THE ALCHEMYST

A graphic adaptation of the series opener carries humani twins Sophie and Josh into their first encounters with magic plus hordes of mythological and undead beings and creatures.

Events follow the general course of those in the original, and Andelfinger preserves enough of the significant dialogue to capture the flavor of Scott’s language—but that’s not enough to rescue this reworking. Lacking captions to smooth transitions or explain what’s happening, the visuals just string together scenes in which the pacing turns herky-jerky and talky banter or explication overflows up or sideways into adjacent panels in often hard-to-follow sequences. Dialogue balloons throughout point to characters who are sometimes depicted with closed mouths and wooden features and also frequently shown as (non)talking heads or just standing around with arms hanging loosely, reacting in overly exaggerated ways, or posed with cocked hips like flirtatious fashion models. The magic that Flamel and John Dee hurl at each other in the opening duel looks (and sounds: “Hiss!” “Pop!” “Zzzzk!”) like sprays of effervescent, colored mist. That battle, like the later ones with cat goddess Bastet’s minions and Dee’s army of zombies, are tableaux with neither visual coherence nor any sense of flow. Some characters, such as the goth teen/immortal warrior Scathach and regal Hekate (the only person of color in the cast), do look suitably powerful, but overall, this whole episode has the look and feel of a stiff walk-through.

A drab, mechanical remake.