Stormbreaker (graphic novel)

Stormbreaker (graphic novel)
General Information
Release date	July 3, 2006 (UK); October 16, 2006 (North America)
Pages	144

Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel is the graphic novel adaption to the Alex Rider series' first novel: Stormbreaker.

Adaptors

Antony Johnston, an award-winning British author known for his post-apocalyptic comic series Wasteland, adapted the Stormbreaker novel to comic format. The artists of the graphic novel are known as Yuzuru and Kanako, two sisters who have co-illustrated many titles including The Five Ancestors series and all the current Alex Rider graphic novels.

Summary

Walker Books (UK) The official graphic novel adaptation of major motion picture: Stormbreaker.

Forcibly recruited into MI6 after the mysterious death of his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex is sent to infiltrate the organization of a sinister billionaire. Within days he's gone from schoolboy to superspy – and it looks like his first assignment may be his last... The official graphic novel adaptation of 2006's hottest movie blockbuster, Stormbreaker.

Plot

The story starts off with Alex Rider at Brookland school. Alex gives a speech about his family, but not much of it, claiming he didn't know his parents, since they died when he was small. He currently lives with his Uncle, Ian Rider, but he's rarely at home either. Mostly, Alex lives with his best friend, Jack Starbright, who is also a housekeeper, there for Alex while Ian is always away on business. Alex also makes a claim that his uncle is a bank supervisor and is in charge of customer care, currently at a conference in Cornwall, unaware that Ian's true occupation is a spy, working for the Special Operations Division of MI6.

After the school day is over, and after having a talk with Sabina Pleasure about going out on the weekend, Alex's uncle rings Alex and after they engage in a short, simple conversation about how things are, a helicopter approaches the Rider car, and one of the antagonists of the story, Yassen Gregorovich, shoots Ian to death while hanging from the chopper.

From there on, the novel follows the plot and scenes of the Stormbreaker movie plot, including some deleted scenes from the film, one of which where Yassen reprimands a guard for shooting at Alex while in the lab, where he could have hit the R-5 before killing him, though some scenes are shortened or excised. Some scenes were also altered slightly, including the dematerializing of a fish in the jellyfish tank (it was a barracuda in the graphic novel, but a jellyfish in the film and novel).

Differences from Novel

A major deviation from the novel is the introduction of Sabina Pleasure, who in the book series did not appear until the novel Skeleton Key.

In the novel, Alex goes to the Royal & General Bank Headquarters on Liverpool Street, but in the graphic novel, the MI6 headquarters is in Liverpool Street Station. Another key difference, is the names of the game-gadgets, and Herod Sayle. Herod Sayle is called Darrius Sayle in the graphic novel. In the novel, Alex Rider goes under the name of Felix Lester, but in the graphic novel, he goes under Kevin Blake.

Useful Links

• Stormbreaker (novel)
• Stormbreaker Mission - Alex Rider official site
• Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel - Walker Books (UK)