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REVIEW: THE THREE MUSKETEERS
3.68/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13
Creative Team
Writer: NÉJIB
Art: Cédric Tchao
Publisher: FairSquare Graphics
Ratings
Story: 3.9 Stars
Interior Artwork 3.8 Stars
Cover Artwork: 3.8 Stars
Dialogue: 3.9 Stars
Mechanics: 3.3 Stars
Editing: 3.3 Stars
About the Book:
D’Tartagnan has dreams of becoming a musketeer and travels to the capital city to join the famed corp during a time of civil unrest as war brews between religious factions. As D’Tartagnan arrives he heads to the Musketeer headquarters and joins their ranks as the new recruit, only to discover that the Musketeers are at the very center of the plot and that the war is being managed by the powerful Cardinal Richelieu who is trying to claim the power for himself.
Reviewer’s Notes:
The Three Musketeers is a classic tale originally penned by the late great Alexander Dumas. The story has been told a few times with new iterations and or plot changes on various forms of media.
What makes this story interesting is that while the basic story of the primary characters is well known, what changes is how all the characters in this story meet, how they interact and how they band together. This story is no different in that regard. Starting off it feels fresh and new but some of the details feel pulled from a certain movie that came out in the early 90’s by a popular film studio. Especially in terms of the duels that bring the 4 future best friends together.
As the story continues the age of D’Tartagnan is shown in his actions and attempts with young maidens closer to his age, whereas the age of the 3 experienced musketeers seems to be a little older. But the story overall is fresh enough that it sparks intrigue.
While the main story plot centers on D’Tartagnan and how he meets the others it turns more into how he can help save his new found friends and earn his place in the musketeers and ends on a cliff hanger. Leaving readers who are fans of the series wanting more!
The cover of the book matches the interior style, which is more drawn to what I call the Americanized anime look. Now that look is now a bad look, it’s well done and has great detail. The look also gives a fresh take on all the players involved in the story, showing D’Targanan at the front and center of the cover. The only thing I would suggest to make it better would be a subtle background of an environment that fit the plot of timeframe of the story itself.
The inter artwork of the book is very well done and detailed. Matching the level presented on the front cover. The only caveat is that the interior artwork is entirely black and white. Now this is not a bad thing. But may not be liked by everyone. That said I find it intriguing as it allows the reader to concentrate more on the story rather than the wonderful color palette.
That said, I do think that adding color could make this book better, however there are some action sequences where the black and white palette keeps the story from visually affecting those that might read it who are not familiar with or are triggered by the site of wounds from combat.
Overall being a fan of The Three Musketeers I think this wonderful story has great potential to grow and keep the basics of the characters true to the original intent.
I hope you enjoyed this escapade into the archives. If you like this review, support the creators of this story. Thanks for reading!
