Adventure Classics, Graphics Volume 12 is an outstanding mix of classic adventure tales and superb artwork. Authors such as Sax Rohmer, Rudyard Kipling, Damon Runyon, Zane Grey, Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson and O. Henry provide the stoies as adapted for this genre by Tom Pomplun, Rod Lott, Milton Knight, and Antonella Caputo. Each one is brought to life by a collection of extremely talented graphic illustrators.

Some of stories will be recognized instantly, such as Kipling's "Gunga Din" illustrated by Mary Fleener and "Blood Money" by Rafael Sabatini with artwork by Kevin Atkinson. Readers will be pleased to see Chris Pelletiere's rendition of "The Stolen Story" by Johnston McCulley, writer of many Zorro adventures, as well as Fitz-James O'Brien's "The Man Without a Shadow" drawn by Milton Knight. Damon Runyon's "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" is well-crafted with some of this volume's best artwork by Hunt Emerson. Mark A. Nelson's amazingly detailed illustration of Edith Nesbit's "The Mystery of the Semi-Detached" gives this story an otherworldly feel. Nick Miller's brilliant artistic interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Crime of the Brigadier" was as thoroughly entertaining as it was historically accurate.

I have had mixed experience with graphic novels in the past and was prepared to be skeptical with Adventure Classics. Once I finally did read it, I found myself unable to put it down. Classic stories handled adroitly by talented artists and editors made this a real treat in both a literary and artistic sense. Tom Pomplun's choices for this volume ranged from the supernatural to the classic train robbery, and fit the adventure theme pefectly. The only disappointment I felt came when I reached the end--I was ready for more!

Fans of the graphic novel will thoroughly enjoy this book, and lovers of classic adventure tales will be pleased with it as well. If you haven't read a graphic novel before, you would do well to start with Tom Pomplun's work.