The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations

    (NBM, 1985, 2003-2004)
™ and © 1984, 1986, 1990, 2004 P. Craig Russell

P. Craig Russell has a long résumé translating famous literary works into comic book form. By putting the melodrama front and center, Russell dispels any doubts readers may have about reincarnating opera’s musical vitality in the comic book’s silent pages. It turns out the two are a natural match.

Volume 3, the last in the series, opens with Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande, a play originally written by the Belgian Symbolist Maurice Mæterlinck. Over the course of 54 pages, Russell puts his own touch on the dreamlike tale of doomed love, while leaving a great deal unsaid. As Patrick Mason writes in the introduction, “The music of Debussy, or the artwork of Russell may enunciate the actions and meanings of the drama, but it remains a world of half-lives, ephemeral yet recognizable in some distracted corner of our minds.”

For its English translation, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (literally, “rustic chivalry”) was given the more apt title, The Godfather’s Code. This vengeful, 31–page story of a cheating wife gets sharp narrative tension from its sunny, optimistic Easter morning milieu.

Long loved for its bloody dénouement, Strauss’ Salomé, based on the Oscar Wilde play, makes for great comics reading. Salomé’s bewitching dance, her insistent demand for the head of the prophet, and the horrific final outcome all work to seal the deal. Russell scored a coup de grâce with his opera adaptations.

— Leland Burrill
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Mar 1985
    Cover: $16.95
    W: P. Craig Russell  ·  A: P. Craig Russell
    The Magic Flute
    1 copy for $13.50
  • 2
    #2
    May 2004
    Cover: $17.95
    W: P. Craig Russell  ·  A: P. Craig Russell
    Adaptations of Paprsifal, Ariane and Bluebeard, I Pagliacci
    1 copy for $13.50
  • 2/HC
    #2 Hardcover
    Hardcover Edition with cover by P. Craig Russell
    Cover: $24.95
    W: P. Craig Russell  ·  A: P. Craig Russell
    1 copy for $144.99
  • 3
    #3
    Dec 2004
    Cover: $17.95
    W: P. Craig Russell  ·  A: P. Craig Russell
    Adaptations of Pelleas & Melisande, Salome, Ein Heldentraum, and Cavalleria Rusticana
    1 copy for $13.00