Black: The Birth of Evil (The Circle Trilogy Graphic Novels, Book 1) Paperback – January 1, 1888

I read the Circle trilogy by Dekker years ago. I bought these graphic novels for my kids. My daughters loved them. They couldn’t wait for the next one to arrive! Thank you Ted Dekker! These are very cool!

If you haven't read Black you will not get that much out of this graphic novel. I gave this to someone as a gift. The person doesn't enjoy reading but listened to the audio CD of the Circle trilogy and loved it. He grew up with comic books and was floored by this book.

So let me set a few preliminary facts about myself and this review of "Black: The Birth of Evil" Circle Trilogy Book 1 Graphic Novel (by Ted Dekker).(1) Basically this review is for all three of the graphic novel books, not just black, it applies to all of them (they are one story in three parts essentially, if you're not familiar with this product).(2) I am not a big novel reader (I read very slow), nor a graphic novels reader (I've just never read them).(3) This graphic series was the first Ted Dekker work that I had ever read, I had never read anything of his before this.(4) To this point I still have not actually read the written-form novels on which these graphic-novels are based/adapted.So having said all that, I cannot really evaluate/critique well the work of the art, illustration as I don't have much of any reference for comparison or contrast. Having said that, to my judgment the artwork was well-done and the illustration was, at worst, sufficient, and at best masterfully done. Also, I cannot comment on the adaptation from the original novels since I haven't read them. I'm sure Dekker's fan opinions may vary on this point. My understanding though is that it is pretty true to the story, obviously with a little bit of omission (due to length).Most of my insight I can provide is on the actual story and content of the novel itself in the pages. On this, I can tell you, WHAT A FREAKING EPIC UNBELIEVABLE AMAZING SPECTACULAR AWESOME STORY.... so, I'm obviously not one to get sucked into fictional realities, but my mind was freaking blown away. First of all, suspense is woven through the entire trilogy like none I have ever known. I could not put this thing down, because you're always wanting to know what's next. It's masterfully told. Period. That's all there is to it. You will be sucked in and hooked and engaged. I felt it was more exciting than being in a movie-theater watching an action film on the big screen!What's amazing though is how much substance and heart this story has at the same time. It has a very Cartesian flavor to it (those familiar with philosophy and Descartes understand this term), begging and exploring some fundamental and deep questions. How it addresses them and navigates you through this character's journey is simply compelling and absorbing. I honestly found myself having to stop to revel in deep and profound moments of epiphany type nature. It was mind-boggling in the way that the movie "the Matrix" was and makes you stop and reconsider everything you know. It was that kind of experience (for me at least).The concept for the story to begin with (the context, the foundation the story is told on), is such a cool, unique and amazing concept yet so simple. It's brilliant. I can't believe no one's already done it before. Anyways, as it is though, I guess Dekker gets to own this idea with his "Circle" story series. Bravo Dekker, you are truly brilliant!Hands down, this was one of the coolest, most amazing reads I've ever had. And lo and behold it was from a graphic novel! (And this is coming from a guy who doesn't really read novels, OR graphic novels!!!)I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants a thrilling, engaging, suspenseful, compelling, profound, thought-provoking, meaningful story read that will provide them with much more value than just simply being entertained.-Carlos A.

Dekker is awesome. The Circle Series is unique - I love reading them in strict order, including the side books. You can find a list online. THEN - at some point, pick up one of the Graphic Novels to get a different visual. (You may like your visual more, or the books illustrations more. Fun stuff that way.) If you're short on time, you can get through the books faster by reading the graphic novels - they're condensed. Any way you slice it, Dekker is great. He's got about 40 books out. His stand alone books (outside of any of his series) are great too. NYT best seller!~~

The book was in a lot worse shape then I thought it would be. I had gotten Red and White and they where in great shape.

I LOVE THE STORY!!! Ted Dekker is truly an amazing storyteller. It's exciting and engaging.However, the format on it could almost not be any more of a pain. I'm sure the physical copy is fine, but the e-book version is EXTREMELY hard to read! On many comic books, kindle does very well. You can zoom in on a panel with ease and read what it says. This comic book is treated as merely a bunch of pictures, not pages of a book. If the pictures actually fit the kindle screen, this would not be a big deal, but they are much smaller than the kindle screen and it makes it a pain to read. It makes you have to zoom in on each panel, and it sometimes blurs and distorts the words and decreases the picture quality. If amazon is reading this, PLEASE RESOLVE THE ISSUE WITH THIS!!!! (The same issue is happening with the Kingstone comics, too.)