by Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy

What to expect: The classic book adapted by two 2000AD greats.

Review by Ed Berridge

First serialised in 1886, and still widely read to this day, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped is perhaps the prototypical ‘boys own’ adventure novel. Now, thanks to Edinburgh’s UNESCO City of Literature programme, the story has seen a rash of reprints, including an all-new sequential adaptation courtesy of Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy. 

The story itself concerns the adventures of seventeen year old David Balfour and his epic trek across Scotland to Edinburgh and the reclamation of his birthright. This presents an immediate problem for any adaptation. The original story itself is effectively part-travelogue, depicting in great detail David’s journey (which can supposedly still be walked to this day), and this largely non-narrative section, whilst integral to the novel itself, would inevitable awkward (and text-heavy) to include in a comic book. To his credit, Grant has realised with his adaptation that it is better to stick to the idiom ‘show, don’t tell’, and rather than simply repeat large portions of Stevenson’s text, he allows Kennedy to effectively do the job with the artwork itself and the lush, detailed backgrounds that it boasts.  

Grant’s job as adaptor in this case is effectively that of an editor; retaining much of the original dialogue from the novel, and simply cutting it to fit the needs of a comic. And despite the abridgement, much of the original source material is still to be found in this latest version, which includes not only the story of David Balfour itself, but also the wide-range of historical and cultural references that Stevenson weaved in and around David’s journey. The infamous Appin Murder, the Jacobite Rising and the Highland Clearances all find their place in the rich background that still permeates the events depicted. But at the heart of the story is the friendship between David and the roguish figure of Alan Breck. Almost two halves of the same coin, Breck provides a cynical counterpoint to David’s initial youthful naivety in this literal meeting of Highlander and Lowlander. Having lost his father at the beginning of the story, Breck proves to be a sort of father substitute to David, if at times an occasionally morally questionable one, and the reader can’t help but believe in the growing closeness of the two companions, which perhaps reaches its zenith in the moment when Alan must carry a delirious David across the glens with the simple words “You’re my friend. I won’t let you die!” 

The artwork of Cam Kennedy more than adequately complements the words. Indeed, it seems almost impossible to imagine another artist managing quite the same feet; it’s not hard to imagine how it took the artist nine months to complete the book. Hand coloured, every panel is a masterpiece of detail; from dynamic action such as the central murder of Colin Campbell (perhaps better known as the Red Fox), to the epic splash pages where the Scottish landscape rolls out to the horizon before the reader. Kennedy also has a powerful understanding of colour, employing a rich palette of greens, blues and browns to depict different settings and moods, whilst the artist uses the extremely effective technique of running watercolours to delineate the book’s dreamy sequences of unconsciousness and feverish nightmares. Of course, Kennedy isn’t above the odd dash of humour still, such as the unexpected appearance of Grant in a cameo as the Balfour’s lawyer Rankeilor.  

At 64 pages, the book provides a brisk read, but one which leaves the reader wanting more – indeed, the temptation is to just go back and read the thing again in its entirety – and the creators have done an astounding job in condensing the contents of the novel into the space provided without losing any of the heart or meaning of the original piece. As such, it provides an excellent introduction to both Kidnapped and the larger works of Stevenson to readers both old and young, which will perhaps entice them to try picking up the original text. With this book such a resounding artistic success, one can only hope that it is matched with similar sales, and maybe even similar adaptations of classic literature such as this in the future.