphic artists have.)

I predicted that the graphic novel adaptation would be popular at my library when I reviewed The Lightning Thief back in 2010. Hyperion, what took so long? I do hope that it won't take quite so long for The Titan's Curse.