The Witches: The Graphic Novel

The Witches: The Graphic Novel

Roald Dahl

Penelope Bagieu, Adaptor & Illustrator

Scholastic/Graphix, 2020 296 pages

Grade 3-6

Graphic Novel

Graphic novelist, Bagieu, reboots Dahl's classic for a modern audience. An eight year old boy is recently orphaned and living with his loving, yet eccentric, grandmother. To pass the time Grandma tells the boy all about real-life witches and what to look out for, having some encounters of her own in her distant past. The boy learns to beware of women with wigs to cover their bald heads, gloves to cover their clawed hands, and pointy shoes to hide their missing toes. If you see one, watch out! They hate children and will do anything to eliminate an unsuspecting youth. The boy and Grandma travel to the seaside for rest and relaxation. This trip turns out to be anything but, when the boy stumbles into a whole convention of witches. He overhears the dastardly plans to eliminate all of England's children and witnesses with his own eye a girl get turned into a mouse. Yikes! What can he do to get out of there? He must go and find Grandma. Maybe she can help him come up with a plan to save the nation's children before it's too late.

I love the original Witches so much and wasn't sure I was ready for the reboot. Finally, I had to go for it with mostly positive results. I love that attention has been called to this title, which may lead comic-kids to the original. French Bagieu breathes life into the characters and offers a fresh creative sensibility, a bit more sophisticated than American children generally see. The full-color panels scan well and the plot keeps mostly to the original. The controversial creepy ending, which I love so much, was maintained to my relief, which is more than I can say for most movie and stage adaptations. I do enjoy the 1990 film, even though the ending was changed, and the Grand High Witch in this new title certainly has a Anjelica Huston quality about her. I enjoyed the modernization of the Grandmother character, though I missed the Norwegian grandmother in the original. Other characters are rewarded with a welcomed diverse update. What I love about Roald Dahl stories is that he manages to inject humor into his tales, even though they go dark. This story is, perhaps, his darkest, yet remains tongue-in-cheek and has a deliciousness to the creepiness. This comic adaptation, as in all other adaptations, loses this subtly. That said, the comic stands on its own and may bring fresh readers to the original.