22 May / Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel created by Jordan Mechner, written by A.B. Sina, artwork by LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland, color by Hilary Sycamore
Being a Luddite, I don’t play video games. Although I should confess that growing up in the 1970s (*gasp!*), ours was the first house in the neighborhood to get Pong, then Atari, then an Apple II. Contrary as I am, all that early technology probably made me the Luddite I am today in old age!
Anyway, if you’re a gamer, you probably know Prince of Persia as a wildly popular adventure game series. Apparently, millions have played endless hours since it became a worldwide bestseller by 1992. Since old-school is sorta trendy again, here comes the first-ever graphic novel version of Mechner’s game, apparently given authentic new life by writer Sina who relied on “the myths and legends of the Persia of his childhood.”
The highlight, of course, is the artwork created by the prolificly talented LeUyen Pham (once again) and her husband Alex Puvilland. Together, they energetically render cross-dressing, 13th-century dancer-in-training Shirin who escapes the suffocating palace and happens to meet a mysterious young man who claims to be Layth, a 3rd-century deposed guardian prince of a crumbling palace. Hormones get the best of them and the two fall in love, but with their forces combined, they save the thirsty village from the greedy rulers.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2008