Two ways of telling a story

In 1931, the brilliant German filmmaker Fritz Lang released M, a movie about a child-killer, and about those - the police and the city's criminals - who hunt him down. Set in the shadowy streets of Berlin, the film presents shades of moral ambiguity: a killer who cannot help himself, judged by those who are no better than he. The best thing about it is the way it looks, the gray alleys and black shadows, the smoke-filled rooms. It's one of the most visually haunting movies I've ever seen.

Would a print version of the same story be as effective as the movie? I would have said no, until I saw the graphic novel version by the extraordinarily talented illustrator Jon J. Muth. This graphic novel, like the film, is almost wordless; its striking images capture the film's gritty intensity.


So is the novel as good as the movie? Why not check them both out and compare for yourself?