The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #1) by Robert Venditti

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #1) Reviews

• 
  Anne

  2020
  Oops. Read this one 10 years ago and forgot.
  This time around, I feel about the same way. It's decent but the art is kind of lacking.
  
  
  
  Original Review: 2010
  My 10 year old thought it was kind of cool, but he wasn't super excited about it. It stuck pretty close to the book, but it felt kind of choppy. Not a bad choice for a reluctant reader, though.
• 
  may ➹

  two minutes before I finished this book I got an email telling me my hold on the second one was available and if that isn’t a direct sign from god to keep reading I don’t know what it is
• 
  Eliza

  A fun read, but I think I officially need to take a break from graphic novels. They're becoming a little boring to me.
• 
  ♛ may

  1st buddy read in our binge week with
  the loser who cant decide on a book to read
  
  Mark of Athena spoiler percy and annabeth didn't fall into tartarus to be drawn this ugly
  
  uhhhhhh
  so like it was a pretty good adaptation from the books in the sense that the main elements were there (aside from medusa)
  
  and the graphics were pretty good
  
  but why the heck are percy and annabeth so UGLY ???!!??? boi have you SEEN fanart ?!! THAT'S how they should be drawn ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
  
  
  
  (s)
  
  but hey, i read it in 15 minutes and it was nostalgic okay
• 
  Elevetha

  1.5 stars.
  
  
  The truth about graphic novels is that they are almost always bad entirely carried by the illustrations. That's just how it is. So when you have illustrations that are, to be frank, rather bad and the characters do NOT look like how anyone, except apparently Attila, envisioned them, it all amounts to a poor graphic adaptation that doesn't hold a candle, nor even a crappy busted Bic lighter, to the original series. You don't gain anything except a minor headache from reading this.
  
  I mean, honestly. Someone should have let Viria draw the illustrations:
  
  
  
  
  
  Ah, much better. At least her Percy and Annabeth look like they have a personality.
• 
  destiny ♡ howling libraries

  Meh. I love the actual novel but this was a really poor interpretation of it.
• 
  Helen 2.0

  I suppose the artist/writer wanted to keep this graphic novel as brief as possible, but in the process he/she completely omitted a number of important plot points from the Lightning Thief novel. I would have been thoroughly disappointed in the story had I not read the written version a long time ago.
• 
  Jessica

  I felt like it didn't portray Percy as well as the book did, he wasn't as funny in the graphic and I felt that the story didn't flow very well because of key parts that were missing. However I really liked the art and it was easy to follow.
• 
  Jim Ef

  image:
  I haven’t read the book but I guess that is better than this. Percy is a normal teenager or at least that’s what he thinks. One day a crazy thing happens at school and Percy will find out that he is actually the son of Poseidon, god of sea. A war between Poseidon and Zeus is going to start in couple of weeks and all because of a misunderstanding. Of course the one who can end this before our world ends is Percy.
  
  So the story doesn’t seem so bad right? The problem was that I didn’t care about the characters and the art also is kind of… meh ok.
  2,5 stars
  
• 
  prag ♻

  oooo boy it's time graphic novels and i part ways never do i want to see one again i never thought i would ever give a rick riordan book less than three stars but i'm going to assume he knows nothing about this because iT'S SOMEHOW WORSE THAN THE MOVIE TOO
  
  - the lightning bolt looks like a fucking spindle
  - luke? who's luke
  - half the plot is lying in a ditch somewhere
  - not to diss anybody's drawing i mean i couldn't draw a candle to save a life,, but
  - WHY THE FUCK DO ALL THE CHARACTERS LOOK LIKE UGLY DISPROPORTIONATE BARBIES
  - I'M SORRY I CAN'T
  - the dialogue is also taken randomly from the book idk man
  - who allowed this to exist
  
  buddy read #1 with
  "the only person i don't leave on read" aka the fake percy jackson fan
• 
  Wren (fablesandwren)

  
  
  Just read the books. They aren't my 100% favorite either, even though I am a huge fan of Greek mythology. This was just... not well adapted in my opinion.
• 
  Carlos De Eguiluz

  Hace más de cuatro años que adquirí este tomo, y vaya historia que tengo con él. Una de mis mejores inversiones.
• 
  Stepheny

  So on Christmas eve my two best friends and I exchanged gifts at work. Lindsay bought Andrea the first three graphic novels of the Percy Jackson series. Now, I had NO idea up to this point that these were a thing. Then when Lindsay and I opened our gifts from Andrea we realized she bought them for us! Can’t tell we spend a lot of time together!!!
  
  We all read and loved the Percy Jackson series. It was something we shared together. The three of us read all the time and typically if one of us raves over something we all end up reading it. Our tastes are almost identical and honestly- is there anything better than talking books with friends?! No. There is not.
  
  I flew through this book. It was a quick read and a really neat interpretation.
  
  What I really enjoyed the most was that all of the darker elements of the PJ series are brought to light. Yes, it’s a children's series, I know. But guess what- the world isn't sunshine and rainbows. I love when “children’s books” show the harsher truth and reality of the world…even if it is done through a fantasy based theme.
  
  I loved the artwork and thought they did a great job bringing the story to life. The characters looked how I pictured them and looked age-appropriate. This was a much better representation than the movie. Don’t even get me started.
  
  I can’t wait for Andrea to finish the other two so I can borrow them!! ;)
• 
  Juliana Zapata

  Leer esta novela gráfica es la mejor manera de revivir esta historia una y otras vez en unas pocas horas.
  
  Como ya amo la historia y a los personajes, solo diré que me encantaron las ilustraciones y como se adaptó la novela.
• 
  Mario

  This was a really fun and fast read, which I really liked. But what I didn't like is lack of Percy's humour, and most characters looked so different than as I imagined them.
• 
  Grüffeline

  Ich bin zurzeit wirklich sehr begeistert vom Percy Jackson Universum! Ich liebe die Bücher und auch den Film habe ich letztens nochmal gesehen... Als ich dann den Comic hier sah, musste ich ihn einfach lesen. Auch wenn ich nicht wirklich ein Comic Fan bin (ich mache mir lieber meine eigenen Bilder Kopf).
  Dieses Exemplar hier konnte mich jedoch überzeugen. Die Geschichte hat mich so sehr gefesselt, dass ich um mich herum nichts mehr mitbekam. Allerdings bin ich nicht hundertprozentig überzeugt von den Bildern... Aber wer seine Freude an Comics hat und etwas mit der griechischen Göttersage anfangen kann, wird dieses Buch mögen.
• 
  Joey

  Mehhhh
  
  This has been my first shot at Perch Jackson! And it wasn’t great obviously. I mean, it could’ve been worse but there didn’t really seem to be a consistent flow to the story and it was all decently random.
  
  I always had an interest in mythology but this just sooooo fell short of my expectations. I mean, also all the weird demon creature stuff was a little bit of a turn off for me. Especially when they went into the underworld.
  
  Content:
  Basically appropriate. A few swears. One or two shots depict slight immodesty (a crop top in one, maybe very slight cleavage in a few others). But basically totally clean.
  
  Will I read the next one? *hesitates even tho he knows he already has a hold for it aheeem* probably lol
  
  Happy reading guys!
• 
  Wilmarie

  I hate this adaptation. I hate this book. I hate this adaptation. I hate this book. I hate this adaptation. I hate this book. Now repeat that a 100 times and you'll get how I feel.
  .
  .
  This graphic novel did not do justice to the book. They changed the story, it was too short, and the art wasn't good.
• 
  Spens (Sphynx Reads)

  Both the terrible art style and the construction of story beats made this beloved story have little to no emotion to it. While this is a much more faithful adaptation of the original text than the film, it was still a bad one. Still, this is a good read if you want a quick review of the series.
• 
  Vicky N.

  Popsugar Reading Challenge 2017 - A book based on mythology. It is based on Greek Mythology. 1/52
  
  
  Percy Jackson thinks he's a normal 12 year old who has dyslexia and ADHD until he gets attacked by a teacher on a school trip and finds out he is the son of a god. He travels to a camp filled with other demigods(sons of a god and a human) where he gets sent on a quest for Zeus' stolen lightning bolt.
  So begins Percy Jackson's journey fighting angry gods and all kinds of mythical creatures.
  
  Percy Jackson is one of those stories that stick with you and you can pick at any moment and you'll have fun reading.
  
  It is the perfect story to get a kid into reading and falling in love with books. They are filled with monsters, adventure and the perfect amount of comedy. And in comic form is no different. It is a shorten version of the book, but it is fun and lighthearted and will make you have a good time.
  
  Obviously it will never beat the book, but it is a good addition to the world and for those hardcore fans who can't get enough of Camp Half-Blood.
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  lucia meets books

  RTC
  --------------------------
  This graphic novel is incredible, I love the art and how easy it is to read. I only had to spend like maybe an hour and a half to finish it. However, that might be because I just love this series :D
  
  I'm soo sad that in my country only the first and second one arrived, all the other ones (if they exist) probably won't come :/ I guess I'll have to try and find them online because they truly are gorgeous <3
• 
  Sara L.

  I just Dnf'd this book on page 32 because of the art...I HATE THE ILLUSTRATIONS ... THE ART IS AWFUL..and I loved the original book so it would hurt to continue any longer..
• 
  Yoda

  I really liked it, but I would recommend reading as normal book instead of graphic novel.
• 
  Meaghan

  I really love Percy Jackson and I really enjoy graphic novels, so I'd thought this would be an easy, nostalgic 5-star read for me! It's also been a crazy long time since I've read the original series as well, so I thought the distance would mean I wouldn't be comparing the two too much. In the end... I think the graphic novel lost a lot of the charm I loved from Riordan's books (namely the humor, tbh), and I don't know if I'll be reading the rest of these...
  
  I get that graphic novels can often feel a lot more rushed than the books they're based on, and this is definitely true here. However, I did expect that going in since the series was adapted 1 to 1, instead of multiple volumes per book (like with the Maximum Ride manga), so I didn't necessarily feel this hindered my experience too much. Yea, explanations were a lot faster and there was almost no build up between anything (kinda just a bunch of action scenes tied together), but I didn't necessarily need all the exposition to enjoy the book because I had read the series already, I knew the characters already. (I do think that first time readers should start with the books though, this graphic novel is way more plot than character background/development, and I feel like you miss out on a lot).
  
  My biggest issue was the lack of humor though. Part of this comes from the style of the comic itself, it's a serious style of art and that definitely affects the tone of what you read. But beyond that, there just wasn't any of the jokes that Riordan is known for. I missed the wacky chapter headings (one of my favorite things as a kid), the character's barely joked around with each other, and overall the entire adventure just felt way too serious. It's honestly as if it was supposed to be aged up to YA or something and in order to make it feel 'older', they cut all the jokes. It made the characters feel more like shadows of themselves, and I didn't end up liking the dynamic they had together at all in the end.
  
  I probably won't be continuing the graphic novels, but I definitely want to reread the actual books even more now!
• 
  Ands

  2/5
  
  Las dos estrellas son solo porque quiero mucho a Percy y volver a leer el ladrón del rayo en este formato me agradó.
  
  Pero no lo recomiendo si no se leen los libros antes porque no sucede nada!
  
  Annabeth apenas y habla, muchos momentos de acción ni siquiera fueron agregados y se resolvió todo el 3 dibujos.
  
  Sinceramente estoy dudando en seguir con las novelas gráficas porque siento que la esencia se pierde bastante, los veo en cierto sentido innecesarios y solo agradables para pasar el rato, just saying
• 
  isabelle

  
  
  Let me admit that although I have little to no experience in graphic novels, I am a minor art geek. I draw in my free time when I'm not in a mood to pick up a book. I look at art like a predator looks at its prey. Calculating. Judging. And as I looked upon the art in this graphic novel I almost instantly cringed. Our cast did not look like twelve year olds. Their faces changed from time to time and I had to pause to figure if it was the same person. And don't even get me started on Annabeth's cleavage. It didn't maintain the same awesomeness as the real book.
  
  Frowny faces.
  
  The storyline was the same with a few missing holes here and there. The book itself obviously has more details and you can't fit everything into a graphic novel. But what you can do is try to make the story flow smoothly and eloquently.
  
  
  
  More frowny faces.
  
  Do I recommend? Nope. To put this lightly, it's sort of a waste of time. But what I would want to shove in your face is the actual novel.
• 
  Mlpmom (Book Reviewer)

  Having read the entire series as a whole years ago, I already knew what I was getting into beofre starting this graphic novel version of the story.
  
  And even though it is obvious going into the story that you won't be getting the completely story, the beautiful illustrations more than made up for the lack of info.
  
  Beautifully drawn and a whole lot of fun. I would say my first foray into the graphic novel world was a huge success and now I want more. I will definitely be continuing the series (again) through these novels. So much fun!
• 
  Kelly Lyn

  it cuts out a lot of the story. the art style was great. the oracle looked way to sexualized in my opinion.
• 
  stu

  This was just terrible, i read this for the art and what did i get?
  
  SUPER BAD ART
  
  im only giving this book a third star as pity :))