If there’s one thing I’ve been consistent about this year, it’s reading for the fun of it and sharing my thoughts about some of them. Every book can’t equal a post. That would take the fun out of it. When I found The Nightmare Before Christmas in manga form I couldn’t resist reading it. Since Halloween weekend is almost here, It felt like the write time to discuss the manga, which is the Japanese word for graphic novel.
Why Should You Check It Out?
For starters, The illustration is modeled after the movie. Not the story books. That is not a snub at Tim Burton. Its acknowledging that fans have an opportunity to experience the story in a new way. I’m no stranger to manga, but that doesn’t mean fans of the story read manga before.
The stand alone manga gives the reader more context about Sally and Jack Skellington budding relationship, as well as, their loneliness. Let’s be honest, a majority of the Nightmare Before Christmas was a musical. Not to say it lacked dialogue, film can use nonverbal cues to portray a certain emotion. Whereas, print has to put more effort in the illustration and dialogue. That is why the manga doesn’t rely heavily on the musical numbers.
As you can see, this is not a color edition of the manga, which is traditional with this from of printing. Keep in mind, full color is possible, but the cost of the finished product would go up. On the bright side, fan art is included as well as the decision making process for the cover. If you love behind the scene bonus material, you’ll get more than you expect from TokyoPop.
This is Not a Sing a Long…
Popular musical numbers from the movie are spliced with comments from the characters. What’s This, Jack’s narrative about Christmas Town is split between singing and statements. Its like he’s seeing all of this and talking to the reader about it. This is a one sided conversation. So don’t expect fourth wall moments. I’ll admit, this annoyed me a little bit. I’d start singing along. Then, upper cutted by a comment that shouldn’t be there. Like a bunch of firends interrupting your heart felt rendition of your favorite song. Other than that, I enjoyed the manga and recommend gifting it.
Magnify Your Style 
I didn’t know there was The Nightmare Before Christmas manga! I definitely want to read it for myself & even though the songs are cut up in the manga, I think I would enjoy it.
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Right!? I was so excited when I saw it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the manga. I’m glad they didn’t completely take the songs out. Its one of the few movies were I like all of the music. Whereas with other shows or movies like Bob’s Burgers, my tolerance is very low.
Did you know there is an Offical Cookbook & Entertaining Guide too? I wrote a post about that book too.
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I’m completely with you! I don’t like many musical movies, but I LOVE The Nightamre Before Christmas so it’s good that they do have parts of the song in the manga.
I’ve seen that, but I haven’t bought it. I’ll have to check it out!
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It was like 3 to 4 episodes with a cinema budget. You get to see more of the town. Everyone is in a reasonable age appropriate kind of coming of age challenge. The music had it’s place. The abundance of music wasn’t enough to turn me away.
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