The Exile

 Three stars feels a tad generous, but two stars feels like a discredit to all the hard work that undoubtedly went into this, so three stars it is! That being said, several things bothered or even irritated me. The artwork was inconsistent; most of the male characters were indistinguishable; Claire's boobs???? (This is nitpicky, I know, but Scotland is cold, and Claire is not going to be walking about the countryside in so little clothing. Most of the time her clothing is not all that different from the dress that had the Scotsmen debating her virtue.) And who the heck was Kenneth, and why was he even included???? He really didn't add anything to the plot but confusion and irritation because I felt like I was missing something, even though I've read the book and seen the show.

Also, the portrayal of both Geillis and Laoghaire felt off - the first for being too manipulative (isn't that supposed to be a surprise? I much prefer her character in the book/show; I also really like the friendship between her and Claire in the show, and this completely tossed that out the window) and the second for not being manipulative enough. (If we're getting the truth about Geillie then why not Laoghaire? Who, by the way, comes across as innocent in this, which makes me want to slap somebody. Also, I just like Geillis better. Justice for Geillis! She may have had it coming in Voyager, but I really like her character in book 1.)

Finally, this was supposed to be from Jamie's point of view? Right? It honestly was more from Murtagh's. I like Murtagh - don't get me wrong (especially the version from the series), but I didn't need the story from his POV. Actually getting the story from Jamie's perspective could have been really interesting.

Also, the graphic novel felt really, in some cases oddly, abbreviated, though I know, in order to do the full story justice, it would have had to be nearly quadruple the length... though I wouldn't have minded if that were the case, especially if we had gotten some of the scenes that were cut from the series (“Fretful porpentine” anyone?) If anything, this made me want to go back and read book 1 again. 

UGH! Sorry, Diana, but this completely cheapened the story. What is with Claire constantly falling out of her dress? I mean, really? Granted, that was mentioned in the author's note as being an undesirable of the artist/format, but damn.