Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman’s…)

(Vertigo, 2005-2006)
™ and ©2005 Neil Gaiman

A normal guy’s normal life becomes anything but normal when he helps an odd-looking, strangely dressed, bleeding woman named Door off the street. The guy is introduced as weak, wimpy, henpecked, and just plain pathetic. His one act of strength mixes him up in a wildly dangerous adventure full of heart-eating villains, dimension-hopping hot babes (who look weird), and not a solid answer in sight.

The world-within-a-world, reluctant-hero theme is reminiscent of The Matrix and Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. However, it is clear the actual story will unfold to differ from both. Even though all of the surprises seem random and shocking, it is clear they will add up to something as clear and as logical as magic can be.

Having neither read the Neil Gaiman novel nor seen the TV series, I don’t know whether this is a good adaptation. Coming to it fresh, I can say it provides good entertainment for fans of epic quest stories. The art, pacing, and level of sophistication is in the style of a European graphic novel.

— Mike Keeney

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