Anthem: The Graphic Novel

First off, I guess I should probably admit that I knew (before even picking it up) that I would probably not enjoy Ayn Rand's novella anthem - even if it is in my favorite medium. I read Atles Shrugged a couple of years ago and found it incredibly badly reasoned and written. My purpose in picking this book up was so that not all my purposeful negative reviews would be about comics by men - who still write a majority of comics, both good and bad.

That said, this book still managed to surprise me by just how bad it really was! Not only because I think that Rand herself was much more privileged then she was actually talented, but because this adaption makes her appear even more stupid. While Charles Santine clearly has a lot of love for Rand, I'm not sure his idol would think very highly of him if she was still alive to see what had become of this piece of early work.

To start with the artwork, while the classic feel of the figures is certainly a legitimate style, the fact remains that none of it actually looks finished. The panels are all bordering on sketchy, and while there is a successful amount of contrast it doesn't appeared to have been inked at all. All the page layouts are pretty much identical and they look like a story board then anything else.

But that is certainly not the worst aspect of the book, because what really got to me was the way the text itself was adapted. While I certainly fall far outside the "I didn't like her philosophy but at least the book was well written" crowd when it came to Atles Shrugged almost every sentence was stilted enough to make my teeth ache. Some of this (ex. names of places and characters) are obviously Ayn's fault, but Santino obviously did some condensing and focusing in this adaption and it does not do the text any favors. The whole thing felt like I was watching Rand and Santino masturbate.

"We come to a pool of water so still that we see no water.
We see but only a cut in the earth in which the trees grow down, upturned and the sky rests at the bottom.
We bend down to drink.
And we stop...
For upon the sky below us, we see our own face for the first time.
Our Face and our body are beautiful.
Our face is not like the faces of our brothers, for we feel no pity when looking upon it.
Our limbs are straight and strong.
We can trust this being who looks up from us from the pool.
We have nothing to fear with this being."

Self obsessed enough? After pages and pages of this kind of nonsense the ending was really no surprise.

While Rand's early life probably had a huge impact on her entire philosophy of life, she still comes across as one of the shallowest and short-sited people I have ever read. Her main characters are always flawless and everyone who disagrees with her turns out to be a complete imbecile. Her plotlines are highly contrived and the only good thing she has probably ever accomplished is warning people off from libertarianism with this pseudo philosophical bull.