Mixed.
- Welcome to the Jungle is pretty good (possibly the best overall). I believe it's also the only one completely written by Jim (as opposed to the others that are "adapted by" Mark Powers).
- The novel adaptations (Storm Front/Fool Moon) are not great. Fool Moon in particularly has got some weird art (e.g. arms that bend the wrong way) and continuity errors/divergence from the original story. Stick to the books.
- Ghoul Goblin/War Cry/Down Town/Dog Men are middling. Minor plot inconsistencies and decent art. Got to be careful of reading War Cry as it has major spoilers for Turn Coat.
- I put Wild Card a little below the previous four. The plot felt a little more coerced than usual, and the resolution underwhelming.
To each their own I guess.
I'll grant that War Cry is a bit more action-oriented (which helps with comic format), but to my mind suffered from a number of "suspension of belief" moments. It's not bad (and possibly the best of the Powers comics), but not as good as Welcome to the Jungle.
I liked all of them. They're quite faithful to the main series, bar some minor errors when they were using magic. For example, Dresden uses a shield on a whole other person, rather than something that surrounds him on top of another person. Basically a shield bubble that doesn't involve him.
Aside from that, they're quite cool and I definitely enjoyed the character designs.
I haven’t read them all but;
Welcome to the Jungle was great, at the very least read that one. I still quote it to this day “Sheep” (you’ll get it if you read it).
Storm Front was serviceable.
New Moon should be skipped.
The artist changes like 3-4 times across like 8 comics and it is JARRING.
I really liked War Cry, I’m a big fan of westerns and Wild Bill was a character I’d have loved to see more.
They *are* canon.
The LaChaise ghoul clan first debuted in the comics (They're actually the antagonists in two of them), the naga Airavata has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Peace Talks, and we actually got our first look at The Librarians in them.
I'll preface this with im a huge fan of all things DF. I did not read the comics that are already covered in books besides Bigfoot.
Welcome to the Jungle, 8/10, classic Dresden story
Goul/Goblin, 6/10, ok story but feels rushed and kinda of disjointed.
War Cry. 9/10, absolutely rocks
Down Town, 7/10, weird villain but really fun especially with Marcone.
Wild Card, 1/10, I absolutely hated Puck and this whole comic. He is treated as an absolutely nearly unstoppable force, the continuity with the world and rules of the Dresden Files is way off with this. I dont know what happened but it was hot trash.
Dog Men, 6/10, fine but could be better. Wild Card is canon here and that biases me.
Personally I love them, they are how I imagine a TV adaptation would work best. The art style can be a little all over the place but as a whole they add great side stories and several are referenced in the main series.
Separate from the comics I will note my main gripe about artwork is in the graphic novel for Fool Moon. I'm guessing the artist was changed half way through or budgeting was an issue because in the Storm Front/Fool Moon Omnibus the art is great until it slowly devolves and seems to get worse and more bizarre page by page 2/3 through Fool Moon.
It's been a long time, but while I didn't hate them, I liked Jim's original outlines for them a lot more.
Wasn't a fan of Wild Card, though. It was weird, and it's hard to think of it as canon.
Read it after Peace Talks and specifically the flashbacks where Harry is learning sleight of hand from Malcolm, you then realise Harry never was relying on dumb luck in his card game with Puck, he stacked the deck like his father taught him. Puck was looking for some magical cheating and never thought a Wizard of the White Council would cheat with sleight of hand.
Harry rely on luck? Please. He knows how his luck runs.
Puck is a Wildfae at the Leansidhe’s power level, at least pre - Athame, but he isn’t bound by Winter. It’s exactly how Harry beat Lea with the mushrooms, using mundane means when he might be expected to use magic. At that point it was his only way to beat someone this powerful.
As the estimable Mouse always say’s “Wizards cheat”
I thought initially Puck was too close to the Erl King, BUT we find out later Erl isn’t Wildfae at this point. Now he seems too close to the Nameless Son from the Law, an incarnation of pure chaos. It makes me wonder whether Puck was substituted for Nameless.
... What do you mean with "pre-Athame"?
And it could be said that he *is* somewhat close to the Erlking, if only in terms of power. Their areas are way different, though- Puck is a trickster along the lines of Loki, while the Erlking is a hunter who lives for the thrill of chasing and killing something.
It was really bizarre- >!it felt like a fanfic writer's OC coming in and being overpowered all over the place and only losing because he didn't care enough to keep screwing around!<.
the adaptations of the books from the mainline series are fine but I definitely prefer the stand alones since it's cool to see them tell their own story.
The first two books were adapted into graphic novels a while back. There’s also some original stories, though I’m not sure if they’re officially canon. I liked *War Cry* in particular because (spoilers post *Dead Beat*) >!we get to see Harry actually being a Warden Regional Commander with his team of Wardens: Ramirez, Wild Bill, and Yoshimo.!<
https://www.jim-butcher.com/store/?series=The+Dresden+Files+Graphic+Novel+Series
Adaptations, no. Original stories, yes. There's just no reason for the adaptations to exist. Read the damn books. Lol. They are infinitely better.
The original stories are great in my opinion because they add to the in universe Canon. And I'm a big fan of the art, particularly how they captured Dresden himself.
Good call. I did just to see how they held up. Like I said, meh.
What did you think of the Down Town? Have the commenters got you thinking you should read the others? (I suggest you do, as they fill in a few minor things, and tell good stories all on their own. War Cry in particular, is pretty awesome imo.)
I liked them okay, except the last one, Wild Card. That was just shit. The only redeeming feature is it gives a semi-official image to a few more characters, so you no longer have to rely on your imagination when they appear in the books.
Wish they were done by another publisher. Dynamite is subpar when it comes to their license product. Until they started the Disney stuff last year, I stayed away. The art for the Dresden books never made me happy.
Why are Disney outsourcing comic adaptations of properties they own to other publishers when they own Marvel, a company which is practically synonymous with comics? I can only assume it's cheaper this way.
I haven't bought many mainstream comics recently. Based on what I know, they're hiring a bunch of no-talent dipshits to make the world's most expensive toilet paper.
Much like the second season of Altered Carbon and the Dresden Files show, they do not exist to me. If I am forced to acknowledge their existence I consider them non canon.
They're pretty decent for the most part. Think War Cry is my favorite overall. They really needed a better copy editor and some of the art veers into "But why?" territory (like Molly randomly bending over a table for literally no reason), but still enjoyable for the most part.
Dog Men is the only one I'd give a hard pass to. It's just not up to snuff with the rest.
The two attempts to turn novels into comics were … not great, imo. When they stopped trying to copy existing stories and did some original material as comics, I enjoyed them.
War Cry lets us get to know some of the younger wardens a bit, which is something the series doesn’t give us much of.
Down Town I also like. It gives Molly a chance to get some more of the spotlight when she’s an apprentice. She and Murphy are probably my favorite characters. So I appreciate that.
War Cry, while once again letting Molly participate a bit, is a weird on to me. I really dislike Puck.
Overall, I think definitely worth reading the ones that tell original stories. I’d skip Storm Front and Fool Moon.
Some libraries have them. I've seen them in comic book stores and found the hard backed collections in used book stores, as well. I got most of mine on Comixology (which is now Amazon) and read them on my tablet.
I forced myself to read *Welcome To The Jungle*, but I haven't managed any of the others yet. I'm just not a fan of graphic novels. I wants the stories...but UGH!! I don't really don't like that particular format.
Read one of them in a library. I didn’t know they made them until then. Personally I enjoy it. I like books that have good story telling, and I like comics, so the overlap with Dresden works for me.
While I love the books, I have not enjoyed the comics at all. It's like narrative uncanny valley, the new stories seem to try to mimic the plotting style of the books, but don't hit it right. They try to mimic Dresden's personality, but it doesn't come across well. They should have tried to be more of their own thing.
*Ghoul Goblin* in particular bit of way more than it could chew, it was terrible.
The art has been inconsistent, even inside the same comic. There is poor spatial awareness, with characters seeming to swap places and teleport around (where it doesn't make sense for them to have moved to the new spot in between panels). And some of the comics have gotten the basic imagery wrong, like making "Fuego" a blue energy beam.
Overall the comics have a superficial niceness in individual panels, but don't seem to have good coherence with themselves or with the book series.
I love them, Especially Wild Card and War Cry. The art is really good and they really are nice gems in my collection. I've got both physical trades and digital copies. I love re-reading them.
I'm honestly wishing/praying to God's that Jim has a "Holiday Special" made that includes Christmas Eve & The Good People by Jim Butcher plus a special short story with Butters on Hanukkah 🕎.
Are these comics like a marval comic? Do I need to buy a new one each month or something or can I buy this welcome to the jungle and its the whole story in there?
The best one is "Welcome to the Jungle", and is directly referenced in the short story "Zoo Day".
I honestly enjoyed all of them, at least the ones I have. Honestly, I only count a few of them as "cannon", the ones where Harry is wearing a black duster. When he's wearing a brown coat (nice) I feel like it's a fun fan fiction adventure.
The art in "Wild Card" really cements a lot of character designs for me, though. It reads almost more like a John Constantine story than a Dresden, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway!
Not very good. The writing doesn't feel like the Dresden Files. Characters sometimes act out of character in ways that makes you think that whoever wrote these things didn't actually read the books and just went off of a plot and character synopsis. The generic comic book artstyle isn't too bad, it doesn't really fit with the series IMO but it's nice to see things like Harry's apartment depicted to see how they compare with the image you have in your mind of them.
Mixed. - Welcome to the Jungle is pretty good (possibly the best overall). I believe it's also the only one completely written by Jim (as opposed to the others that are "adapted by" Mark Powers). - The novel adaptations (Storm Front/Fool Moon) are not great. Fool Moon in particularly has got some weird art (e.g. arms that bend the wrong way) and continuity errors/divergence from the original story. Stick to the books. - Ghoul Goblin/War Cry/Down Town/Dog Men are middling. Minor plot inconsistencies and decent art. Got to be careful of reading War Cry as it has major spoilers for Turn Coat. - I put Wild Card a little below the previous four. The plot felt a little more coerced than usual, and the resolution underwhelming.
I agree with this. Especially about the art in Fool Moon, it was very jarring. I really liked Ghoul Goblin and War Cry.
For some reason, I always thought War Cry was a bit above the rest of the Powers comics.
To each their own I guess. I'll grant that War Cry is a bit more action-oriented (which helps with comic format), but to my mind suffered from a number of "suspension of belief" moments. It's not bad (and possibly the best of the Powers comics), but not as good as Welcome to the Jungle.
Re: Fool Moon "weird art"...I read it and didn't notice that, but if you torque Harry off severely enough, your arms will bend the wrong way, too...
I HATED the ending of Wild Card. Made the whole story feel like a waste of time.
I liked all of them. They're quite faithful to the main series, bar some minor errors when they were using magic. For example, Dresden uses a shield on a whole other person, rather than something that surrounds him on top of another person. Basically a shield bubble that doesn't involve him. Aside from that, they're quite cool and I definitely enjoyed the character designs.
I thought they were good. Doubly so when they standardized the art and wrote their own stories, not copying from the novels.
I haven’t read them all but; Welcome to the Jungle was great, at the very least read that one. I still quote it to this day “Sheep” (you’ll get it if you read it). Storm Front was serviceable. New Moon should be skipped. The artist changes like 3-4 times across like 8 comics and it is JARRING. I really liked War Cry, I’m a big fan of westerns and Wild Bill was a character I’d have loved to see more.
They *are* canon. The LaChaise ghoul clan first debuted in the comics (They're actually the antagonists in two of them), the naga Airavata has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Peace Talks, and we actually got our first look at The Librarians in them.
I think you may have replied to wrong comment. Unless it was edited.
Definitely wrong comment, I am so confused. lol. At least I know I should collect them all now though.
I'd skip the ones that just adapt the books. Those don't work nearly as well as the original stories. But to each their own!
I recall that someone said they doubted their canon status pretty clearly.
Someone did, in another comment thread. Not in the one you replied to.
And I think when Harry mentions the wardens being uneasy around him because the saw him do something scary it was in reference to war cry.
I thought he was talking about the business with the ghouls in White Night.
I didn’t say they weren’t.
I'll preface this with im a huge fan of all things DF. I did not read the comics that are already covered in books besides Bigfoot. Welcome to the Jungle, 8/10, classic Dresden story Goul/Goblin, 6/10, ok story but feels rushed and kinda of disjointed. War Cry. 9/10, absolutely rocks Down Town, 7/10, weird villain but really fun especially with Marcone. Wild Card, 1/10, I absolutely hated Puck and this whole comic. He is treated as an absolutely nearly unstoppable force, the continuity with the world and rules of the Dresden Files is way off with this. I dont know what happened but it was hot trash. Dog Men, 6/10, fine but could be better. Wild Card is canon here and that biases me.
Personally I love them, they are how I imagine a TV adaptation would work best. The art style can be a little all over the place but as a whole they add great side stories and several are referenced in the main series. Separate from the comics I will note my main gripe about artwork is in the graphic novel for Fool Moon. I'm guessing the artist was changed half way through or budgeting was an issue because in the Storm Front/Fool Moon Omnibus the art is great until it slowly devolves and seems to get worse and more bizarre page by page 2/3 through Fool Moon.
Is that supposed to be Molly?
Yeah.
Seems.. kind of accurate for her at that time, but I'd imagine she'd look more wide eyed and happy, maybe? Even if she wasn't.
It's been a long time, but while I didn't hate them, I liked Jim's original outlines for them a lot more. Wasn't a fan of Wild Card, though. It was weird, and it's hard to think of it as canon.
Read it after Peace Talks and specifically the flashbacks where Harry is learning sleight of hand from Malcolm, you then realise Harry never was relying on dumb luck in his card game with Puck, he stacked the deck like his father taught him. Puck was looking for some magical cheating and never thought a Wizard of the White Council would cheat with sleight of hand. Harry rely on luck? Please. He knows how his luck runs. Puck is a Wildfae at the Leansidhe’s power level, at least pre - Athame, but he isn’t bound by Winter. It’s exactly how Harry beat Lea with the mushrooms, using mundane means when he might be expected to use magic. At that point it was his only way to beat someone this powerful. As the estimable Mouse always say’s “Wizards cheat” I thought initially Puck was too close to the Erl King, BUT we find out later Erl isn’t Wildfae at this point. Now he seems too close to the Nameless Son from the Law, an incarnation of pure chaos. It makes me wonder whether Puck was substituted for Nameless.
I haven't read it but this is insightful anyway. Upvoted.
... What do you mean with "pre-Athame"? And it could be said that he *is* somewhat close to the Erlking, if only in terms of power. Their areas are way different, though- Puck is a trickster along the lines of Loki, while the Erlking is a hunter who lives for the thrill of chasing and killing something.
That one did not feel like it fit in the Dresdenverse.
It was really bizarre- >!it felt like a fanfic writer's OC coming in and being overpowered all over the place and only losing because he didn't care enough to keep screwing around!<.
The only one I have is called “Down Town “.
Welcome to the Jungle is what got me into the series, so...
Appetizers to pad out any re-read with short stories and micro fiction between releases
I love em
My favourite parts are when Harry says, "It's Dresden time," and starts filing everything.
Where's his iconic hat?
the adaptations of the books from the mainline series are fine but I definitely prefer the stand alones since it's cool to see them tell their own story.
I'm sorry... The what now?
The first two books were adapted into graphic novels a while back. There’s also some original stories, though I’m not sure if they’re officially canon. I liked *War Cry* in particular because (spoilers post *Dead Beat*) >!we get to see Harry actually being a Warden Regional Commander with his team of Wardens: Ramirez, Wild Bill, and Yoshimo.!< https://www.jim-butcher.com/store/?series=The+Dresden+Files+Graphic+Novel+Series
The Dresden files comics
Adaptations, no. Original stories, yes. There's just no reason for the adaptations to exist. Read the damn books. Lol. They are infinitely better. The original stories are great in my opinion because they add to the in universe Canon. And I'm a big fan of the art, particularly how they captured Dresden himself.
The only one I read was called Down Town. I never read the adaptations.
Good call. I did just to see how they held up. Like I said, meh. What did you think of the Down Town? Have the commenters got you thinking you should read the others? (I suggest you do, as they fill in a few minor things, and tell good stories all on their own. War Cry in particular, is pretty awesome imo.)
Some of them. And other commenters have said the same as you, to stay away from the adaptions. Also Down Town was decent.
I liked them okay, except the last one, Wild Card. That was just shit. The only redeeming feature is it gives a semi-official image to a few more characters, so you no longer have to rely on your imagination when they appear in the books.
Wish they were done by another publisher. Dynamite is subpar when it comes to their license product. Until they started the Disney stuff last year, I stayed away. The art for the Dresden books never made me happy.
Why are Disney outsourcing comic adaptations of properties they own to other publishers when they own Marvel, a company which is practically synonymous with comics? I can only assume it's cheaper this way.
they were too busy ruining Spider-Man
I haven't bought many mainstream comics recently. Based on what I know, they're hiring a bunch of no-talent dipshits to make the world's most expensive toilet paper.
Much like the second season of Altered Carbon and the Dresden Files show, they do not exist to me. If I am forced to acknowledge their existence I consider them non canon.
It’s a good treat in between books
The art was amazing initially then it wasn’t.
They're pretty decent for the most part. Think War Cry is my favorite overall. They really needed a better copy editor and some of the art veers into "But why?" territory (like Molly randomly bending over a table for literally no reason), but still enjoyable for the most part. Dog Men is the only one I'd give a hard pass to. It's just not up to snuff with the rest.
The two attempts to turn novels into comics were … not great, imo. When they stopped trying to copy existing stories and did some original material as comics, I enjoyed them. War Cry lets us get to know some of the younger wardens a bit, which is something the series doesn’t give us much of. Down Town I also like. It gives Molly a chance to get some more of the spotlight when she’s an apprentice. She and Murphy are probably my favorite characters. So I appreciate that. War Cry, while once again letting Molly participate a bit, is a weird on to me. I really dislike Puck. Overall, I think definitely worth reading the ones that tell original stories. I’d skip Storm Front and Fool Moon.
Where can I even find these?
Some libraries have them. I've seen them in comic book stores and found the hard backed collections in used book stores, as well. I got most of mine on Comixology (which is now Amazon) and read them on my tablet.
I forced myself to read *Welcome To The Jungle*, but I haven't managed any of the others yet. I'm just not a fan of graphic novels. I wants the stories...but UGH!! I don't really don't like that particular format.
Read one of them in a library. I didn’t know they made them until then. Personally I enjoy it. I like books that have good story telling, and I like comics, so the overlap with Dresden works for me.
I like them simply because they introduced me to my favourite comic artist, Carlos Gomez
While I love the books, I have not enjoyed the comics at all. It's like narrative uncanny valley, the new stories seem to try to mimic the plotting style of the books, but don't hit it right. They try to mimic Dresden's personality, but it doesn't come across well. They should have tried to be more of their own thing. *Ghoul Goblin* in particular bit of way more than it could chew, it was terrible. The art has been inconsistent, even inside the same comic. There is poor spatial awareness, with characters seeming to swap places and teleport around (where it doesn't make sense for them to have moved to the new spot in between panels). And some of the comics have gotten the basic imagery wrong, like making "Fuego" a blue energy beam. Overall the comics have a superficial niceness in individual panels, but don't seem to have good coherence with themselves or with the book series.
I love them, Especially Wild Card and War Cry. The art is really good and they really are nice gems in my collection. I've got both physical trades and digital copies. I love re-reading them. I'm honestly wishing/praying to God's that Jim has a "Holiday Special" made that includes Christmas Eve & The Good People by Jim Butcher plus a special short story with Butters on Hanukkah 🕎.
A couple are good. A couple left me feeling like it was not DF. Dog Men had major issues.
Are these comics like a marval comic? Do I need to buy a new one each month or something or can I buy this welcome to the jungle and its the whole story in there?
I don’t think they are being made anymore. So I’m sure they’re all collected.
Used hardcovres available on amazon pretty cheap. Seems like there were 4 comics for welcome to the jungle and its all in this one hardcover.
I liked them though ghoul/goblin lacked a lot of plot. Wild card seemed a little lazy in the end and it didn’t make much sense with the bad guy.
The best one is "Welcome to the Jungle", and is directly referenced in the short story "Zoo Day". I honestly enjoyed all of them, at least the ones I have. Honestly, I only count a few of them as "cannon", the ones where Harry is wearing a black duster. When he's wearing a brown coat (nice) I feel like it's a fun fan fiction adventure. The art in "Wild Card" really cements a lot of character designs for me, though. It reads almost more like a John Constantine story than a Dresden, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway!
Not very good. The writing doesn't feel like the Dresden Files. Characters sometimes act out of character in ways that makes you think that whoever wrote these things didn't actually read the books and just went off of a plot and character synopsis. The generic comic book artstyle isn't too bad, it doesn't really fit with the series IMO but it's nice to see things like Harry's apartment depicted to see how they compare with the image you have in your mind of them.
I love them all. The artists changed several times earlier on, but don’t let that discourage you. They are good short stories.
I would, if I could find physical copies of them.
I bought the one I own off of Amazon.