Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Authorized Adaptation (graphic novel) by Ron Wimberly, introduction by Ray Bradbury

At one point, I mentioned all those ARCs I got at a conference. I was going to try to post about them before they came out, or at least during the same month they came out. That hasn't been working out so well for me. Trying to shake myself out of my reading slump, I decided to pick an ARC I actually wanted to read, regardless of when it was going to be coming out. This graphic novel won't be released until July 19, 2011.

I tried my best not to include spoilers, although I do occasionally refer to scenes that occur late in the story.

Synopsis:

Will and Jim, two 13-year-old friends, are sitting outside Jim's house when they are approached by a lightning rod salesman. The man gives Jim a free lightning rod, telling him his house will soon be struck by lightning. After the salesman leaves, things only get weirder. A carnival has come to town, a strange carnival that Will, the more cautious of the two boys, wants nothing to do with, but that Jim is fascinated by. The carnival has a house of mirrors that almost kills the boys' teacher, Miss Foley, and a merry-go-round that has the power to make people become older or younger. The boys attract the attention of Dark, also known as the Illustrated Man, and Mr. Cooger. After a terrible incident involving Mr. Cooger, it's not long before the entire carnival starts hunting for them.

Commentary:

As far as I know, I haven't read the novel this was based on, and I haven't watched the movie based on the book, so I can't say how it compares to either one of those versions. I can say that I really didn't like this graphic novel.